hey everyone it's Robert Macfarlane here and today we're going to be taking a look at
Interstellar and how Christopher Nolan created an antagonist right under our noses
guys spoiler alert definitely going to be spoiling the story for Interstellar today
so if you haven't watched it i thoroughly thoroughly recommend it it is a brilliant
science fiction film some links below if you want to go and watch it you knew
this was all a sham you've left us here
i just want to know
if you left me here to die
i have no idea what she's talking about i do
he never even helped to get people off the Earth no but he's been trying to solve the
gravity equation for 40 years Amelia your father solved his equation before i even left
why wouldn't he use it the equation couldn't reconcile relativity with quantum mechanics
you need more more more what more data you need to see into a black hole the laws of nature prohibit
a naked singularity probably is that true if a black hole is an oyster then the singularity is
the pearl inside the gravity's so strong it's always hidden in darkness behind the horizon
that's why we call it a black hole i love what Christopher Nolan has done with this film by
bringing extremely complex scientific concepts to a wide wide audience and being able to present
those ideas and concepts in a way that doesn't dumb them down but also doesn't leave vast weights
of your audience behind but what really makes Interstellar really special is the way in which he
deals with his characters each character has their own motivations behind being on this mission and
what we see in this particular scene even though we're two-thirds of the way through the movie
this is the first time we get a manifestation of an antagonist so we have four of our crew members
in this pod and they receive news from home that their mission has been a sham it's been a disguise
for an ulterior motive now what's beautiful about this is this actually immediately
puts the four team members into two separate groups one group is the scientific or rational
side of the argument and the other side is the emotional side of the argument by pitting these
two different perspectives against one another we really start to understand why each of these
characters are doing what they're doing you never want to come here unless you believed
you were going to save them evolution has yet to transcend that simple barrier we can care deeply
selflessly about those we know but that empathy rarely extends beyond our line of sight but the lie monstrous lie
Christopher Nolan has also used some very terrifying tense music this is the first
time he's actually used this music in the film and there's a good reason why he's reserved this
soundtrack for this particular moment this is not just the destruction of their beliefs in
this mission but it's also setting up Matt Damon or the new scientist as the antagonist he also
echoes the beliefs of the man who just betrayed them he posits the argument that human empathy
rarely spreads past our line of sight now the incredible sacrifices being made by the people on
Earth they're gonna die because in his arrogance he declared your case hopeless i'm sorry Cooper
their case is hopeless you know even in the face of the facts of their mission we get the two sides
of the argument one is the pure science this is what we know and therefore our restrictions
are this whereas the other side is the argument for hope the argument that we don't know
everything we don't know all of the answers and that there is still hope to save humanity
each side sets up very nicely what will become
the major point of conflict pushing us towards the end of the film no we are the future
Cooper what can i do
let me go home through this whole scene Christopher Nolan is pushing
in pushing in on each and every character as the realization of this information sinks in to each
person's motivations and character all of their choices up until this point has been based on a
certain level of understanding however for Cooper and the female scientist they both are now in a
situation where their motivations their beliefs about this mission have been utterly smashed
we get to witness it from initially wider shots and then as we get closer and closer and closer
to them we also get closer to the other side of the argument as well Christopher Nolan is trying
to tell us here that there is always two sides to an argument and both sides may have validity
it is up to us to decide which side we believe in the audience are almost
always going to base their judgments and their beliefs on who is the protagonist and which is
the morally correct argument throughout this moment of drama Christopher Nolan has also
set the stage for our key antagonist in the film Matt Damon plays a scientist
whose bravery and knowledge is recognized throughout the film by various characters
so Christopher Nolan has set him up to be almost a hero in himself yet we're only
getting to meet him now but what's key here is he sets up how our protagonist played by Matthew
McConaughey and Matt Damon have very different perspectives on the right solution the truth is
i never really considered the possibility that my planet wasn't the one
nothing worked out the way it was supposed to let's go
as this scientist now tries to kill Cooper to try and save himself we realize the real
two sides of this argument one is that Cooper went out to save his children whereas this scientist
wants only to save himself his argument here is so beautifully nuanced because we realized
that everything that the scientists had said before this point is still true to his character
it is just that he always covered up that selfish side to his argument it isn't until he's in the
situation where he's trying to kill Cooper so he can get off the planet and back to Earth
that he is willing to let the other character know to assuage his own moral code to assuage
his own guilt whereas Cooper is able to fight and survive in this situation because he is
not doing it for himself as the scientist even says that you're willing to go that little bit
further when you're fighting for the survival of your children not just
yourself that is exactly what Cooper uses in the end to actually fight and survive this situation
i'm sorry i can't i can't watch you go through this i'm sorry i thought i could but i can't
i'm here i'm here for you this is my voice i'm right here
you're not alone
they're both willing to do anything to achieve their goal Cooper in saving his children
and the people who are still alive on Earth and the scientist who is willing
to do anything to get off of this planet and go back to Earth both of them are based on primal
human instincts we understand both arguments and we separate them a little
bit further we already know from early on in the film that cooper has so much
courage and conviction to do what is needed to be done and the scientists now can no longer watch
the repercussions of his actions he talks to him and even tells him i'm sorry i can't watch this
happen to you showing yet again how cowardly he is and again he's now putting them in two camps again
one the coward's way out what he's done is he is also lied he's also given up and this is
at the core of Christopher Nolan's film is that if we give up we will lose everything
all right hey buddy why don't you give me a big deep breath
what is this what's beautiful here is that Christopher Nolan has also set up a simultaneous
argument back on earth with the exact same core principles Murph who is never going to give up
she is always hopeful that there will be a way and the brother who has ultimately given up he is
even unwilling to save his own family even in the face of one of his children dying he still refuses
to get the help required whereas at the moment that Cooper finds his communication device Murph
back on Earth also finds the resolve to try again to never give up hope that people can be saved
he's also spent four or five minutes now building us up into a huge crescendo he's not let up the
beats the pace of the music the rising instruments has gotten louder and louder throughout
this process from even well before the actual danger occurred he let us know that the danger
was there he let us know that we were actually going towards something that wasn't right but we
didn't know what that was yet by jumping between these two battles that are happening on Earth
and in space Christopher Nolan doesn't just raise the tension raise the drama throughout
the sequence he also doesn't change the music we we are jumping between two different places
in the universe but he makes it feel like one consistent argument one consistent journey towards
what he believes is the right way forward he isn't done with fighting for hope he's leading us into
the final major conflict of the film where each of the characters have to make difficult decisions
to add even more tension and dynamism to the scenes as each of the spaceships are flying off
into space and the shots on the cars as they drive through the spaces they're all they're no longer
smooth and controlled there's edginess to them there's movement to them even as the spaceship
flies into space whereas before we've seen it is utterly smooth and weightless is now jarred
as they race into space through the air we feel the urgency in each and every shot so in summary
Christopher Nolan has built a lattice of conflict towards the end of his film but what truly truly
makes this film brilliant and especially the sequence of conflict towards the end of the film
is that he is underpinned it with the moral question of his film the film is saying as long
as we are hopeful we can find a way especially in today's age with everything from pandemics
to global warming we need every bit of hope we can get thank you for joining me today if you
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while you're at it i'll wait and find below some links to up your game on your next film