Interstellar: Noble Or Novel?

I was very much excited about the release of the movie Interstellar right from the very beginning. I had been following the news right from the time when Spielberg was said to be associated with it. My interest in the project was intact but it seemed that it was not for Spielberg, and when Nolan entered the picture my interest increased exponentially. The interest multiplied 3.14285714286 times when the name Mathew McConaughey was involved in the project. Along with the name Nolan, the names of Michael Caine and Hans Zimmer got attached to the project automatically. Unexpectedly there was no Wally Pfister. Instead a new cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema was roped in. Keeping these facts aside, the biggest hype was created when they had marketed the movie to be scientifically correct. Caltech professor Kip Thorne had rendered his inputs for the movie as a scientific advisor and an executive producer.Christopher Nolan right from the beginning told that this a movie about a father and daughter placed in a scientific situation. In the previous paragraph you might have seen a lot of scientific jargons used instead of simple terms. This was kind of what they did to the movie too. Nolan emphasized a lot on the emotions. First the teaser, then the trailer, and then the second trailer got an underwhelming but decent response. But none of them seemed to satisfy the fans or at least the Nolaniacs. When the script got leaked, the negative reviews floated in the internet based on the leaked script. This was a blow to the team and made them to alter few parts or we might take the leaked script to be the first draft. In another way it helped the audience to decide what they can expect from the film, and it kind of streamlined the expectation. After this incident Nolan wanted to create some positive hype about the movie and he projected this movie as his most ambitious project.
When the term Nolan is associated with a project there will be Nolaniacs all over to blow it up. It is the marketing team of the movie that has to be credited for the huge success of the movie. This involved a lot of hard work. Their strategy was positioning the movie as scientifically most accurate movie ever made. Everyone knows that even if Nolan makes a bloody awful movie it will milk a lot of money so the producers won’t have to worry about it. Nolan decided to make this as a movie which requires a lot of attention and you need to know an awful lot of science in order to understand the movie. He made a point that the convoluted storyline is because of the complexity of the theories in science.

To emphasize more on this learning part, the people from the preview shows said that this movie is ambitious and requires your attention in every moment. Directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright and Wally Pfister termed it as a visionary project. The project team associated itself with Google to form a specially hosted site which explains the concepts used in the movie to middle and high school students. They even made an offer for special school tickets to be booked. They made a point that the movie involved strong physics concepts and you have to be well equipped in order to completely savour the dish. In addition to that, a game was developed and available at the Google play store.

Minimaslist poster of Interstellar

After all the promotions and marketing the movie was released with higher expectations. I got a chance to watch the movie in INOX Madurai. The picture and sound quality blew me away. The movie was a visual treat. During the first half it was Mathew McConaughey who carried the movie. After True Detective, as a fan I was expecting a lot from him and he managed to deliver a beautiful performance in the movie. The performances of the lead cast cannot be questioned much as the real lead is the screenplay, cinematography and music. In a Nolan movie all I expected was the good cinematography and great music along with the complex storyline. The result to me was great cinematography, blissful music and the obvious complex storyline. A lot of people criticized Nolan for the high complexity on offer; another lot criticized him for lack of clarity in his thoughts. Whatever be the criticism, I thoroughly enjoyed the nearly three hours of running time. I never got bored for the entire length of the movie. Be it the performances in the first half or the Nolan in the second half, all that was in my mind was just enjoyment. Personally I don’t think it is a movie that is beyond any sci-fi movies made before, but it is one of the good movies made in this genre. There have been movies which have depicted science more accurately than this but being in the mainstream, trying what an Indie filmmaker does is something worthy of applauding. Now I am pretty sure people will get some exposure about science. This movie might have brought many Pseudo science aficionados but ultimately it has brought some genuine interest in science among few which many good movies unable to do. This movie cannot be termed as the best Nolan movie, as Prestige and Memento hold their positions firm. This movie is not also the worst Nolan movie as TDKR holds the position firmer than his bests. This is a movie to be seen in theatres for its visuals. Forgot to mention the haunting music of Hans Zimmer! If you watch the movie without any preconception you will like it. Comparing this movie with 2001: A Space odyssey is a blasphemy. You can call it an ode or tribute to 2001, just as Nolan had termed it. It is worth spending a couple of hours of your precious time to experience the imagery of the movie with its score which gives you Goosebumps.PIC Courtesy: Blogs.Indiewire ,AdiDhotre and my Thanks to Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, WB.