7 Things to Think About While Watching Interstellar
First thing: go watch this in IMAX 70mm, the format it was meant to be watched in! You will only get 60–70% of the full experience in any other format. It’s not just the immersive viewing experience, but the soundscape that helps to give the proper experience. As for the story, it was not perfectly executed, so I can see why it got rated a bit lower on Rotten Tomatoes (as of this writing, at 74%). There was inherent disconnect built in with the story line that they chose, so I don’t see how they could have done it much better without gratuitous explanations. I can definitely see a version of Interstellar without such heavy science references that would have been more palatable to a general audience (and rated higher). So, let me share a few things that I think are worth thinking about as you’re watching the movie.
1. Relationships are the crux & emotional core.
There’s an underlying theme of the importance of human relationship that courses through the movie, so let each one soak in: father-daughter, man-woman, man-man, man-himself. The power of these relationships drive the core of the movie and helps to create the strong character development by using these very familiar relationship structures to express more than a scene could by itself. The beauty of it for me was how they didn’t have to show much of the time in between. It’s kind of like when you’re reading a book and you get to create the world on your own. Using these relationship constructs, the passage of time, and the little clues taken from the scenes shown, the viewer is able to create their own version of what happened. I’ll touch on a few of them in more detail soon.
2. Use this tip. Don’t get lost!
There’s a singular moment where science takes over the entire story and if you aren’t ready, you may get lost and maybe even dislike the movie (or get blown away at the twists and turns). Here’s the tip that may help you make that leap. Anytime I watch any form of entertainment, I always try to keep seemingly odd moments in the back of my mind. So, in Interstellar, there are moments where they talk about science seemingly randomly. With such limited time that the director is allowed, they will rarely throw in superfluous material. So, if they start talking about something that doesn’t really seem to fit in the moment (about science especially)…pay attention! Don’t tune it out!
3. I command you: Stop; Stare; Listen.
Enjoy the visual and auditory experience! I did like the storytelling elements, but the actual palpable experience is why I watched this in theaters, and in IMAX 70mm. When you’re treated with a beautiful image, stop thinking, and just take it in: the pure marvel, the pure power, the pure beauty. Even in our culture of information overload, there are very few moments where one can describe anything as truly awesome (awe-inspiring). This is one of those moments. Stop. Take it all in. Be amazed by the world around us — don’t get stuck on the slice of the world around you. As much as the visuals wowed me, the use of sound as a character was spell-bounding in its own right. The fact that space is silent was used so poignantly through certain sequences, to help express the moment — the vastness, the loneliness, the emptiness — so much expressed through literally nothing. Taking in these visual & auditory moments will help you truly experience this movie for all its glory!
4. Take your kids!
This piggybacks on the visual/auditory experience. Let your kids experience this and help them appreciate it. There’s an element of this movie that talks about how we need to think about our posterity and it gives the solution at the same time: let them become wowed by this world. We need our kids to be excited about the world that they live in, not just by ephemeral messages and cat videos. The TV show, Cosmos with Neil Degrasse Tyson, did a good job with this, but there’s something about a palpable experience that can leave a stronger impression. Cosmos also did a great job about showing where our next frontiers are, that they aren’t just in space! Our next frontiers are deep within ourselves (micro biology) and deep within the oceans. Fewer people have been to the deepest point of the Mariana Trench than have walked on the moon! The trench contains the deepest point in our oceans, 7 miles deep — it goes deeper than Mt Everest is high!
5. A little Good v. Evil
What would a movie about the end of humanity be without a little good versus evil. Surprise cameo = the beginning of the good v. evil arc! As cliche as it may feel, this has to be in a movie like this. To not acknowledge the evil in humanity, is to deny humanity itself. Why I feel this is so important to include in a movie like this is: if we’re designing anything, we need to design for Murphy’s Law (whatever can happen, will happen), especially for the eccentricities of humanity. Humanity can hijack itself, but Interstellar also shows that it’s only humanity that can save itself.
6. Hope for Survival
This moment was a blip in the movie, but it serves as a juxtaposition to the adventurers and explorers. The adventurer exhibits courage, creativity…traits that society designates as desirable and ‘sexy’. However, I really liked that they pose the idea of hope as the counterpart to the adventurers. Without hope, what would everyone else do? Without it, would humanity devolve into despair? You could see it in the seminal moment on the deathbed…the heavy weight and burden that weighed on him, as he created a mirage of hope for everyone. Think of this moment what you will, but there’s a different kind of courage and creativity that was involved here.
7. End of the Earth
The end of the earth as a habitable place. This was the main theme that drives this movie. Whatever the circumstance (in this case, food shortage), how should we respond to it? How should we respond when our basic needs are in danger? Hope v. Adventure. Our humanity. Morality. There isn’t much direct commentary on it, but the question could also be asked, whether we’re doing enough to avoid a similar situation here and now.
Based solely on cinematography, this movie could be classified as a masterpiece, but overall, it had its flaws. However, important questions and themes are brought along for the cinematic experience and that makes it a must see for me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Originally published at cliffkang.com on November 10, 2014.
