The director’s films have won them, but no cigar for him – yet. Will Interstellar be the one to bag Christopher Nolan that elusive Oscar for Best Director?
It may be six months away, but the 2015 Oscars are already starting to generate buzz. So will Nolan's epic sci-fi about climate change and wormholes finally clinch him an Academy Award? The word on the street is pretty positive.
Nolan gained a cult following with films such as Memento and Insomnia, before going on to gain huge mainstream success with his Dark Knight trilogy. But while Inception effectively blended box-office appeal and intelligence to secure it the coveted trophies for cinematography, editing, sound and visual effects, and Nolan got a nomination for the screenplay, he missed out on a personal win.
Not-so-weird science
Writing in The Guardian, Ben Child suggests the "Spielbergian sense of wonder at the universe" that's apparent in the Interstellar trailer will be balanced out by the director's familiar seriousness. Nolan’s hard science approach will certainly help, with a heavy influence from the theories of physicist Kip Thorne. This might be a winning combination, Child proposes, when Oscar season rolls around.
"The tone is downbeat, bereft of fantasy leanings, and suggests that Interstellar might cleave closer to moon-landing movies such as Apollo 13 than Nolan's usual, flashier, oeuvre," Child reckons, "not-to-mention more hopeful all-American future visions such as ET or Close Encounters."
But it is also hopeful, evoking Dylan Thomas’s strong words from his poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, delivered rather movingly by Michael Caine. Indiewire agrees, and it does see something of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Interstellar, “in its blend of sci-fi and some heavy emotional work.”
(Maybe) the time is now
That the film’s release coincides with a drop in funding for space exploration could also work in Nolan’s favour, according to HitFix.com. "This could be an extremely meaningful portrait at a time when NASA is seemingly funded just enough to keep the lights on," they suggest.
The writer admits that the Academy has a rocky history with science fiction, but thinks that the stars might align for Interstellar, which is expected to have broad appeal, as well as getting the more hardcore film fans all worked up (guilty).
Even when only the teaser trailer had been released, Indiewire declared: "Most would agree that he's due for further recognition at this point, and there's a lot to suggest that Interstellar could be the one to provide it." I’m inclined to agree.
What do you think? Is Interstellar going to bring Nolan the Oscar glory he deserves? Let us know in the comments.
