It’s not often that a movie about space travel will make me cry. Not the silent roll of the tear down the face either; but full on can’t-catch-my-breath crying!
Interstellar is the latest offering from visionary director/producer Christopher Nolan, and it literally blew my mind. In the film, humanity has reached the end of its stay on Earth, depleted food supplies and lives with regular sand storms. Technological development has come to a halt and mankind has gone back to farming to make a living and to survive. NASA, now running in secret, chooses one man to pilot a mission through a wormhole in space in order to find another planet for humans.
The concept is simple but is executed wonderfully by Nolan. There is no grander stage than space and Nolan applies that same grandiosity to his exploration of themes such as love, hope, despair and determination. Moments of pain and happiness are magnified by the settings in which they take place. An absolute tour de force in filmmaking, Interstellar leaves you breathless and teary-eyed by the end, still agonising over details of what’s happened days later.
The casting is also sublime. Comeback King Matthew McConaughey is still showing us he has so much more to offer as Cooper, the retired pilot and engineer who is chosen to head the mission. Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow and Casey Affleck are all equally as fantastic among the other fine actors in this movie.
Don’t be put off by claims that you need to know all the theories and discussions surrounding space travel before watching it. As someone with no knowledge on the subject at all, it was relatively easy for me to follow, and as long as you pay attention you should be fine.
In fact, I was so fascinated by all the theories and concepts used in the movie that I will definitely be buying books in the near future about space travel to learn more about it!
There is no shortage of movies about the end of the world, but none has been as bleak, clever and heart-breaking as this. If you only see one movie this Christmas, make sure it’s Interstellar.