Dunkirk is only a few days away, and judging from early reactions it is going to be an event that must be seen on the largest screen possible. That’s primarily because it is a Christopher Nolan film.
Nolan has become, at least in my mind, the new populist filmmaker. He is the new Spielberg because he has an ability to deliver scope, and tell stories which cut across cultural lines. Christopher Nolan delivers epics, but his epics still carry the thoughtfulness and complexity he displayed in his early work.
Here is your arbitrary ranking of Christopher Nolan’s films up to this week. Let me know if I’m on point or insanely stupid, whatever you’re feelin’…
6. Interstellar
There are moments where Interstellar is my favorite Christopher Nolan film. There are frustrating moments, too, and a slight hint of the ambition getting away as his black hole adventure film tries to touch too many bases at once.
But those favorite moments, they sing. They have power and sometimes unbearable tension. The scene where Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper sits down to see video messages from the last 23 years of his life – 23 hours he lost in only an hour while exploring a planet far across the cosmos – packs an emotional punch that is often absent from Nolan’s stories. The docking scene is absolutely incredible. And the final sequence, while convoluted, is more inventive that the ambitions of most Hollywood blockbusters.
So many things work in Interstellar, but the whole doesn’t quite come together with the same amount of strength as the parts.
