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Humanity was born on earth it was never meant to die here.

Interstellar, USA/UK, 2014. Directed by C. Nolan, written by J. Nolan and C. Nolan. With Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine. Original music by H. Zimmer. Length: 169′. Rated: PG-13.

It is a nearly impossible task to describe the heavily complicated plot of this last visionary dream by Christopher Nolan himself? Just a brief sum up: the Earth is near to its collapse, man will not be able to survive here so twelve scientists have been deployed to twelve different planets that possibly present similarities to our planet. The never ending distance, though eased by an unknown wormhole, stops every attempt to contact the missions so that NASA decides to send one of the most experienced astronauts left, a family man named Cooper, to head an expedition to retrieve some details about the planets and, possibly, to come back and save mankind.

I cannot tell any more without spoiling something, so… I have to stop here. The very first impression is that of an extremely Gravity-like movie, which tries to be as scientifically accurate as possible and at the same time a stunning masterpiece both in directing and in photography.
Three perks, in the end, but…
A basic analysis might concern only the technical apparatus: and what criticisms can be levelled at wonderful Chris Nolan? A born talent who doesn’t miss a shot, capturing the viewer with every single frame. He creates new worlds, detailed as they can come, and they appear on the screen in the most believable form; this one characteristic is fundamental to create that suspense and empathic connection that are so typical of this director and of his brother Jonathan, who’s not as famous even if he did write almost all of his elder brother’s works. This might seem like a true injustice for him, as most of Chris’s successful reviews have been collected thanks to wonderful scripts, “Memento” being just the first of the line; and the writing work on “Interstellar”, taken from an unfinished project by the original director (Steven Spielberg, just so you know what we could end up with here) is amazing. Someone could go to the cinema expecting to watch  a three-hour space journey, while he has to appreciate the finest coming and going throughout space and on Earth, since this is the wonderful bit that makes the goal of keeping the narrative tension high throughout the long movie. Furthermore, life on Earth turns out to be one of the best parts, with a ‘terrestrial’ cast that has nothing to envy to the ‘space’ cast and, in some way, finds the quickest way to the viewer’s heart. This doesn’t mean that space isn’t portrayed in a fine way: the characters’ psychology and feelings strongly outline the science behind the story and humanity reaches far outer than this never-ending, deserted and lonely space.

The cast, as I was saying, is superb: this time more than ever, true ‘stars’. Cooper is a character with a strong animosity and a sense of duty so endangered that only a master interpretation would make it shine over stereotypes: Matthew McConaughey, like a magician, draws from his hat some really sublime acting, underlining a consecration period which doesn’t seem to end. Thinking about his anonymity a couple of years ago, it makes one think about stardom circles, doesn’t it?
Another actress on a peak point for her career who makes herself truly shine in this movie is Jessica Chastain, who comes out later in the movie but gets to the bottom of a tricky character, Cooper’s daughter Murph. She was called like that after Murphy’s law: «Whatever can happen, will». In this context, the credibility of the character lies in the true belief in this law, in its positive meaning, too (which, in the end, is one of the clearest messages of the whole movie).
Next to them both, Anne Hathaway risks slightly, since she doesn’t seem at her best, while incredibly talented Michael Caine adds another great performance to his success book. Both also cast for Nolan’s Batman trilogy, both confirm that, under his guidance, the result is the same: funny but pragmatic in every role he gets (Caine) or halfway excellence and reduced though perceivably high talent (Hathaway: when you remember more gladly Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman the feeling gets somewhat pitiful towards the young American actress).

And the music. What about it? Hans Zimmer. Does it suffice? Not at all, since the empathy that his music creates every single time here knows some extremely important (and appreciable) silences. And silence is one of the most iconic characteristic of the universe’s void, and they help really a lot.

At this point we could say nothing else but that this is a true masterpiece. But…
There are a few ‘buts’, maybe too many. Let’s try to figure them out without spoiling too much.

The first doubt arises from the totality of its Americanism: could it be that the whole world has already drowned and the U.S.A. are still the only ones alive? Just a few lines could have solved this riddle. Also: young Nolan’s screenplay goes into the dark holes and, though there is no proof of what could be, the choice is risky by the count of the hypothetically infinite discussions that his choice, even if it should be judged as an entertainment tools, could provoke. And even more so because of both the scientific and the religious implications that move from the one theory the story follows.
Last but not least: we thank the screenplay for the wise choice of a final sum up. It’s not a good sign, since it means that the understandability level was quite low, but not one of Nolan’s movies was quite simple and “Interstellar” resembles “Inception”, which is maybe his best movie so far and, along with it, the most incomprehensible. In this one, though, the scientific side makes it even harder, so that no ordinary viewer can make it without reading any article or paper.

It’s obviously a must-see, for everything that I said above. A must-see, but with the advice of not making the mistake of watching without being fully committed and motivated. In other words: it’s not an entertainment product, not in its first meaning anyway.

 

DOWNLOAD REVIEW IN PDF: Interstellar, 2014

LEGGI LA RECENSIONE IN ITALIANO: Interstellar – Recensione