Christopher Nolan’s “Desire to hang on to the past” Made Him Reject His Own Brother’s Idea For Oscar-Winning Movie
One of the eye-widening masterpieces of Christopher Nolan is Interstellar, featuring a star-studded cast of Hollywood’s talented actors. However, little did fans know that the filmmaker’s desire to hold on to the past led him to disapprove of his brother’s original idea.
Initially, the character Murph in Interstellar was a boy, but because Christopher Nolan has a daughter, he could connect the narrative through a parent’s eye and decided to reject his brother’s idea. This decision came out naturally and Nolan was able to write a relationship between a father and daughter through his experience. This brought more authenticity and emotional depth to the film.
Why Christopher Nolan Ditched His Brother’s Idea For Interstellar
With each new movie that Christopher Nolan makes, the director allows fans to feel his exceptional style of filmmaking. Interstellar is one of Nolan’s creations featuring a team of astronauts and their search to find a new home for humanity amongst the stars. From its cast to the experience of watching the film in IMAX, the director made sure to engage fans.
However, there’s another notable aspect that many fans might not know. In the draft made by Nolan’s brother Jonathan Nolan, Murph was originally a son. But the filmmaker’s eldest child Flora became the reason why Nolan chose to abandon his brother’s idea and turned Murph into a daughter. According to a post shared on X (earlier Twitter) The Oppenheimer director said:
“I have a daughter who is the same age as the character. In my brother’s draft, it was a son. I turned it into a daughter because Flora was about that age when I was making it. As my kids were growing up, I had this desire to hang on to the past.”
Christopher Nolan explained that he wanted to capture the moments of his daughter’s childhood since she was also growing up. So, the filmmaker turned Muprh into Joseph Cooper’s daughter. He added:
“You become quite melancholy about how fast it’s going. All parents talk about it, all parents experience it. So Interstellar came from a very personal place.”
The Tenet creator explained that through his experience, he was able to capture the relationship of a father and daughter. And since every parent desires to capture their children’s growth, Nolan’s Interstellar became more than just science fiction.
Christopher Nolan Revealed The Most Crucial Scene in Interstellar
Christopher Nolan went above and beyond while capturing the emotional moments in Interstellar. As explained by the director in an interview with The Atlantic, Nolan broke his rules to bring depth and authenticity to the film. One of the most essential scenes in Interstellar included Matthew McConaughey‘s Cooper watching videos of his children growing.
The father missed 23 years due to time dilation and witnessed it through the videos. To make the scene more compelling, Nolan filmed it with a close-up shot, rather than following the rule of filmmaking. Another rule that the director broke was treating music as a “diegetic sound”. He stopped the music when the video messages were being played, allowing the audience to match the feelings.
Interstellar is available on Netflix.
