Caretaker vs Pioneer

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 2014)

Interstellar is a paradoxical achievement. It will undoubtedly inspire and influence future generations to further personal interests in science and astrophysics due mainly to its unsuccessful attempts to make theoretical physics part of the popular culture dialogue. Such an objective seems like a Herculean task, and the film succeeds to a certain degree, but there can be little doubt of its difficulty to find a solid fanbase, especially in non-scientific circles.
Figures like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein exist primarily as symbols of the highest accomplishments of human intelligence. This causes most people to understand their fields as out of the common perception and, thus, impossible to comprehend. Writer/director Christopher Nolan must be given credit for attempting to bring these highfalutin concepts to the mass population and doing so in a fashion so as to make it somewhat understandable and relatable. He does this by wrapping the highly complex material in a story filled with emotional connections, forcing audiences to pay closer attention than they would otherwise. This is made more apparent through the very effective acting of seemingly endless pedigree.
Matthew McConaughey, continuing his laid-back acting style, makes this material much more relatable than most actors could. He never forces emotions, even during climactic moments, and thus brings us closer to his perspective and understanding. The opening sequences, which set the foundation of his relationship with his daughter, are so warm and touching that we are willing to follow him through any adventure. Supporting roles of Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Matt Damon work well enough, but it is obvious that Nolan's real connection to this story is the father/daughter relationship, which McConaughey, Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain embody so well. No longer can people claim Nolan is a cold, objective filmmaker with little to no regard for his characters and their feelings.
What can continue to be a criticism of Nolan's film style is his inability to reconcile his erudite concepts and themes with dialogue and situations that are at the very least, digestible. Indeed, Nolan has made a career out of so-called 'mind-bending' movies like Memento and Inception which attempt to deliberately confuse the viewer until that moment of denouement when the reveal supposedly enlightens us to at least enough information to allow us to pretend to discuss the film intelligently. Certainly, like those aforementioned films, Interstellar will at the very least fertilize some discussion about high-mind concepts like black holes, event horizon, and tesseracts amongst those who would ordinarily never entertain such thoughts. In this respect, Nolan is trying to achieve the impossible, but he must be respected for attempting to bring these two seemingly unrelatable worlds together. No one else could or would try such a feat.
Whether or not individuals will appreciate Nolan's vision for the future of humanity ultimately depends on one's point of view regarding our own purpose on Earth. The question posited is are humans caretakers for this planet or pioneers to search out others? Obviously we know Nolan's belief, but if one feels more inclined to be connected with earthly situations, it may be uncomfortable to get into the spirit of this story. Still, it only takes imagination to be astonished at the style in which Nolan has crafted this highly possible future reality.