Nolan's Interstellar has some space for family ties

In Interstellar, we see director Christopher Nolan adding an exploration of human relations to his oeuvre. It may not be an epic film, but it definitely is a theatrical experience

To say that Christopher Nolan is the most ambitious filmmaker of his time would not be an exaggeration, and Interstellar may be his boldest project yet. The movie gives you a spellbinding account of how a group of four space travellers make their way through a wormhole to find a new habitable planet and save mankind from extinction. During its almost three-hour run, the movie is a wondrous cosmic adventure with a lovely touch of human emotion.

Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey, is a widowed ex-NASA test pilot and engineer-turned-farmer who lives with his father-in-law and two children in a mucky part of America where corn — the only stable crop left on earth — is routinely wrecked by sandstorms. His fascination with science leads him and his daughter, played by Mackenzie Foy, (later Jessica Chastain) to a secret NASA installation headed by Professor Brand (Michael Caine). At the facility, Cooper is told that the earth will become uninhabitable in the near future, and is recruited to pilot Endurance, an experimental spacecraft, on its search for a viable world through a wormhole that has formed off Saturn. He is joined on this expedition by Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) and two scientists (David Gyasi and Wes Bentley).

The story line is simple, yet intense. It will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the movie, but will not overwhelm you. The long star cast has put in good performances, doing justice to the quality of the screenplay. McConaughey competently plays the role of a doting father who has to make the onerous choice of leaving his kids behind for the greater benefit of mankind. However, Hathaway somehow doesn’t match up to McConaughey, with her erroneous decision making and foolish actions almost imperilling the mission.

Comparisons with 2001: A Space Odyssey are obvious, but it might not be fair to put Interstellar in the same bracket as the 1968 classic. If you expect it to be of the same magnitude, then you will go back disappointed. Interstellar does not quite match up to the epic, engrossing fiction of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

With its stupefying effects and imagery, the movie is a visual treat for the major part, but the cinematography in some scenes is surprisingly weak for a sci-fi movie. The movie moves from scenes of deafening silence to rumbling spacecraft sounds with aplomb. But at times the bass is so throbbing that it makes it difficult for the viewer to hear what is being said. The overlapping narrative keeps you engaged, but Nolan’s unremitting use of complex scientific terms may require you to carry an encyclopedia.

Towards the end, Cooper completes his mission and is released back into the solar system through the wormhole. Here, he is picked up by a NASA ship. It is in this sequence that the movie gains an emotional dimension. Cooper reunites with his daughter, who is now old and almost dying. The movie presents a heartwarming tale of father-daughter relationship.

Where Interstellar matches up to the 2001: A Space Odyssey is in its duration. At 169 minutes, the movie, although entertaining, is lengthy and one fidgets for it get over once it crosses the two-hour mark. All-in-all, Interstellar is a bold, adventurous, wonderfully scripted film. In the relationship between Cooper and his daughter, Nolan has added the human touch that has been lacking in some of his previous works. Moreover, this little sub-plot makes the movie much more than just a science adventure movie. The film has its flaws and may not score a perfect ten, but it is definitely a riveting theatrical experience. Nolan must be lauded for attempting theatre of such audacious and almost unparalleled scale.