With any major release that comes out from any of the major studios, or any of the major directors at work in Hollywood, there is going to be a contingent of what the internet likes to call "haters." These haters can be film critics or fans on message boards, and we here at Cinema Blend are not exempt. Our own Sean O'Connell was not impressed with the efforts of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar - a film that practically baited the haters more than any Taylor Swift single ever could. Unlike Ms. Swift though, Christopher Nolan has a theory as to why people might hate Interstellar on the first go-round. In his opinion, the film needs at least two go-rounds to be properly absorbed.
The Daily Beast ran a pretty comprehensive profile on Christopher Nolan, with a lot of it naturally focusing on Interstellar's internet reaction, as well as the science behind the film's many scientific plot devices. Nolan's reaction not only showed how much faith he had in the work that his brother Jonathan had done with theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, but it also showed that even he understood just how much science there is to in with Interstellar:
There have been a bunch of knee-jerk tweets by people who’ve only seen the film once, but to really take on the science of the film, you’re going to need to sit down with the film for a bit and probably also read Kip [Thorne]’s book.
While Christopher Nolan is no stranger to losing the audience when it comes to his metaphysical plot devices, Interstellar is dealing with a lot of high concept scientific thought, and unless you're primed for that mode of thinking, you're going to have a hard time keeping up. Granted, the film has a basic story and a spectacle factor that makes it accessible to any audience that sits to watch it. But it's easy to mistake some of the really wibbly wobbly (and yes, in some cases, timey wimey) science of Interstellar as big, honking plotholes when the scientific concepts are not being grasped.
If you don't get the science of Interstellar the first viewing, don't fret: even Kip Thorne was learning new things while he was serving as Interstellar's scientific adviser. If you're open to wrapping your mind around those concepts though, it's probably a good idea to follow Christopher Nolan's advice and watch the film again and/or read Thorne's The Science Of Interstellar, which is available at bookstores, retailers, and libraries around the world.
Interstellar is now playing in a theater near you. Though, if you're interested in catching up without seeing the film or reading the book, click over to page 2 for a graph that shows just how the film's plot progresses, courtesy of Behance.net.
