Interstellar and the Ultimate Paradox

“Interstellar”, can be easily touted as the most anticipated film of 2014. With director Christopher Nolan behind the project, it was bound to create a major buzz way before its release. Christopher Nolan has grown to join an elite group of directors who create immense expectation when their next movie is announced; Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and a few others. When an expectation for a movie is high, there are definitely going to be divisive reaction towards it. Any slight disappointment will convince moviegoers to label the movie as a bad one. The best way to go about it is to go to a movie with no expectations at all and see where the movie takes you. But as I said before, Christopher Nolan has joined the elite few who raise expectations, whether he likes it or not. 

So, where does “Interstellar” stack up? Is it a good movie, a great one, the best ever, bad, a disaster, worth watching once, don’t waste your time, a must watch, movies to watch before you die? The list of category goes on and believe it or not, there are many reviews which have labeled “Interstellar” with each and every one of these tag lines. Well, my verdict is, “Mind Boggling and Not to be Missed”. 

For me to talk about every aspect of the movie is going to make this a long post, a very long post. So, I’m going to jump right in, talk about some key features in general and go straight to the part which I want to discuss the most, “They”. Those who have watched the movie would know what I am talking about, and those who have not, I would suggest you stop reading now as there are major spoilers coming your way, like really major spoilers. But, if you’re a person who doesn’t mind spoilers, then keep on reading. But thou shall be warned, “Major Spoilers Ahead”. 

Now let’s take a look at the movie as a whole. Before I start saying anything, do keep in mind that I am not an expert movie critic. I’m just a normal guy who likes to go to the cinema, and perhaps write out his opinion when he feels like it, if time permits that is. Starting with the story, it’s going to be really difficult to put the whole story into words, but I shall try none the less. Earth and mankind are slowly heading towards their doom. Blight is wiping out most of the natural resources, means we are running out of edibles, and soon we will be only left with corn, which would face extinction too. The story revolves around Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a NASA pilot turned farmer. 

The story begins with his daughter Murphy suspecting that her room is haunted by a ghost who is trying to communicate with her. Father and daughter find out that the “ghost” is trying to send out longitudes and latitudes through binary coding using dust and gravitational abnormalities. Cooper and Murphy follow the coordinates to a NASA base which has been running in secrecy. Cooper learns that NASA, headed by Professor Brand (Michael Caine) has been working on a mission that can ensure the survival of mankind. Cooper is recruited by NASA to pilot the spacecraft Endurance into a wormhole which has appeared near Saturn. 

This wormhole had appeared suddenly at a time of need and the people in NASA believe that the wormhole has been put there by higher dimensional beings that they refer to as “they”. NASA used this wormhole to send out the Lazarus mission, which consists of 12 scientists being sent to 12 different planets. Through the signal transmitted back from these planets NASA has identified 3 planets, which the occupant scientists are Mann, Edmunds, and Miller, to be possibly habitable. Now it’s up to Cooper and three other scientists which includes Professor Brand’s daughter, Amelia (Anne Hathaway) to venture to these three planets and establish what would be the new Earth. Professor Brand has two plans on saving humanity. Plan A is a huge a space station that will take the human species to their new planet. Plan B would be to start a new human colony using the diverse human embryo that NASA had created. But there was a small glitch with Plan A. 

The said space station in Plan A is in fact the NASA base that Cooper stumbles upon. But a huge space station like that would not be able to break away from earth’s gravity and fly off into space. In order to solve this problem Professor Brand has been working on an equation. The solution to this equation will ensure humanity’s survival if the new habitable planet is found. If no solution to the equation is found, then the crew of Endurance will resort to Plan B leaving the humans in Earth to face their doom. But Professor Brand is confident that he will solve the equation by the time the crew of Endurance identify their new planet. Cooper who is reluctant to leave his family to venture into the unknown at the beginning agrees after the confidence shown by Professor Brand in solving the equation. 

Murphy is not happy with her dad’s decision to leave. She begs for him to stay as what she deciphered from the fallen books made by the ghost in her room. But Cooper has no choice at this point as the survival of mankind depends on him. Murphy doesn’t even say goodbye as Cooper drives away unable to change his decision. Endurance flies into space and enters the wormhole coming out at the galaxy which possibly houses their new home. Throughout their journey the crew was getting recorded videos from their family being transmitted from the NASA base. Yet, Murphy does not send Cooper any message. 

Upon arriving at this faraway galaxy, the crew which also consists of two robots, TARS and CASE, realize that the nearest planet within their reach, Miller’s planet is near to a rotating black hole, Gargantua. Due to the time dilation, every hour the crew spends on Miller’s planet will be almost 7 years on earth. Yet the data being transmitted from Miller’s planet seems the most promising, especially with the presence of water on the planet. The crew takes an important decision to visit Miller’s planet. Cooper comes up with a plan to fly around the planet before landing to lessen the time they would be affected by the time dilation. 

Cooper, Amelia, Doyle (Wes Bentley) and CASE land on Miller’s planet which is fully covered in water. Upon landing they find out what is left of Miller’s ship are just wreckages. Amelia tries to retrieve Miller’s data when her leg gets caught in the wreckage. A huge tidal wave approaches as CASE tried to save Amelia and get her to the ship before it hits. The wave hits just as Amelia enters the ship but unfortunately Doyle is swept away. Water enters the ship and it would take more than 40 minutes for the water to drain before they can take off. Cooper manages to get the ship off the ground right before the second wave hits. Cooper and Amelia reach Endurance, which has been left near the planets orbit not being affected by the time dilation to find Romilly (David Gyasi) has went through 23 years. 

Having lost 23 years, the crew once again has to make an important decision. They have to choose between Mann’s planet and Edmunds’s planet. Amelia driven by her love for Edmund suggests that they go to Edmund’s planet. Cooper, who realizes Amelia’s decision is influenced by her love, suggests that they go to Mann’s planet which is nearer. Amelia argues that both planets can be visited if Cooper wasn’t insistent on the trip back. They call it to a vote and Cooper and Romilly decide on Mann’s planet. They land on the planet and Dr.Mann (Matt Damon) assures the icy planet has a habitable surface. 

Back on earth where 23 years has passed, Murphy (Jessica Chastain), who is working with Professor Brand, is told the blatant truth by him that Plan A was a lie. Professor Brand has long realized that his equation could not be solved without the data from the singularity in a black hole. But he had to lie to get funding for the mission as no one would be willing to provide funds if they knew there is no way for them to be saved. So, Professor Brand had known that only Plan B would be executable and the humans on Earth are already doomed. Dr.Mann admits he also knew this when Amelia gets the video from Murphy informing of Professor Brands death and questions if the crew knew about this, especially her father Cooper, implying whether he had left her to suffocate and die on Earth. 

Cooper prepares to voyage back to Earth as soon as Amelia, Romilly and Dr.Mann can setup the module needed to get Plan B underway on the habitable surface. When Cooper and Dr.Mann descend towards the habitable surface, Dr.Mann reveals that the planet is indeed inhabitable. He had been sending false data as he wanted to be rescued, and not die alone on the forsaken planet. Dr.Mann smashes Cooper’s spacesuit visor and makes a run for the spaceship. Amelia rescues Cooper but Dr.Mann was already on his way to dock his spaceship with the Endurance. Romilly dies as a result of an explosion which was triggered to safeguard Dr.Mann’s secret. Cooper and Amelia chase after Dr.Mann, but he docks with the Endurance improperly. The airlock depressurizes killing Dr.Mann and damages the Endurance. The Endurance spirals out of control but Cooper docks his spaceship with it and gets it under control. 

They do not have enough fuel and supplies to reach Edmund’s planet. Cooper comes up with a plan to slingshot around Gargantua to get them to Edmund’s planet, losing more than 50 years by doing so. They will detach TARS into Gargantua to propel the ship on its course. It will also be their last effort to collect data from the singularity in order to solve Professor Brand’s equation. Once TARS is detached into the black hole, Amelia realizes that Cooper prepares to detach his ship too. Amelia unaware of the plan is helpless as Cooper detaches himself to ensure Amelia is well on her course and has enough supplies to survive the journey to Edmund’s planet. 

Cooper’s ship enters Gargantua where everything is pitch-black. He had lost communication with TARS and ejects from the ship as it becomes damaged. Cooper ends up in an extra dimensional Tesseract inside the black hole. The Tesseract is made of Murphy’s childhood bedroom at various times. Time literally exists as a spatial dimension. Cooper is able to see from behind Murphy’s bookshelf but unable to communicate with her. Cooper is desperate to make his past self stay and not leave on the mission. He pushes Murphy’s books from the shelves to spell the word “STAY”. Murphy is able to decipher the message but she is unable to convince Cooper to stay.  TARS also trapped in the Tesseract, contacts Cooper. Communicating with TARS, Cooper realizes he is not there to change the past but the future. 

Cooper becomes aware that he is indeed Murphy’s ghost and all the extra dimensional interference that happened in her room was caused by him. Cooper gets the coordinates of the NASA base from TARS and sends it into Murphy’s room using gravitational anomalies during the dust storm. At this moment Cooper believes that the extra dimensional beings are not aliens but humans from the future that have evolved into the fifth dimension and “they” have put Cooper there to ensure the survival of the human race. Cooper needs to send the data that TARS has collected from the singularity to Murphy for her to solve Professor Brand’s equation. Cooper instructs TARS to convert the data into Morse code and transmit it to him. As Cooper receives the data from TARS, he transfers it into the second hand of the wristwatch he gave Murphy before leaving on the mission. 

Cooper is confident that Murphy will definitely come back for the watch one day as it is a gift from him and she would definitely solve the equation. As soon as he finishes transferring the data, the Tesseract starts to close indicating that his job is done. As the Tesseract closes, Cooper is pulled into a wormhole and travels through it to find himself being rescued by a spaceship. He awakes in a NASA space station, named Cooper Station, and is informed that he is 124 years old. A damaged TARS is also rescued. Cooper fixes TARS and reunites with an elder Murphy who is approaching her death. Murphy tells Cooper to go and find Amelia who would be in Edmund’s planet establishing the new colony. Cooper and TARS steal a ship and head towards Edmund’s planet. The film ends showing Amelia in Edmund’s planet where Edmund has already died. Amelia waits, hoping for the arrival of other humans while starting the colony according to Plan B. 

That’s the rough outline of the story. I have missed a lot of things, some of it being the emotional scene when Cooper listens through 23 years of video messages after coming back from Miller’s planet, the bond that Cooper and Murphy shared during the early part of the film, Cooper’s meeting with the school teachers where he finds out the new syllabus teaches the moon landing was a propaganda to bankrupt the Russians, Cooper promising Murphy that he will come back and presenting her with a wristwatch, and many other scenes. Some questions are left unanswered in the movie, but it is something to be expected from Nolan, as provoking the thought has become one of his famous signatures. 

That is almost the whole story right there which for me is quite intriguing because face it, the story and screenplay are the most important elements for a movie. You can have the best cinematography, visual effects, background score, and other elements but without a proper story you will not be able to captivate the audience. Nolan gets the story spot on in Interstellar, but the best part is Nolan doesn’t fall short in other departments. The technical work in Interstellar is amazing. The spaceships, the gravitational effect was all done using real models and constructed sets rather than relying on visual effects. Visual effect was used in designing the space, planets, wormhole, and black hole. The visual effects were designed with the advice of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne to an extent that every wavelength and equation was taken into account. The effects were magnificent and most important of all it had a sense of realism that engulfs the audience. 

The cast carried their characters very well. An excellent performance by Matthew McConaughey, the Oscar winner doesn’t disappointment at all. Watch out for his performance after he comes back from Miller’s planet and watches 23 years of video messages from his family. Anne Hathaway was at her usual best. Matt Damon did a different character altogether, well acted and very convincing. Even the voice for TARS and CASE was done extremely well. Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine gave good performances in their race to save mankind. In a whole, the casting was a major plus point for the movie and no one gave a below par performance. It was simply one of the few movies that got the whole casting spot on. 

An important element of this movie, which is considered the backbone of the movie or can be even considered as a character itself is the science of the movie. Yes, Interstellar is very different from the many sci-fi movies that have come our way as this movie has gone to a great extent to validate the science in the movie. It might not be 100% accurate as there are many aspects of the universe that we do not fully understand. But with advice from Kip Thorne, the renowned astrophysicist who served as the film’s scientific consultant, Interstellar managed to capture the science and the universe as real as possible. They did take the liberty to indulge in their imaginations where it would permit. Why not, at the end of the day it is a movie, and a good movie with a good imagination is always worth watching. 

Another major plus point for the movie is Hans Zimmer’s music. Hans Zimmer has once again created magic with his music. Sound mixing is done well. The movie is loud at the right moment, emotional at the right moment and there is total silence whenever it is necessary. The silence lets us experience the extravagant design of the universe. It leaves us mesmerized with the visual effects and the mere silence of it adds on to the effect in a different way. A lot of people have stated that the sound mixing is bad and makes the dialogue inaudible. I didn’t feel so. I have watched the movie twice, both times in the same cinema but there were no sound issues for me. For me the sound mixing is actually done well and gives the movie that tone required for the audience to feel the exact emotion being presented. 

I am not an expert in cinematography, but from what I have read, the camera works needs a praise of its own too. It is said that the IMAX camera was redesigned to become a handheld camera to shoot interior scenes. The IMAX camera was also installed on a Learjet for filming. The effort taken on the cinematography can be visually seen on the screen; it is beautiful, real and fascinating. I have laid out the whole story and also talked about the important aspects of the movie. I’m sure I would have missed a few things but it is hard to hold everything in your mind after only watching the movie twice and try to do justice to it in writing. I will probably bemoan this article after watching the movie again when I realize I have missed to say so many things. 

Let me give the movie my final verdict once again before I move on to the main topic that I would want to discuss. Interstellar is definitely one of the movies that should be in the must watch list. It is truly mind boggling. The concept, the science, the emotion; how it is all intertwine in an amazing screenplay is just too good. The movie provokes your thought, bends your mind and keeps you thinking about it even weeks after you have watched it. For those who haven’t watched the movie yet, please do, as this movie is arguably Christopher Nolan’s best yet. 

So after reading through paragraphs and paragraphs of my writing, everyone would have realized how much I really like this movie. All said and done, I would like to discuss about two things, “they” and paradox. Towards the end of the movie, Nolan throws in a concept that literally rounds up the movie, like a loop; never-ending loop. The ghostly events in Murphy’s bedroom when she was young, and the solution for Professor Brand’s equation which Murphy finds in her wristwatch that saves mankind was all put there by Cooper. So, “they” built the Tesseract in order for Cooper to send out messages to the past to ensure everything happens exactly as it has already happened. A lot of people would argue that if the wormhole and the Tesseract were put there by evolved humans to ensure mankind’s survival, how did the humans survive to evolve into fifth dimensional beings to begin with? I hope I got that sentence right. Well, that’s what a paradox is all about. 

Nolan has created a loop where a beginning and an end cannot be established. This loop tells us that the humans survived with the help of the wormhole and the Tesseract, evolved into fifth dimensional beings and then created the wormhole and the Tesseract that saves them in the first place. But this is not a new concept. It is known as predestination paradox. This paradox suggests that those people who travel back through time would have no way of changing the situation. We have come across this concept in many movies such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Predestination paradox is the same concept that Nolan has used in Interstellar. The difference is there is no time travel involved in Interstellar. Time is played out as a spatial element inside the Tesseract. But it does involve Cooper’s interference in the past which shapes the very future that accommodates Cooper’s interference. This is very much alike the predestination paradox. 

So what makes Nolan’s use of predestination paradox so fascinating? Nolan takes the paradox to a larger scale; something that we can’t even imagine, but Nolan manages to do so. In other movies, the paradox involves a time machine, or a time travelling device that probably affects the life of certain people or a certain group of people. It is also limited to a certain incident or a certain time frame. Isn’t this the same case with Interstellar too? Yes it is. The difference comes in when we decide to stretch the paradox. We can’t do that in other movies. But in Interstellar, the paradox can be stretched; stretched to an extent that it becomes surreal. I’m going to attempt to explain the paradox that Nolan has created and it is most probably the greatest paradox of all time, even though a lot of people would think what I am saying is totally impossible. But as I always say, why not let imagination take its course and let us believe that the slightest impossibility can always become a possibility. 

In Nolan’s Interstellar, humans have evolved into five dimensional beings that ensure their own survival by creating an opportunity for Cooper to send back required codes and messages to his daughter. This interference by the fifth dimensional beings was necessary as the event of human survival it’s an important one. But let us stretch this paradox and take it back a few steps. What I am saying is, the fifth dimensional humans can perceive time as a spatial element, meaning that they are not only able to interfere in Cooper and Murphy’s life at that point of time alone but they will be able to interfere in anyone’s life at any point of time. So there is a huge possibility that this is not the first time these beings are interfering with humans on Earth. That’s why I said let’s take a few steps back, or in this case a few years back and stretch the paradox. What if, and I say again this is only an “if”, what if the fifth dimensional beings have been interfering with mankind’s historical timeline all this while. What if all the important events in human history has been tinkered by these fifth dimensional humans? 

Yes, it’s seems bizarre. But, think about it. If higher functional beings can perceive time as a spatial element and they are able to create paradoxical events, Cooper’s event might not be the only one that they might have tampered with. Just imagine all the important events throughout history that we would have come across, and paradoxically we have been creating the very event we are part of. The apple that fell giving birth to the idea of gravity to Newton; maybe that apple needed a certain push at the correct time for Newton to realize the existence of gravity, a push from a higher dimension. Each time we discovered something that changed the course of history; it might have been induced by higher beings. Maybe it was them who led Columbus to stumble upon America. The idea that we might have charted our own course of history is simply mind boggling. But I’m going to suggest something even more bizarre and take more than a couple of years back. When I say couple of years I mean few hundred years, and when I say more than that, I mean thousands of years back. 

Back to when humans were starting to exist. Be it through evolution or being put there by God, let’s say that the higher dimensional beings might have had a hand in it. If it was evolution then maybe they facilitated the process through billions of years of evolution. If it was God who put the first human on Earth, then maybe it was not God after all. Maybe it was us who put us here in the first place. Sounds illogical right? But in a paradoxical situation it is possible. It will be a sort of a time loop where we become our own creators. It’s seems crazy and utterly impossible right? Well, I’m not going to stop there. Rather than creating a loop where we have created ourselves, I’m going to take one more step back, the most important step; a step back to the point where everything began. This is the very point where the universe itself was created, around 13.8 billion years ago; the Big Bang. 

If higher dimensional beings can put wormholes wherever and whenever they wanted, if they can build a Tesseract in a black hole where time becomes a spatial element, who are we to say that they could not have induced the single spark that was the beginning of the universe. Yes, I am literally suggesting that we could have gone on to create the very universe that we live in. This is the ultimate paradox. A time loop which goes beyond time; a time loop which includes the very “beginning” itself. A time loop where we have created the incredible and vast universe that we live in; a time loop where each and everything that has come to be until now, and would continue to be is created by us. We are the masters and the slaves of the very universe that we reside in. 

For most people, it would sound ridiculous, idiotic and any other word that is equivalent or worse. But for those who don’t mind an out of the universe possibility, why not? As I said before, I believe Nolan has created the single most amazing paradox of all time. A paradox for creation itself, and it is ironic that we who have been created are none other than the creator itself. This is what makes Nolan special, and this is what makes Interstellar amazing; the possibilities are endless.