Spoiler Alert: Is Interstellar Meant To Filter Blockbuster Fans, Nolan Worshippers And Cinema Lovers?

Disclaimer: Do not read this if you haven't watched Interstellar yet.

It's been three days since I watched Nolan's space themed film Interstellar and I'm still thinking about it. Not too many Hollywood films can make that claim, especially when it's safe to say I'm not alone in that group. But this isn't the same kind of post-viewing introspection that we went through after Inception, Nolan's earlier film. That was more of a “let me figure this out” while this is more like “why Nolan, why?”.

Now there are a lot of articles and posts online about the science of Interstellar and why some believe it works, while some others claim it's flawed. This one here is not so much about that; I'm not an astrophysicist and I'm pretty okay with that. This is more about the cinematic issues I have with the film.

As a Christopher Nolan fan, something that I have no qualms accepting, this film didn't hit me as hard as I had hoped. Did it move me? Yes. The scenes involving Matthew McConaughey's character with his daughter were right up there when it comes to squeezing every ounce of emotion from the viewer. The long distance video message his grown up son relays to him not knowing whether his father is somewhere out there or not, was touching to say the least. But by “hit me” I mean it the way The Prestige or Memento or even The Dark Knight hit me.

Of course, this does not mean Nolan is losing it. The film works on many levels and if you can sit through the first 90 minutes, it will keep you glued to till the end for sure. But here's the thing – in no other Nolan film, have so many people wondered where the plot was headed. Even I kept telling myself “this is a Nolan film for god's sake. Something cool is going to fix everything.”

Accept, that the deux ex machina in this case was ... err... love.

Wait, this is a sci-fi movie, right? Yes, it is, and the plot twist is a time-loop which, by sci-fi standards, is perfectly normal. But to fill a gaping plothole with love, because we haven't been able to quantify it yet, is just a massive cop out. And that is why this film feels so-not-like-Nolan's other work. Any self-respecting Nolan fan knows that the third act in a magic trick is the most crucial one, where the disappeared person (for those who did not get this yet, I'm using an analogy from The Prestige) comes back. In Interstellar, the plot of the film was that disappeared person.

And what came back, was not the same guy but a lame body double wearing a different suit.

Here's the thing – this movie does have epic moments. For me, the best was perhaps when we get to know of Miller's (brilliantly played by Matt Damon) deception. In true Ozymandias from Watchmen style, he goes on with this “I'm doing this shitty thing but it's for the greater good” phase and that caught me off guard. “This is the brilliant third act,” I told myself before realising that this scene happened barely minutes into the second half of the film. The fact that the earth was getting more inhospitable by the minute and an hour on this planet being equal to seven years on earth, did not deter this two men from getting into a fist fight. That was funny, dark, amusing, all at the same time, almost like a Wes Anderson film. But then we had to sit through a Gravity-like sacrifice by Matthew McConaughey after which we finally entered that promised third act, which I would rather call the “extra act”.

But clearly this film worked for many viewers who were “speechless” or “spellbound” and they aren't wrong. It's a film with flaws, but it's still a beautiful film that perhaps deserves multiple viewings. One of the things the story tells us is that while we are aware of three dimensions, our advanced predecessors have learned how to harness five. Maybe it's Nolan way of telling us “stop expecting three acts already. My film is beyond that.”


Image: indiatimes