It shows how we fit into the vast universe, and how lonely life can be.
WithInterstellar, Christopher Nolan highlights the profound size and loneliness of space.
Yet what is homesickness when you are in fact still on Earth?
Just imagine how you would feel if you were two years away from home.
Radiation, vacuum outside everything wants us dead.
Were just not supposed to be here.
And yet they cant turn back.
But for the crew inInterstellarthere are just infinite horizons of isolation stacking on each other, infinitely.
Stuck in a small confined environment, with no privacy, years away from home?
Current scientific understanding suggests that the observable universe has a diameter ofabout 93 billion light-years. This immense size only accounts for the part of the universe we can observe; the actual size could be much larger or even infinite.
An impossible ask; I couldnt do it.
It makes us cherish the gift of Earth.
Nolans meditation on homesickness is made more painful through the screenplays constant reminder of how special Earth was.
Miller’s Planet is covered in water, with shallow oceans stretching across its surface. There is no visible landmass, making it challenging for human habitation, let alone recreation.
Some posit the observable universe is 109.368 trillion times larger than the width of Asia.
This is the setting and background forInterstellar.
Within this virtually infinte setting, the fictional scientists of Project Lazarus can only pinpoint 12 potentially habitable planets.
A still fromInterstellarportraying the beauty of our Earth.
Remarkably, out of these 12 planets, only 3 hold any real promise as livable.
The moment that truly captured the gift of Earth for me was when the characters landed on Millers Planet.
Who are we to be bored by the beauty of a mountain, even a hill?
Dr. Mann, played by Matt Damon, awakens from cryosleep and is washed with relief to see other humans again after so many years in solitude in an alien environment.
Even an insect crawling on a blade of grass?
But poetics aside, truly, isnt that the point of Millers Planet?
It makes profound points about human connection.
Dr. Mann embraces Matthew McConaughey’s character after spending countless years in isolation.
We only like being alone in the context of having been with other people.
Stripe all people from our lives and we arent so much alone, as we arealone.
Not, really, living a life of solitude, but stripped of life all together.
Interstellarportrays Earth as a dying planet with constant dust storms that will kill off the food supply in the very near future
A loneliness beyond loneliness permeates the entirety of the film.
I dont think many people can fathom the depths of loneliness one must plunge to say something like that.
It presents an uplifting message of optimism and innovation.
The school system inInterstellaris no longer about education, but a propaganda machine for bringing more people into farming.
This optimism, though, is tinged, as the innovative spirit propelling them requires significant sacrifices.
InterstellarsSocio-Political Setting
When I first watchedInterstellarin 2014, I didnt realize it was a film aboutenvironmental collapse.
Coopers character is outraged that textbooks claim the moon landing was a hoax designed to bankrupt the Soviet Union.
While depicted as the more dependable child, Tom ultimately symbolizes a tragically conservative force oblivious to reality, swayed by government propaganda and working hard to solve a problem that can’t be fixed.
The deceptions purpose is to keep children focused on growing food, rather than dreaming big or thinking ambitiously.
And we count these moments.
We count these moments as our proudest achievements.
Cooper tenderly holds a distraught and resentful Murph, sharing an emotional goodbye before embarking on his space mission, despite her fervent pleas for him to stay.
But we lost all that.
Or perhaps weve just forgotten that we are still pioneers.
And weve barely begun.
Cooper bursts into uncontrollable tears watching messages from his family.
And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, that our destiny lies above us.
Interstellarspathos derives a great deal from the fact that the film doesnt linger on Earths demise.
Cooper simply states, Mankind was born on Earth.
Young Murph is best friends with her dad and their relationship is the dramatic heart ofInterstellar.
It was never meant to die here.
With that, the entire crew sets to work to address the crisis.
It also enhances the characters appeal.
Middle-aged Murph hates her father for leaving, but still wears his old jacket and follows in his footsteps.
Instead of posturing, they selflessly sacrifice themselves.
It presents a thoughtful ethical tapestry.
InInterstellar, theres a major theme of balancing duty to family with duty to the whole human race.
A still young Cooper beside his dying daughter, Murph, epitomizing the profound passage of time that separated them.
Cooper, is torn between saving his daughter or saving humanity.
Hes caught in the difficult choice of either ensuring his familys safety or serving the collective good.
She must negotiate the friction between resentment and adventure.
Professor Brand is ensnared in a Faustian predicament: Do I sacrifice my integrity to save humanity?
It makes a beautiful and moving commentary on aging.
Aging is a difficult topic to illuminate in cinema.
The crew goes on a mission to a planet near a supermassive black hole named Gargantua.
Three crew members head to the planet.
One crew member stays behind.
Nolan makes the time the crew spends on the planet extremely dramatic and intense.
One character on the mission dies and does not return with them.
Its probably the most action-packed sequence in the entire film.
The sacrifice is palpable.
Barely escaping death, once they get off the planet, the viewers heart rate goes down.
Cooper and Amelia watch all the video signals from Earth sent by their family over the past two decades.
Coopers children age from adolescents to adults in the messages.
His son shares updates on his life, including both tragic and joyful moments.
It makes us confront the meaning of life and death.
Before revisitingInterstellar, my most vivid memory from watching the film was the emotionally-charged ending sequence.
Its probably the most famous scene from the movie.
Coming back to this scene nearly ten years later, the poignancy struck me more intensely.
I think everyone that has seenInterstellaris most fixated on the relationship between Cooper and his daughter, Murph.
Cooper has aged only a few years while Murphy is in her late 90s or early 100s.
Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, whom Cooper has never met due to his mission.
Here are the main takeaways.
