Christopher Nolan at Interstellar Premiere

Paris October 30th, we’ve booked to attend Interstellar Premiere at Gaumont Marignan, Champs Elysées .

A long line of fans showing how expected is this movie and how much French people love director Christopher Nolan.

To be honest, we were quite excited to see one of our favorite directors introducing his movie.

We were lucky enough to see the director himself in the Q&A session before the movie. Well, you can imagine Christopher Nolan quite serious but for the event, he was rather teasing.

The interview lasted 20 minutes and we actually learned quite interesting stuff about the director that confirmed the idea that he is already among the greatest.

• First, we had the good surprise to discover that he is a great fan of STAR WARS saga, which explains many things regarding the ambiance of the movie (check out the review).
• More importantly, he gave us his definition of cinema which is very thoughtful and I gladly agree with.
• Then, the fact that he has true obsessions like the theme of time.

Here is the full interview:

First question; why INTERSTELLAR? Does the movie has a special meaning for you?

CN: I was always interested in Sci-Fi movies which have pretty much inspired me started when I was a child. When I came to see STAR WARS, I was only 7 at that time, it was huge for me. With the success of this film other of the genre were released again like 2001: Space Odyssey. This experience was really fundamental for me and made me understand all the possibles that the cinema can offer. Since I watched those movies, I want to direct film and make all this comes true.

What are the main themes approached in INTERSTELLAR?

CN: Well I don’t want to say too much about it. It is a film that is meant to be interpretated. I care very much about characters and their emotions, this is why I don’t want to let any sign to let the audience have a free feeling about the movie.

I think it’s a different film for you.

CN: I think it follows through what I’ve done before, with topics I like to go through like time. Maybe it’s another step, this movie is maybe more about humain feelings than the others . But I think I like to challenge myself and I found serious challenges in this movies that were exciting.

What were these challenges?

CN: I don’t want to say too much about the film… (Laugh) I think the less people know about the film, the more they get out of the film.

Why have you thought about Matthew McConaughey? How do you feel about him playing the leading role?

CN: I think when you pursue the film, you realize he was indeed perfect for the role. I try not to write a scenario based on an actor. But Matthew has something for the character, something iconic Americans have… He is a little bit like a cowboy and I liked that I couldn’t think someone more perfect for the role. As a director you dream to work with such actors.

For this movie you brought a special care to the image and sound. Is it a true will from you to go back to a cinema as sensorial as possible?

CN: Really, I try to show the exploration, but also combined with realistic set. Truth is, space exploration is the theme I wanted to work on for a while, but I wanted to pursue the directing into the more realism as possible. Movie references helped me. I absolutely wanted to avoid to shoot all the film using green screen to higher the experience. And from a director’s point of view, this is much more interesting to shoot in real conditions.

Last question before the film starts, you are one of the biggest director of this generation, what would be your definition of Cinema?

CN: If I think, to construct a definition of Cinema…well… it’s quite difficult actually. I mean, I try to think of movies which are pure cinema. I think, 2001 (2001 the space odyssey) is one of them.
My definition of pure cinema is an experience, it cannot be anything else; it cannot be a novel, a play it has to be a movie. When you see 2001, it cannot be anything else..(silence)

And before leaving the stage he added:

CN: By the way, thanks for preserving the details of the movie until now…(laugh)

2h50 later, he didin’t have to say much more indeed, all the audience left won over.