Film: Interstellar

Jump to the ** for the short version..!

Interstellar was right at the top of the film list, no competition. And right up until yesterday, I was sure I'd be going to a film. But then Time Out decided to inundate me with gig listings, and I had a decision to make.

..and then Aneta, who left the company a while back, dropped by and drinks were mooted, so by the time we'd finished there.. film was the only thing I could make, and I made my excuses and left at 8.37, for the 8.35 show at the Vue Fulham, my local cinema. The Odeon Kensington is closer to where we were, but the last showing there was at 8. Besides, the Vue is cheaper! (There have been lots of Odeon deals - including one I actually bought and let expire - but none are current right now.) I could have held out for a later show at the Vue, but heavens, I had to come in for work today.. and the film (+ ads) runs to over three hours!

I knew my best chance was to catch a bus outside West Kensington station - so I dashed there, and after a few minutes one appeared. And after a few minutes more, it deposited me on Fulham Broadway. Unfortunately, it took me some minutes more to make my way to the cinema - but I was there by 8.50, and I knew they run 20 minutes of ads. Got a ticket - and voucher for next time - and panted my way into Screen 1 - it's currently showing in three screens there.

There were only about half a dozen of us - well, it is showing in three screens, and this was a weeknight, and a late-ish showing. And one of the nights with no special deals. I actually made it in time for the trailers, and watched an interesting, extended one for The Drop, a thriller with the late James Gandolfini, Tom Hardy, and Noomi Rapace. Goodness, that's two films I've now seen with James Gandolfini, since he died. Ah well.

And so we settled in for the marathon that is Interstellar. Despite having stellar reviews (pun intended, sorry!), you have to wonder what you're in for with an epic that runs for nearly three hours (not counting the ads).

Well, you're in for a Christopher Nolan epic, is what you're in for! He directed this, and co-wrote it with his brother, Jonathan. Now, when the Nolans are involved, you're in for something different - and with Christopher, you're in for a roller-coaster ride! Half of Hollywood seems to agree, because half of Hollywood signed up for it.

Let's see: where do I start? For a film that begins at the end, let's start at the beginning. Matthew McConaughey is a farmer in a post-apocalyptic Earth, where farming is considered much more important than science (the apocalypse that got them here isn't explained, but seems to be environmental, and the inference is that science was somehow responsible). His wife has died, and he lives with his father-in-law (John Lithgow), son and daughter on a dusty farm, far from anywhere.

Anyhoo, one day - doubtless out of boredom: he likes farming, but he used to be a test pilot, as we later discover - he embarks on a voyage of exploration and comes across the renmants of NASA. I might point out that the method by which he finds this place is somewhat less believeable than what happened to Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But never mind.

So, hanging out in this place, trying to solve the mysteries of the universe, are an elderly professor of his acquaintance (Michael Caine) and his daughter (Anne Hathaway, sporting an unflattering, short, asymetric hairstyle, doubtless to look more scientific). And they decide that he's just the fellow they need to pilot their exploratory mission to find a new planet for humanity to live on. 'Coz this one is - not to put too fine a point on it - fecked.

And this is where the story properly kicks off. Apparently, there was a consultant physicist on set, and it shows - your basic theme in this film is Unified Field Theory. Not that it's called that in the film, mind - but there is a lot of talk about gravity, and the need to "solve" gravity. Leading to the impression that if they could just do whatever it is they're trying to do, they could just float the whole human race off the planet to wherever they needed to get to. But what the hey, that'll do as a working solution!

Well now, there's an awful lot of talk about relativity theory in this, and I'm not sure they understood all of it. But they do some clever playing around with relative timeframes, so while our intrepid astronauts are off discovering new worlds, Matthew McConaughey's kids have grown up, into Casey Affleck and Jessica Chastain. And that's not the end of the time slips - but I can't give away too much of the plot. Jessica Chastain, by the way, eventually ages to become Ellen Burstyn.

Bill Irwin voices one of the robots - and may I take this opportunity to congratulate them for a hugely innovative robot design! Most versatile. Wes Bentley goes along for the ride. Oh, and I was wondering what had happened to Matt Damon! He is on the cast list, but doesn't appear for ages.. and then pops up as one of the scientists of the first wave of exploratory missions, who set up camp on one of these candidate replacement worlds. He makes a brief, but memorable, appearance.

Well, that's the basic plot. But what is it like?

** This film is epic in every sense. Now, once we enter a black hole (not much of a spoiler, there's always one, isn't there?) things go seriously wacky. It's all very imaginative, but just a bit daft. And that's why, like IMDB, I give it about 9/10. But UP TO the black hole, this is a serious contender for best sci-fi film of all time. It really does have a bit of everything. The action sequences are edge-of-the-seat stuff. The alien worlds are imaginative, yet quite believeable, with different and fascinating characteristics. The soundtrack! Man, if you happen to forget to be excited, this soundtrack is here to help. I came out humming it - how often does that happen for a sci-fi film? (We have Hans Zimmer to thank for that, BTW.)

Fantastic film. Really and truly. And has to be long, given that we're talking about the very meaning of life, and the nature of the universe. Which looks fantastic, may I add, with shots worthy of Gravity. Epic in scale, visionary in outlook. This is destined to be one of the films that become a household name for the entire world.

I was surprised, mind, to check my watch at the end and discover it was 11.50! That means there were probably 10 mins extra of ads at that showing. Anyway, a 15-minute walk got me home - detouring slightly so as not to get in the way of our local fox! And then it was too late to blog - hence the lateness of this report.

Tonight is Scenes de Ballet - a mixed programme at the Opera House. The only availability they had for tonight was standing or restricted view - this was 9 days ago. The only other site that had tickets was LoveTheatre, which had stalls tickets for a small markup - I got one of those. Well, it'll probably be my only time in the stalls at the Opera House! so I'm looking forward to that. I see tomorrow night - the last night - is sold out, on the official website at least. And I got an email yesterday - I'm signed up for TFL updates - to the effect that Covent Garden Station lifts are fixed now, so the station should be operating normally again, and I can get the Tube back from there. That'll be handy.

For tomorrow night, I've booked to see a play called Fully Committed - a comedy about a busy restaurant taking bookings - at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Ends Saturday - quite limited availability. And then I'm back to Ireland again (!) for the weekend. Well, y'see, I'm supposed to be on a training course next week, and didn't want to be rushing from there to the airport that weekend..