Interstellar

I am not the brightest individual when it comes to things such as math or the overly theoretical or hard to visualize sciences so the sheer scope of what this movie entails is both incredibly beautiful as well as terrifying as someone who feels as small and lost in comparison to not just the stars themselves but the people who are capable of understanding them to an elevated degree. I remember becoming emotional about an inspirational movie I watched on a class trip to a Los Angeles science museum back in middle school and this film more or less instills that same sense of wonder and optimism with an equal sense of hopelessness and feelings of minisculeness. While the events depicted in this movie bring a sense of profound sadness that the universe simply isn’t made with humanity in mind the sheer ability to push against all odds and explore the endless blackness in vessels made so hastily with such little resources is inspiring, and puts a sense of stakes and boldness to space travel I have not seen before, more akin to a film about the early voyages to the Americas with the heightened awareness that unlike the voyages of then there is likely little to greet them on the other side in terms of habitability, like driving on a low tank down a dark road for miles in the hopes there will be some kind of refuge at the end. This movie is very grounded by science fiction standards and while I’d usually argue in favor of stylization for a film about humanity going down such a dark path I think it’s important for people to see just how similar the world of the film is to their own. Along with that it adds to the stakes of the film. This isn’t Star Wars or Star Trek with hundreds of years of space faring technology in which the average ship is larger than our modern seafaring vessels. Instead humanity is using technology, while advanced, is only about a couple of decades removed from what we have, which while impressive is still lacking when it comes to the mission of preserving the entire species, like relying on a bundle of yarn to scale a mountain. The movie does a quite good job of weighing different positions on the ways the scientific community should pursue the future of the species. While not well versed in the sciences I’m aware of positions such as Hawking’s dream of spreading humanity to increase our odds of survival while someone such as Tyson, who despite his love of the cosmos, think that anything we could do to make a planet habitable is something we could do to Earth. This movie doesn’t throw away Hawking’s concept as being purely short sided but does hold steady on the ground that while humanity will branch out that we cannot simply become sloppy and throw away what we destroy. Leaving the planet that you destroyed while momentarily beneficial does not treat the underlying issues of human tendency to squander what we have. And when it comes to the personal themes pertaining to the characters while I do think Anne Hathaway’s character, Dr. Brand, delivers a bit of a less than stellar line when it comes to love, I do think love, even in a very aromantic story such as this is important. Even if Dr. Mann’s character is antagonistic; his view has some merit. He extends his love to the broad concept of humanity while Cooper by comparison is very specific with his love. And while I think the survival of the species through any means is a noble goal Cooper’s worldview leads to the prior theme in the sense that the people that will become pioneers in space will need to understand the reasons for the hardships faced on earth. Mann as someone who likely was never forced to do anything not pertaining to his field has become engrossed less so in the mundane human aspects of saving humanity. While movies like Twisters make me groan with the whole “down to earth” vs “practically minded” scientist conflict I do think that this movie tackles the issue much better as the focus isn’t necessarily on the drama between the characters but how the future must be shaped by people whos empathy extends beyond the measurable which does give some credence to what Dr. Brand said just minus the odd way it was worded. Even if I fail to comprehend the true scope of this movie I still admire its beauty, whether that be its outlook on human perseverance to its astounding visuals and brilliant soundtrack. It really does transport you to a different world where much like the physics described in the movie, time truly does feel relative as the movie engrossed me so much in the adventure of exploration that runtime felt like a non factor to my enjoyment. My mind is torn between scores as while my understanding limits my appreciation, very few movies have made me feel so emotional. By most metrics I've put in place this movie succeeds. Is it one I feel I need to rewatch soon, no, but what it did in one showing will likely stick with me for a long time after. If I saw this in any other medium I may not have enjoyed it as much but why judge a movie by what I didn’t experience vs what I did. While this movie clearly has a variety of messages it's trying to instill I simply can’t narrow it down to one, leading me to a conclusion similar to Longlegs in which the atmosphere is king to my enjoyment of these movies coupled with an interesting premise. I’m struggling to come up with a score because while I would’ve preferred to be able to latch onto a character more or feel like I was left with a different outlook the feelings i’m left with about the point of the movie are far to abstract for me to wrap my head around. If I go with the interpretation that this is a story about creating a better future for those that come after us i’m still conflicted as it takes a very specific approach to this theme as it makes a point to contrast itself through using Mann as an example. In that way it clearly makes a point to dismiss the cold pragmatism of survival. It does this in a way that almost feels hypocritical to me at face value, because I’m not sure at times how benevolent Cooper’s worldviews is compared to Mann’s as both are looking beyond their lifetimes out of the love of humanity but is Cooper’s more selfish if he prioritizes his personal attachments at times? Sorry to disappoint but days later and I still havent’t come to a conclusion so i’ll simply give this a placeholder score and come back to it later after a rewatch. This movie is one where I feel like I need to sit down and take some notes and solidify my take in order for me to have a developed opinion of a movie that, in terms of quality was evident, but I fear for the possibility that either its full scope of intentions were a bit lost on me.