Christopher Nolan, working from a script written by his brother Jonathan in 2008 (and intended for Steven Spielberg), will be bringing this near-future sci-fi story Interstellar to the screen. In this first trailer, we hear Matthew McConaughey (who has officially aged out of "Abs Guy" and into something far more interesting) describe the metaphorical power of space travel and its endless possibility.
Nolan is known for his powerful images and for how he incorporates his theorhetical ideas into his narratives. Here, he has tapped into the American desire for exploration, even subtly reinforcing with McConaughey's speech the Manifest Destiny arrogance of deserving to explore and take over new worlds.
Let's work our way through Nolan's historical images and parse what they might mean for the film's themes.
The Dust Bowl: Much of Nolan's actual footage takes place in cornfields, including one that is burning. Global warming and other natural disasters could spur the characters to pursue space travel as the only way to find new resources for sustaining human life.
Neil Armstrong and Crew: Obviously Armstrong and the rest of his fellow astronauts are famous for being the first crew to set foot on the moon.
Some Guy.
Nolan is using very carefully chosen images to introduce his story, they just happen to not be the images he shot. It's an evocative way to make a trailer, and hopefully we've accurately parsed out a few of his themes.
