Modern Day Masterpiece of a Cautionary Tale

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2014)

Christopher Nolan loves the medium of film and the belief there is an, ultimately, benevolent universal transcendence. It would seem he trumpets this in his film Interstellar. That isn't to say he doesn't explore the evil that is inherent in all mankind. In fact, he, more or less, uses it as a "jumping-off" point.
It would seem watching the opening act of Interstellar man has in his hubris and greed, pillaged the earth to the point that it's dying - loosing it's ability to support life as we know it. We're further led to realize it's a fast "slow-burn" as if we took our current problems roundly classified as "global warming" and multiplied it by some grand factor whereby we literally feel the loss on a weekly basis. The main character and his family are struggling to hold on to a modicum of normalcy by pressing on in both the cultural and commercial sectors. Matthew McConahey, , is both a father and a farmer with neither jobs being, particularly, easy or straight forward. While McConahey is struggling with the loss of his wife he must preserve his remaining family of two children and his own father. As a father he's still making the grade, but the earth is failing him in his role as a farmer. He has, like the majority, forgone risky crops in favor of almighty corn. In other words, much like today over half of what defines you is linked to cornthis is a not so hidden metaphor to sharecropping slavery. Control as in you can achieve the threshold of existence whereby anything you might experience just over this point you'll perceive as such a delight you'll falsely achieve a pseudo-psychological state of appreciative compliance. It would appear the human race is in dire danger of extinction by their own hand.
Lo and behold, there is a "black" government agency not content with the status quo. NASA lives and in this scenario is actually noble in trying to save humanity ,if not on this planet, by seeding it somewhere so it can begin again if all else fails. McConahey (sp?)is a lapsed NASA pilot and in order to save his family he decides to risk everything in a grand mission hinged on the belief he can make a difference. One man's sacrifice as a kind of saviorsounds familiar.
Nolan wisely directly sidesteps the duality of government whereby they're both our society's greatest achievement and, ultimately, our enemy - yes our enemy because eventually humanity's dark side taints our very our ability to govern ourselves and survive - no matter what noble men did before. We're left not really knowing how we came to this wretched point, but we get a prescient warning wrapped up in a damn fine sci-fi movie.. How's this for making a movie for mass consumption with intricate messages, layers as if an onion? The devil is, literally, in the details.
Now, I'm really not sure what in the final analysis this movie says. Maybe that makes it great because when I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey I remember leaving with the same feeling. In retrospect I was like 12 when I saw that movie and now it seems to be blatantly clear that 2001 let it be known that man in his grandiosity may be his own demise. But, what is Interstellar? It seems like a letter of hope that man will awake and enlighten his own self to assure he not only exists, but thrives. Men can change the course we have set out on by following our primal instincts as opposed to blindly trusting our status quo. Man's spiritual good can trump earthly darkness - and the universe actually allows for this.
Well, that's my take on Nolan's opus of a movie. It's accessible, assuredly so by McConehey's impassioned performance, but brilliantly cloaked inside is the message for a kind of revolution whereby each of us calls on our spiritual goodness to rise out of the mire we've been led into. It's the classic Sci-Fi scenario of good and badonly it isn't some dark army seeking to destroy, it's all within each of us. We all matter, we all have power beyond our day to day existence and we need to connect and act if not now then when? Interstellar's final act is one of hope even if it depicts an hour late indeed. This is one multi- layered movie and it, literally, demands repeated viewings. Low-key brilliance which is actually totally brilliant comes to mind. Highly recommended if not because of the complexity, but you may never see cinematography on any higher plane. And I say this just seeing it in standard "vanilla" DLP Digital.! Imax analog 70mm should be another revelation altogether.