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ON THE SCREEN: INTERSTELLAR GOES BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF THE USUAL IN SEARCH OF BIG QUESTIONS

DAVID ADAMS finds Interstellar a thought-provoking sci-fi for grown-ups

Interstellar (M)

In a word: Intelligent

“The nature of this film means this isn’t one to simply watch and forget about – sure, that option’s always open but the real joy in this sort of film is sitting around afterwards and dissecting some of the ideas it opens up. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise – it is, after all, written and directed by Christopher Nolan who, along with the recent Batman films, has also written and directed Inception.

A science-fiction film as they used to make them. Sure, Interstellar comes with plenty of special effects – and they’re done well – but what sets this movie apart is the way it plays with science, fact and theory, and that it’s not deliberately aimed at the ubiquitous teen market.

Of course, such an approach has brought with it seemingly endless comparisons to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 hit, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and with regard to its cinematic ‘presence’ (not so much whether it stretches the science too far – I am not, after all, an astro-physicist), Interstellar can hold its head high.

Set at some point in the near future when the world as we know it has already suffered something of a collapse after its burgeoning population was forced to fight for food, the story follows that of former astronaut turned corn farmer Cooper (‘Coop’ to you and I – he’s played by Matthew McConaughey) who’s struggling to grow enough to eat even as news comes of crops failing and dust storms ravaging the landscape.

His daughter Murph (named for Murphy’s Law, she is played by Mackenzie Foy) encounters a mysterious ghost-like presence in her bedroom and its that which eventually lead the two of them to track down the source of a mysterious message it seems to be sending them.

Without giving too much away, this eventually leads Coop to join the crew on a mission across the universe in a bid to find another planet which can sustain life.

It is a long film and there’s several points at which it could have ended but each time it instead takes another interesting twist. That’s not to say it couldn’t have done with a little more editing – there’s a couple of scenes that could have easily been cut or, in at least one case, dropped altogether.

The nature of this film means this isn’t one to simply watch and forget about – sure, that option’s always open but the real joy in this sort of film is sitting around afterwards and dissecting some of the ideas it opens up (and not being afraid to engage – you may not agree with all the ideas presented in the movie but surely it’s the discussion that matters). And that shouldn’t come as a surprise – it is, after all, the work of writer-director Christopher Nolan who, along with the recent Batman films, has also written and directed the mind-bending Inception.

It’s a star-studded cast – John Lithgow plays Coop’s father, Casey Affleck his son and Anne Hathaway plays Coop’s fellow crew member Brand, while Michael Caine his former mentor (and her father) Professor Brand. Topher Grace and Matt Damon also both pop up a little disconcertingly later on. But, as with Kubrick’s 2001, it’s the robot (or in this case robots) who almost steal the show – TARS and CASE are brilliantly conceived in both form and voice and, to the casual watcher at least, bring real sci-fi cred to the film.

Deserving of the accolades it’s receiving, Interstellar is as much a journey for the mind as the eye. It’s one out of the box. So go and explore.

 

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