I recently saw Interstellar for the first time and really liked it, so here’s another Nolan-related question: What are your thoughts on the character played by Matt Damon – Dr. Mann?
Ooh man. Alright, I haven't seen Interstellar since I first saw it in theaters, meaning I'm about a year out from the actual specifics of the film, meaning I'm going to be taking my lingering impressions of the broad strokes of the film's thematics and applying them to do what I /do/ remember about Dr. Mann's character. So let's get analysisizing.
First off, I love that Dr. Mann only appears two-thirds of the way into the film. He's a major character and lingering presence in the film's worldbuilding and then poof, there he is, he's a major actor and serious dramatic object for a whole act of the movie. Dark Knight and Inception were constructed more like massive puzzle boxes, where all the pieces fit into a definable pattern, but with Rises and Interstellar, it seems like Nolan might be moving towards classic "epics," with whole sea changes of tone and narrative baked into their winding stories. I am all for this - I really like him as a director, and I'd love to see a trusted, AAA director who's allowed to regularly get away with movies as winding and ambitious as Interstellar. Dr. Mann's presence reflects that nicely.
That's the easy stuff. As for his character specifically within the narrative, Interstellar was consistently about two things, sometimes to the point of wincing "we get it, Nolan" - human connection and human ambition, specifically as it applies to the exploratory, scientific urge. These two forces push and pull across the film, with the protagonist's ambition eventually being validated and "redeemed" by human connection. Mann could very well just exist to be a cautionary tale offering some push against these ideals (since he sacrificed everything for science and was given nothing for it), or even just a narrative obstacle, but if we want to slot him into this framework, I'd say he was someone who had his human connection stolen from him, and because of that he lost his scientific ambition. I think the movie uses the terror of the loneliness of space to emphasize we need /both/ of these instincts, or we are lost as people.
That sounds pretty good to me! Hopefully he doesn't have some major speech I'm forgetting that totally contradicts this interpretation, but based on my memories of the film, that's what I've got.
First off, I love that Dr. Mann only appears two-thirds of the way into the film. He's a major character and lingering presence in the film's worldbuilding and then poof, there he is, he's a major actor and serious dramatic object for a whole act of the movie. Dark Knight and Inception were constructed more like massive puzzle boxes, where all the pieces fit into a definable pattern, but with Rises and Interstellar, it seems like Nolan might be moving towards classic "epics," with whole sea changes of tone and narrative baked into their winding stories. I am all for this - I really like him as a director, and I'd love to see a trusted, AAA director who's allowed to regularly get away with movies as winding and ambitious as Interstellar. Dr. Mann's presence reflects that nicely.
That's the easy stuff. As for his character specifically within the narrative, Interstellar was consistently about two things, sometimes to the point of wincing "we get it, Nolan" - human connection and human ambition, specifically as it applies to the exploratory, scientific urge. These two forces push and pull across the film, with the protagonist's ambition eventually being validated and "redeemed" by human connection. Mann could very well just exist to be a cautionary tale offering some push against these ideals (since he sacrificed everything for science and was given nothing for it), or even just a narrative obstacle, but if we want to slot him into this framework, I'd say he was someone who had his human connection stolen from him, and because of that he lost his scientific ambition. I think the movie uses the terror of the loneliness of space to emphasize we need /both/ of these instincts, or we are lost as people.
That sounds pretty good to me! Hopefully he doesn't have some major speech I'm forgetting that totally contradicts this interpretation, but based on my memories of the film, that's what I've got.
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Arjuna Chatrathi
