I went to see Interstellar in 70mm IMAX on Friday night. As a movie I have been anticipating for almost a year, I had high expectations, expectations that I was very anxious would not be met. Now some background: while I do love most Nolan movies (The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception), I never considered myself a "Nolanite." My interest in this movie was born in my interest in space travel, astrophysics, astrobiology, and so on. So I feel like I can present an honest review of the film (I was not a huge fan of The Dark Knight Rises in all honesty).
That being said, I was awed by Interstellar, and in many ways, not because of what I expected to awe me. Gravity's visuals were stunning, and made me long to travel in space. Interstellar had amazing visuals, but it was the emotional connection between Cooper and Murph, that really made the film for me. I felt as the film explored two equally important ideas: (1) the need to become explorers again and advance humanity's reach, and also (2) at the same time to keep in touch with our humanity, because both are equally important to our species' future.
This being said, I felt the movie was both incredibly optimistic and hopeful, and terribly heartbreaking at the same time. Cooper watching the videos with his son Tom and daughter Murph was extremely poignant but incredibly hard to watch. The movie was optimistic, however, in the way it portrayed our potential future. While I was happy the humanity seemed to be saved, I felt a sense of loss for Coop because he missed his children's lives. I got some sense of relief when adult Murph (Chastain) realized that her "Ghost" was her father, and so he was actually there for her.
The emotional side of me is disappointed that Cooper didn't get the happy ending with his children that he wanted. But I realized there are sacrifices that need to be made in order reach humanity's potential, and Interstellar is really the story of one man's sacrifice. I also realize that a movie can be beautiful and optimistic, while also a heartbreaking tragedy. Beautiful and optimistic in the macro, but heartbreaking and tragic in the micro-sense.
Thus, I felt the two aspects of this movie provided a nice counterweight to each other. Interstellar was beautiful, optimistic, tragic, and heartbreaking all at once. And that's what makes this an extremely important movie.
10/10
That being said, I was awed by Interstellar, and in many ways, not because of what I expected to awe me. Gravity's visuals were stunning, and made me long to travel in space. Interstellar had amazing visuals, but it was the emotional connection between Cooper and Murph, that really made the film for me. I felt as the film explored two equally important ideas: (1) the need to become explorers again and advance humanity's reach, and also (2) at the same time to keep in touch with our humanity, because both are equally important to our species' future.
This being said, I felt the movie was both incredibly optimistic and hopeful, and terribly heartbreaking at the same time. Cooper watching the videos with his son Tom and daughter Murph was extremely poignant but incredibly hard to watch. The movie was optimistic, however, in the way it portrayed our potential future. While I was happy the humanity seemed to be saved, I felt a sense of loss for Coop because he missed his children's lives. I got some sense of relief when adult Murph (Chastain) realized that her "Ghost" was her father, and so he was actually there for her.
The emotional side of me is disappointed that Cooper didn't get the happy ending with his children that he wanted. But I realized there are sacrifices that need to be made in order reach humanity's potential, and Interstellar is really the story of one man's sacrifice. I also realize that a movie can be beautiful and optimistic, while also a heartbreaking tragedy. Beautiful and optimistic in the macro, but heartbreaking and tragic in the micro-sense.
Thus, I felt the two aspects of this movie provided a nice counterweight to each other. Interstellar was beautiful, optimistic, tragic, and heartbreaking all at once. And that's what makes this an extremely important movie.
10/10