Interstellar - no spoilers that weren't in the trailers

[tiggymalvern]

We went to see Interstellar yesterday. I'd heard very mixed opinions on it, and now I know why.

Visually, it looked amazing. Of course it did, it's Christopher Nolan.The ideas it explored were interesting, though I'm not convinced it explored them as well as it might have done. But the big failing for me (and all of us who saw it said the same, so it wasn't just me) was that the film completely failed to connect emotionally. I was supposed to empathise with the father who was leaving his family, missing out on their lives while he strived to save the human species. It just didn't happen.

I have to compare Interstellar with Inception, because there's some overlap in the big themes they explore. There are definite parallels between the settings of space and limbo, of someone being stranded alone for years; of one person living out an entire life, while for a loved one little time has passed. Yet the emotional storylines of Inception worked - Dom grieving for his wife and missing his kids, Fischer Jr constantly seeking his father's approval and never getting it. I felt for those people. So how is it that the silly action movie, with all its crazy fight sequences and band of criminals, managed to work emotionally, while the slower, talkier film failed so badly?

I think maybe a lot of it comes down to the overall tone of the film. Interstellar is a very grim film, dealing with humanity facing starvation, and obviously its mood is going to be something of a downer. I'm not going to blame the acting - I can't speak for Anne Hathaway much, but I know Matthew McConaughey can play dour and restrained and still blow me away (True Detective). I just think a little humour now and then would have made a world of difference; some dark sarcasm, some attempts to cheer up the kids and distract them from the deteriorating world, anything to make the characters seem more like people. As it was, all they did was talk about doom and high concepts, and the element to make me invest in them as characters rather than plot enablers just wasn't there.

I'm glad I saw it, but I won't buy the DVD.

ETA The comments contain spoilers.

Comments

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

I think we saw it at the same time and had similar impressions.

When Murph sends him away at the end, did you get the impression that was her long delayed revenge? Just a little bit? I did, but maybe I'm just a mean old bitch thinking that.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I think that might have been part of it, but it was also for me the most emotionally honest and well depicted moment of the film. She had an entire new family who had been there for years, why should she need him now? In an entire movie where I didn't give a shit about the people, that part worked.

[teaforme.livejournal.com]

It was a near miss for me in terms of the emotional connection. There were times where I was almost there, but it didn't quite happen.

I am so glad I got to hang out with you guys, even though it felt too brief!!! :-)

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

It's always lovely to see you again. I just wish you got to spend more time up here so you didn't have to pack everyone in so tightly :-)