Fantastic films deserve high praise.
Almost everyone remembers where they were when they watched Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar for the first time. I was on the couch of my parent’s new home, sitting quietly with my dad as we processed the scope of the film. Although, admittedly, the film’s pacing did make me zone out a few times throughout the almost three-hour-long runtime (a problem I have with many of Nolan’s films), I did appreciate the sensationalism and emotional depth of the universe Nolan desperately wants to make sense of.
There is a lot to appreciate about this sci-fi epic. Throughout Interstellar, Nolan argues for sentimentality throughout the film in the push and pull between the scientific and the emotional. Whether or not Interstellar is Nolan trying to balance his own obsessions with time and space through his love for cinema and his family, there is something profound about this film, and filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino have praised it.
During a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Tarantino likens the film to two filmmakers who bring something very different and specific to cinema.
After his first viewing of Interstellar, Tarantino said:
“We’re waiting for the movie to start and it hit me. I realized that it hadn’t been since The Matrix that I was actually that interested in seeing a movie even though I didn’t know what I was going to see. It’s been a while since somebody has come out with such a big vision to things. Even the elements, the fact that dust is everywhere, and they’re living in this dust bowl that is just completely enveloping this area of the world. That’s almost something you expect from [Andrei] Tarkovsky or [Terrence] Malick, not a science fiction adventure movie.”
Films like Solaris or Badlands are undoubtedly masterpieces, but those films are more internal and cerebral than the work of the filmmaker who made The Dark Knight, Inception, and Tenet.
Nolan doesn’t make films that are just for film lovers. Instead, he makes films that are equal parts artistic and difficult that have those popcorn effects and action that bring everyone to the theater to witness the scope of the world he has created.
It seems that Tarantino believes that this is what makes modern-day cinema work.
“Christopher Nolan would be just as good of a filmmaker as he is, just as a potent filmmaker as he is if he was making movies in 1975,” Tarantino said in the same interview. “Or, if he was making movies in 1965. I’d like to see Chris Nolan’s version of The Battle of Bulge. That would be fucking awesome.”
The current filmmaking landscape is a bit stressful, I know. But being reminded of the praise Nolan received for Interstellar reminds us that we have to make the stories that we want to tell, even if everyone doubts us along the way. Stick to your truth, and people will watch and praise you for your achievements.
Have you rewatched Interstellar lately? Let us know your thoughts on the film in the comments below!
