What is your interpretation of the ending? SPOILERS AHEAD

Christopher Nolan's 2014 grand scale science-fiction story about time and space, and the things that transcend them.
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Hustler
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leo wrote:Some thoughts after my second viewing
The closer we are to the event horizon of a black hole the slower time passes, until the event horizon where time stops. So it seems a good guess that beyond the event horizon time might actually start running backwards, and that seems to be the take of Kip Thorne and Nolan in Interstellar: inside the black hole, the humans from the future build a tesseract for Cooper in the present to send a message to his daughter in the past, as if inside the black hole the future happens before the present which happens before the past.
Woah, that just fucked my head. This movie just raped my head.
Just kidding, I wanted it. ;)
On another note, and this is probably missing the point, but if anyone could answer this very fundamental question:
If there are truly evolved humans in the future living in a 5th dimensional universe, then the species has already survived and evolved, so why the need to communicate with past humans to ensure survival that already happens? And no, that thought doesn't ruin anything about the movie for me, I absolutely love it. It's amazing that it can be this thought-provoking. But it kind of reminds of Ebert's question regarding Memento, about how does Leonard recognize he has a condition (though actual cases of people with short-term memory loss realizing they have a condition can be cited).
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Sky007
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Hustler wrote:
leo wrote:Some thoughts after my second viewing
The closer we are to the event horizon of a black hole the slower time passes, until the event horizon where time stops. So it seems a good guess that beyond the event horizon time might actually start running backwards, and that seems to be the take of Kip Thorne and Nolan in Interstellar: inside the black hole, the humans from the future build a tesseract for Cooper in the present to send a message to his daughter in the past, as if inside the black hole the future happens before the present which happens before the past.
Woah, that just fucked my head. This movie just raped my head.
Just kidding, I wanted it. ;)
On another note, and this is probably missing the point, but if anyone could answer this very fundamental question:
If there are truly evolved humans in the future living in a 5th dimensional universe, then the species has already survived and evolved, so why the need to communicate with past humans to ensure survival that already happens? And no, that thought doesn't ruin anything about the movie for me, I absolutely love it. It's amazing that it can be this thought-provoking. But it kind of reminds of Ebert's question regarding Memento, about how does Leonard recognize he has a condition (though actual cases of people with short-term memory loss realizing they have a condition can be cited).
Yes to ensure their survival. We couldn't possible fathom how they live. But they surely knew of Earth's troubles at this time so they lent a helping hand. Also I think part of it is the unknowable. The idea that something may be looking out for you. It's Nolan's way of looking at faith logically.
I'm a John G
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Sky007 wrote:
Hustler wrote:
leo wrote:Some thoughts after my second viewing
The closer we are to the event horizon of a black hole the slower time passes, until the event horizon where time stops. So it seems a good guess that beyond the event horizon time might actually start running backwards, and that seems to be the take of Kip Thorne and Nolan in Interstellar: inside the black hole, the humans from the future build a tesseract for Cooper in the present to send a message to his daughter in the past, as if inside the black hole the future happens before the present which happens before the past.
Woah, that just fucked my head. This movie just raped my head.
Just kidding, I wanted it. ;)
On another note, and this is probably missing the point, but if anyone could answer this very fundamental question:
If there are truly evolved humans in the future living in a 5th dimensional universe, then the species has already survived and evolved, so why the need to communicate with past humans to ensure survival that already happens? And no, that thought doesn't ruin anything about the movie for me, I absolutely love it. It's amazing that it can be this thought-provoking. But it kind of reminds of Ebert's question regarding Memento, about how does Leonard recognize he has a condition (though actual cases of people with short-term memory loss realizing they have a condition can be cited).
Yes to ensure their survival. We couldn't possible fathom how they live. But they surely knew of Earth's troubles at this time so they lent a helping hand. Also I think part of it is the unknowable. The idea that something may be looking out for you. It's Nolan's way of looking at faith logically.
its also the simple time loop explored in terminator
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UnknownVariation
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Also:
Why did Romilly age so quickly if he's orbiting the planet within that time dilated boundary?
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UnknownVariation wrote:Also:
Why did Romilly age so quickly if he's orbiting the planet within that time dilated boundary?
the time dilation took place where they went to on the planet because of its proximity to the singularity.. the ship Romilly stayed on was outside of this proximity. remember, the ship is stationed at X. from X they loop around black hole and land at Y, which is within the proximity of the time dilation. X was far enough to avoid the dilation.

the real question here is, why did the scientist they were 'chasing' choose that spot to land? surely she would have known about the time dilation and must have realized what Brand stated... "she must have just landed, and died just minutes ago" Romilly was comfortably outside of this singularity. on purpose. to give himself time to study the black hole from afar
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Sky007
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This seems to be the popular discussion page so I'll ask it here. In Inception all of the characters can be seen as a Jungian archetypes found in dreams or a specific part of a filmmaking team. Has anyone made any similar connections to these characters? Perhaps different parts of human nature?
Damon's character sparked my interest with this. He seems to be some sort of parallel to Cooper.
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UnknownVariation
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Sky007 wrote:This seems to be the popular discussion page so I'll ask it here. In Inception all of the characters can be seen as a Jungian archetypes found in dreams or a specific part of a filmmaking team. Has anyone made any similar connections to these characters? Perhaps different parts of human nature?
Damon's character sparked my interest with this. He seems to be some sort of parallel to Cooper.
My brother pointed out that Dr. Mann's name is symbolic for the human obstacle Coop & friends faced on their mission.
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Sky007
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UnknownVariation wrote:
Sky007 wrote:This seems to be the popular discussion page so I'll ask it here. In Inception all of the characters can be seen as a Jungian archetypes found in dreams or a specific part of a filmmaking team. Has anyone made any similar connections to these characters? Perhaps different parts of human nature?
Damon's character sparked my interest with this. He seems to be some sort of parallel to Cooper.
My brother pointed out that Dr. Mann's name is symbolic for the human obstacle Coop & friends faced on their mission.
Brilliant. Love this kinda stuff.
He seemed to be the dark side of human nature or what loneliness brings. Essentially representing what Cooper could become if he was never to see his family or connect with humans again. Mann also says the thing about seeing other human faces and how powerful it is. Nolan shows faces of random humans throughout. Reminded me of Koyaanisqatsi.
joker94
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Was an awesome experience to see this in 70 mm IMAX :) .. Can't wait to see it again!
The end kind of reminded me of 2001 in certain ways.

The black hole is Interstellar's version of the monolith. Something beyond human understanding. When Cooper goes across the horizon, he is brought to a place where he travels in time. When his task in there is done, mankind is ready to take the next big evolutionary step - to leave their home planet.

I think Cooper's experiences inside the black hole cannot be explained fully by what we are shown in the movie. Love (the quantifiable fifth dimension that connects people across space and time) plays a role . Gravity plays a role. "They" play a role. Its probably meant to be abstract at some level. Instead of a single explanation, it becomes what each person feels it should be.

Can't wait for that second viewing :)
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Vesh
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Sky007 wrote:This seems to be the popular discussion page so I'll ask it here. In Inception all of the characters can be seen as a Jungian archetypes found in dreams or a specific part of a filmmaking team. Has anyone made any similar connections to these characters? Perhaps different parts of human nature?
Damon's character sparked my interest with this. He seems to be some sort of parallel to Cooper.
I know there are more than a few people and critics who thought Damon's part was unnecessary, but I found his character really important during my viewing experience. His character is a classic foil to Cooper's: a man without a family who is driven to insanity by the fear of failure and the singular determination to complete the "mission" and extend humanity. Coop, at this point in the story, wants nothing more than to return to his loved ones despite having no way to save them anymore. Plan B is more of a chore, an obstacle, than a necessity to him.

During, and after, the sequence with Dr. Mann, I really began to appreciate what Cooper's motivation was. Damon's character exhibits an apparent evil, but it is more that his goals are in service of a survivalist mentality, one that is not hindered by the weight of loved ones. He has been stranded on that failure of a planet for years, with nothing but time to think. Although it is easy to dismiss him as a crazed villain, I would be willing to bet there are many people who would react in a similar matter. He didn't fall victim to the dark side, he was exhibiting a part of humanity that many of us have. Coop, on the other hand, wouldn't even be on this mission if it weren't for Plan A, and the contrast between him and Dr. Mann really puts that into perspective. His relationship with his family, especially Murph, is the part of humanity that drives his decision-making. This disparity between their characters also highlights why Coop is ultimately the "chosen" hero to communicate back to Murph. His love is what makes the resolution at the conclusion of the film possible, a feat that someone like Dr. Mann would never be able to perform. Considering Nolan's background in classical literature and penchant inclination for using character foils, I thought this one was well done.

Also his death set us up for one of the most spectacular, cinematic set pieces this side of Inception's rotating hallway
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