In an industry filled with remakes and reboots of old franchises, Christopher Nolan seems to always push the boundaries of cinema. Making one hit after another, Nolan seemingly can’t be stopped. So, let’s dive into the expansive mind of Christopher Nolan.
Early Years
Christopher Nolan was born in July of 1970, in London. Always a director at heart, he made his first short when he was 7 years old. His father was from Britain and his mother from America, so he often found himself traveling back and forth from London and Chicago.
He made some short films with director and producer Roko Belic. He said that a film that influenced him was Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, which he praised for its visual style.
After attending the Haileybury School, he then attended University College London. There, he joined the university’s film society while studying English literature.
There, he released several short films. The first one, Tarantella, was featured on PBS on Image Union in 1989. The second short film, Larceny, was presented during Cambridge Film Festival in 1996. Doodlebug, another one of his notable short films, featured Jeremy Theobald, who was also in following.
Directorial Debut
Nolan made his directorial debut with his first full-length movie called Following. He made the entire film for a small budget of $6,000. He worked on the movie with friends he made in his university’s film society and shot the movie during the weekends over an entire year.
The movie started becoming popular after it premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival in 1998. Eventually, the movie was distributed by Zeitgeist in 1999.
After the film’s newfound popularity, Newmarket Films acquired the script for their next movie.
Rise to Fame
Memento was released two years after his first film in 2000. The movie quickly became a cult classic and was nominated for the best screenplay award at the Oscars and Golden Globes.
The film is based on the Memento Mori short story by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher’s brother.
Nolan uses a unique technique where he presents the events in a mix of reverse and chronological order. By doing this, he forces the viewers into the protagonist’s mentally-impaired mind.
The Dark Knight
The Batman film franchise was put on hold by Warner Bros after the fourth film disappointed at the box office.
Nolan always said that he always dreamt of directing a blockbuster movie. The opportunity presented itself in 2003 after he convinced Warner Bros to entrust him with reviving the Batman film series. The actor chosen to play the titular character was Christian Bale, who was already a fan favorite after his performance in Equilibrium and American Psycho.
Batman Begins was released to an overwhelmingly positive response from fans in 2005 and a sequel was greenlit.
He adapted a Christopher Priest novel for The Prestige, which was released in 2006. The movie received a very positive response from the audience and made more than $109 million. Shortly after the movie’s release, Nolan teased that he would be directing the next Batman sequel.
Later, the sequel was confirmed to be The Dark Knight, with Heath Ledger being cast as The Joker. The movie was released in 2008 to critical acclaim from viewers, some naming it as the best comic-book movie ever.
Two years after the release of the second Batman movie, Nolan directed Inception which became another critical hit for the director. Then, building on the success of the first two movies, The Dark Knight Rises was released in 2012 and made over $1 billion.
Current Work
With the release of the successful Batman franchise, The Prestige, and Inception, we have only just started to take a peek into the expansive mind of Nolan.
Just two years after the release of The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan returned with Interstellar, a three-hour epic sci-fi film about astronauts searching for a new world for the people of Earth. The movie grossed more than $703 million and received critical acclaim from fans.
Three years later, he returned with Dunkirk, a historical war thriller about the dramatic events in 1940. The movie was praised for its portrayal of the terrors and tensions of war. In 2020, Nolan came back with Tenet, a mind-bending action thriller film about a CIA agent tasked with traveling backward in time.
Christopher’s latest film, Oppenheimer, was released in 2023 and showed the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The movie was praised for its portrayal of the subject as well as its visual style.
Christopher Nolan’s Top 5 Movies to Watch
After a brief look into the mind of the visionary Christopher Nolan, here are our picks for his top 5 movies:
- Interstellar
- The Dark Knight
- Oppenheimer
- Inception
- The Prestige
Nolan is known for his amazing visual style and we recommend watching it in the highest resolution you can. You can find his movies on streaming services like Amazon Prime, and Peacock. For the best quality streaming, we recommend using a blazing-fast internet like the one offered by Xfinity.
Wrapping Up
Nolan seemingly can’t make a bad movie, with movies like Interstellar, Oppenheimer, Inception, Prestige, and The Dark Knight. His movies are known for their psychological depth, unorthodox stories, and amazing cinematography.
Although Nolan’s next big hit is a few years away, we are excited to hear what Nolan has planned.
