We have each other. Dr. Mann had it worse.Interstellar · 2014 — Chapter 5 of 13 · 4'24" · B2
Choosing the Next Home for Humanity, Explained: wasting your breath
The crew weigh three possible worlds and what each one costs, while on Earth a message is being arranged. The talk keeps circling a single worry: that the settlers may never see another human being again. "He's remarkable. He's the best of us," one of them says of a colleague.
What happens
Aboard the Endurance, the crew discuss three candidate planets — Miller's, Edmunds's and Mann's — and ask who these explorers left behind. On Earth, Professor Brand visits the farm with a message for Murph and her brother, hoping to recruit her. Cooper records a farewell to his family.
Listen for
catches its breathwasting your breaththe best of uspoker face
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Phrase of the scene
wasting your breath
to speak with no chance of being heard
机器人提醒库珀，跟熟睡的人说话，等于把话白白浪费在空气里。
Do not argue with him; you are wasting your breath.
Also in this scene
- catches its breath
to pause and recover
- the best of us
the finest person among a group
- poker face
a face that shows no emotion
Everything marked in this scene
22 notes across 73 lines
We have each other. Dr. Mann had it worse.flap
We have each other. Dr. Mann had it worse.No, it's not like looking for a new condo....desperate for a rock it can cling to while it catches its breath.to pause and recover
...desperate for a rock it can cling to while it catches its breath.weak form
...desperate for a rock it can cling to while it catches its breath....might sustain human life.No. No attachments. My father insisted.They all knew the odds against ever seeing another human being again.gerund after against
They all knew the odds against ever seeing another human being again.the finest person among a group
He's remarkable. He's the best of us.Is a lion evil because it rips a gazelle to shreds?because-clause
Is a lion evil because it rips a gazelle to shreds?- Don't stay up. - I'll be there in a minute.liaison
- Don't stay up. - I'll be there in a minute.to speak with no chance of being heard
Just remember, Coop, you are literally wasting your breath.Dr. Brand and Edmunds. They close?But not a poker face, Slick.Uh, Dad's about to go down for the long nap.Maybe I should fan the flame.She's already making fools of her teachers.Choosing the Next Home for Humanity, explained
What's really going on
What looks like mission planning is really a debate about what humanity is worth saving. The crew keep circling the same fact: the explorers they are about to meet chose to be alone, aware that they would probably never see another person again. Even the most admired colleague is described with a line of pure respect, "He's remarkable. He's the best of us." The scene then turns philosophical: asked whether nature can be evil, one of them answers that a lion is not evil for tearing a gazelle apart, it is only formidable and frightening. That argument sets up the film's choice — what to carry to a new world, and what to leave behind. Meanwhile the cut to Earth, where Brand comes looking for Murph, quietly links the search for a home to the family Cooper abandoned.
Theme
SurvivalThe crew weigh which planet might keep humanity alive, and what they must carry there.
LonelinessThe explorers chose to be alone, knowing they may never see another person again.
What you'll learn
- “Stay” is both a command and a plea.
- Cooper explains science to soften goodbye.
- Motive matters as much as action.
Listen for
- had it worse — flap
- catches its breath — weak form
- stay up — liaison
He's remarkable. He's the best of us.The highest praise one crew member gives another: not only skilled, but the most admirable person among them.
Is a lion evil because it rips a gazelle to shreds?An argument that nature can be terrifying without being evil, which shapes how the film treats the universe.
They all knew the odds against ever seeing another human being again.The price the explorers accepted: near-certain isolation, knowing they might never meet anyone again.
It's a perfect planet, and we won't find another one like her.Earth is irreplaceable, so whatever they find elsewhere can only be a substitute, never a match.
Questions about this scene
Why did the explorers have no families?
Someone explains that it was deliberate: none of them had attachments, because his father insisted. They all knew the odds against ever seeing another human being again.
Does the film say nature is evil?
No. Asked whether nature can be evil, one of the crew argues it is formidable and frightening but not evil, using a lion tearing a gazelle as the example.
Why does Professor Brand visit Murph on Earth?
He brings Cooper's truck and a message, and he seems to be testing Murph's potential. He calls her a bright spark and says he should fan the flame, hinting he wants to recruit her.
What is the crew's first destination?
They plan the trajectory for Miller's planet first, then Edmunds, then Mann. On the way they pass Mars and Saturn, and TARS notes the trip times.
Interstellar · 13 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 6pull it offThe Cost of Time
Chapter 1follow in my footstepsThe Ghost in Murph's Bookshelf
Chapter 2the best-kept secret in the worldCooper Stumbles Into Secret NASA
Chapter 3the ghost of your children's futureCooper Says Goodbye to Murph
Chapter 4Ninety percent it isCooper Leaves Earth with TARS
Watching · Chapter 5wasting your breathChoosing the Next Home for Humanity
Chapter 6pull it offThe Cost of Time
Chapter 7the stuff of lifeEscaping the Wave on Miller's Planet
Chapter 8let goCooper Watches Years of Messages
Chapter 9raise someone from the deadWaking Dr. Mann on a Frozen World
Chapter 10sorry for your lossThe Plan A Lie Is Revealed
Chapter 11one last crack atCooper Chooses Home Over the Mission
Chapter 12resist the temptationCooper Confronts Mann's Lie
Chapter 13home sweet homeCooper Wakes on Cooper StationChapter 5 of 13 · about 32 min to go