Couldn’t Hear ‘Interstellar’s’ Dialogue? Christopher Nolan Says That’s Intentional

Interstellar was hugely hyped as the latest sci-fi epic from Christopher Nolan, and has been painstakingly dissected since its release, mostly for its level of grounding in scientific fact. Some critics further claim the film is confusing and implausible. Most recently, moviegoers and industry insiders are complaining of the film’s sound, which makes some dialogue hard to hear or understand.

Christopher Nolan says the sound is just as he intended. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the director defended himself and his sound team, claiming the sound’s evolution was part of the creative process.

“We mixed for months and months and we talked about everything. We must have mixed this film over six months. It was a continuous, organic process and discussion.”

But despite Nolan’s assertions, professionals who mix sound for a living are expressing distaste at Interstellar’s final product. An anonymous insider, who did not work on Nolan’s film, told Billboard the sound problems are significant, even when viewed in a theater known for extraordinary sound quality.

“I noticed right away that there were parts where the music totally obliterates the dialogue. Many others in the sound community were starting to question whether it was an anomaly or the way the film had been released.”

Nolan told THR that there are indeed some places where the sound is loud or jarring, but that is how the film is intended. Scenes where characters are driving through a dust storm or are inside a spacecraft are deliberately loud, to mimic the reality of that experience of being inside a moving land or space vehicle. Each planet’s environmental elements are similarly highlighted through sound: gigantic waves or miles of ice.

An Entertainment Weekly reviewer, Darren Franich, in a lengthy piece that discusses Interstellar’s sometimes confusing plot, inadvertently makes reference to the sound issues. Spoiler Alert: He describes the death scene of Michael Caine’s character, who utters significant final words, although not all moviegoers are certain what those words are.

“Michael Caine starts dying, and with his dying breath, he reveals that he already solved the equation, and it didn’t offer any salvation. At least, I thought he said that he solved the equation. A couple of my fellow moviegoers claimed that he never solved the equation, because of a lack of evidence.”

That confusion over Caine’s dying words? Also intentional, according to Nolan, who claims he did not want to reveal to the audience more than what the characters knew. He wanted the audience’s understanding of important pieces of information to evolve slowly.

“The creative intent there is to be truthful to the situation – an elderly man dying and saying something somewhat unexpected. We are following the emotional state of Jessica’s character as she starts to understand what he’s been saying. Information is communicated in various different ways over the next few scenes. That’s the way I like to work; I don’t like to hang everything on one particular line. I like to follow the experience of the character.”

Nolan also told THR that he regularly visits several theaters after his films are released, just to see how the sound plays in different locations.

[Christopher Nolan Image: Google]