INTERSTELLAR - Beautiful and "Believable, even when its not"

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2014)

"We've always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments these moments when we dared to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the 'unknown' known. We count these moments as our proudest achievements. But we lost all that or perhaps we've just forgotten that we are still 'pioneers'. And we've barely begun And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our 'destiny' lies above us."
INTERSTELLAR travel – a journey of exploration of spaces "situated in stars". However, the literal meaning falls short of summarizing the happening of an entire film that is been deemed as 'paradigm shifting cinematic phenomenon' worldwide by viewers, critics and (most of the) scientists alike.
Toying with the idea of 'we didn't inhabit Earth to stay, but to leave it someday' – this science-fiction drama tried to browse through the possibility that "end of Earth, shall not be the end of mankind" for which a team of space-explorers travel from the degrading Earth through a 'wormhole to find a potentially habitable planet that could sustain humanity', with the help of futuristic artificial intelligence based robots and neo-designed space-ships.
Lauded by many and criticized by several for crossing the logics and reasoning too many times, this film reminds us of an inherent ability. To re-quote Gerry Spence, "I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief." The choice shall be rested on individual judgments.
There is no surprise that this film would have been eventually made by Nolan himself, looking at his history of films like - "Following", "Memento", and "Inception". It won't be an exaggeration to call him a "wizard". As with every Christopher Nolan film, the "possibilities" are explored and tested in a fashion as if it is not a piece of art, rather a medium of simulation to verify and validate those possibilities, and still a viewer leaves the theater with doubts on conclusion and ends up with a more personalized understanding of the entirety.
Even an engineering graduate like me felt his brain in "over-drive" post-viewing this two and-a-half-hour long film, where a problem of future human survival was ably defined, described and possibly solved through the Astrophysical hypotheses and theories. Jonathan Nolan proves to be a very resourceful screenwriter to have etched out such a plot and story out of theories based on and suggested by works of Theoretical Physicist, Kip Thorne, who also served as an Executive Producer to the film.
The most brilliant works done on the film – VFX (supervised by Paul Franklin; 'The Dark Knight Trilogy') to go par "make believe" and actually "make us believe" in the possibilities of something that might happen (or might just happen) in distant future; Music, by Hans Zimmer, depicting ominous grandeur and solitude that not only enhanced the vastness of the portrayed outer-space but also, touched the viewer to the core becoming the part of their 'memories'; Sound Design (supervised by Academy Award winner Richard King) and Editing (Lee Smith; "The Dark Knight") were an integral part of backbone of the film; and so was its engaging Cinematography (Hyote van Hoytema; "Her").
Amongst the cast, Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathway are indeed brilliant (especially the former) and gently remind their previous Oscar wins. Jessica Chastain, Mckenzie Foy, Michale Caine – play their supporting parts most emphatically. Guest appearances by Casey Affleck and Matt Damon were quite surprising yet, done well.
To conclude, the film even with its jargon-heavy second-half doesn't pull down the spirits, and could even be enjoyed for a second time especially by our "astronomy aficionados". This film, being helmed as a milestones after works like – "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Avatar", "Life of Pi", "Gravity", etc. – is in the most simple words – "believable; even when it's not". A 9-rating for its pioneering brilliance and the sheer beauty of the Nolan-style of storytelling.