By Michael Parnell
Movies are often greater than the sum of their parts. We watch the story unfold and, as we do, there is something more there than just the pictures and the actors’ words.
The auteur theory of filmmaking says the influence of the director is so great that he or she actually is the author of the film. Yes, filmmaking is a highly collaborative enterprise, but some directors have such a fingerprint on the final product that you see and hear his or her voice shining through.
Interstellar is the work of one of those directors. Christopher Nolan not only directs his movies but also writes and produces them. It is clearly his vision that we witness on the screen.
While it looks like this movie is a science fiction tale about space travel through wormholes and far off galaxies, the truth of the matter is this movie is about the relationship between a father and a daughter. It focuses on a promise made.
The father, Cooper (Matthew McConughey), is a farmer in a time when farms are not doing well. A blight is killing off all vegetation on earth one species at a time. Add to that there is widespread drought. The earth is losing its ability to sustain life.
Cooper has a daughter, Murphy (Mackenzie Foy), who does not fit her times. The reason is her father’s influence. Cooper is a former astronaut. Because of this he has taught his daughter to use the scientific method to discern what is taking place around her.
There is little room for science in their world. History textbooks now declare that the moon landing did not happen. It was a hoax to drive the Soviet Union into bankruptcy. But Murphy is told to use science as a way of understanding her world.
One of the ways she does is this is by examining phenomenon that is happening in her room. She first believes there are ghosts there because books fall from her shelves randomly. But through observation she discovers that the spaces on the shelves are binary code for map coordinates.
She and her father rush off to find where those coordinates lead. What they discover is a secret NASA lab where a group of scientists are working on a way to get all of humanity off earth. The earth is dying and these scientists know that something has to be done or all on earth will perish.
The leader of the group, Dr. Brand (Michael Caine), tells Cooper, who was once his former student, that three groups have left earth in search of a planet where humanity could rebuild society. Dr. Brand wants Cooper to lead a group to go to those three planets the groups found and bring back information on which is best suited for colonization.
Cooper agrees to go, but that puts him at odds with Murphy. One of the messages she discerned from her room was, “Stay.” Murphy comes to hate her father for doing what he did. She feels he is abandoning her to go on this journey and he will either die in space or not return.
In a highly emotional scene, Cooper holds Murphy in his arms and tells her he will return. She does not believe him and remains bitter for many years.
What follows is the exploration of the planets, while on earth Murphy grows up (played as an adult by Jessica Chastain). Murphy now works with Dr. Brand to develop a means of getting humanity off the planet. Cooper works hard to find a way to fulfill his mission, but most importantly to get back to Murphy.
This is Christopher Nolan’s most personal movie. Nolan directed The Dark Knight trilogy, which took a darker look at humanity, but this movie has a lighter tone.
I would dare say this is a love letter to his children. It is wrapped up in images from Nolan’s favorite movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it is not so much about space travel as what it means to be a parent and the connection between parents and children. There are things parents have to do that puts them out of sync with what their children want or need.
One of the downfalls of this movie is characterization. A case in point is Tom (Timothee Chalamet), Cooper’s teenage son.
Tom is not on Cooper’s mind while he is trying to get back to Murphy. It is as if Nolan writes him into the script and then writes him off. Casey Affleck plays the adult Tom, who grows up to be a farmer, but his character does little to move the story along.
Nolan wants the focus to be on the relationship between Cooper and Murphy, which is very clear. It is so clear that early on in the movie we learn that Murphy’s name is Murphy Law. She is named after that adage that says that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
When Murphy protests her name, Cooper tells her that the name is meant to say that anything that can happen, will — even the return of a father who travels millions of miles into the vacuum of space.
Interstellar
Rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
With: Matthew McConaughey (Cooper), Mackenzie Foy (10-year-old Murphy), Timothee Chalamet (15-year-old Tom), Michael Caine (Professor Brand), Jessica Chastain (Murphy), Casey Affleck (Tom)