Christopher Nolan, director aside
Whether you have a big budget or not, Christopher Nolan always keep the same mood. In both cases, he will look for an idea to develop a story in which the viewer is invited to remain active. There will always come a time when the scenario recovers and reinvents itself, directing the initial situation in a different direction.
Nolan’s cinema is not a long monotonous highway trip but rather a mountain escape, with switchbacks, steep paths and viewpoints on breathtaking sets. It must have been difficult to try to classify his works and certain clear-cut choices will perhaps not fail to provoke some reactions.
12 – Next, the follower (1999)
In every ranking, there must be a last. And it’s Christopher Nolan’s very first feature film, Following, who inherits this place. The British director puts together a low-budget film about an uninspired writer who spends his time following strangers on the street. One of the targets of him will lead him into a strange situation.
In just 1h10, Nolan tells his story relying largely on his staging. We can already see the talent that is hisin a project that shows mischief use economics to build suspense. Even with his script stripped down to the bare minimum, Nolan has fun with viewers and wants to surprise. An approach that will water the rest of his work.
11 – I remember (2000)
Before putting his taste for convoluted scenarios to the service of tens of millions of dollars productions, Christopher Nolan could do the same with more minimal projects. I rememberhis second film, heralds all that is to come. Much more amazing than Following, this scenario follows a man mourning the death of his wife. Determined to find who’s responsible, he delves into his corner of him with a serious handicap: an amnesia that makes him forget what he’s doing and where he’s going.
With such a character, Christopher Nolan constructs a tortuous plot in which the viewer gets lost and has to piece together the elements he manages to mess up. The management of suspense, within the scenes and the overall editing, borders on a form of genius.
10 – insomnia (2002)
Just before Batman beginsChristopher Nolan signs a third feature film in which he continues to refine his style where the narrative complexity serves to keep the viewer in suspense. insomnia features Al Pacino as a cop looking for a killer. During a chase, he accidentally shoots his teammate. The killer saw it all and will blackmail him.
A duel of exquisite actors (Robin Williams against the tide), a suffocating atmosphere and a screenplay that keeps your breath in suspense. Three arguments that makeinsomnia great entertainment above many usual productions.
9 – Batman begins (2005)
Christopher Nolan takes the story of Batman from scratch. The foreseen stages are there and it is less for the script than for the treatment that the director wins in the first round. Seriously, he strikes a pose Batman begins the problems that will make Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne nervous.
Nolan really applies to package his story by giving it to him all the constancy it deserves. Without this weakening, the ambitious The dark Knight AND It rises it could not have seen the light of day. Because you need solid branching to support such dense chunks without losing coherence.
8 – The Dark Knight is resurrected (2012)
The place of this conclusion to the Batman trilogy in this ranking could raise some controversy. The Dark Knight is resurrected it’s not a complete success but it’s carried by a treatment that’s almost an exception in superhero cinema. He trips a bit handling so much ambition, but his determination takes precedence over imperfection. To pursue the unforgettable Joker, Bane is chosen. Another style, more muscles. An antagonist who erases the one who is to be the protagonist, Batman.
The costumed hero only appears after 45 minutes of film, an unthinkable practice these days. Hence, the main attraction is beaten very heavily in her first fight with Bane. A fight that will immerse him in a physical and mental reconstruction to try his luck later. In the structure of The Dark Knight is resurrected, Christopher Nolan isn’t afraid to make tough, confusing choicesto take your time (2h36) assuming its thematic motifs launched by the first work without denying the components of a great show.
7 – Dunkirk (2017)
Funny proposal Dunkirk, from a director whose sophistication (especially narrative) is the keyword. Take the problem in the opposite direction with this war film by betting on refined writing. Based on real facts, he chooses to build his entire edifice around sound, image and the assemblage of the two: montage.
Immersion almost borders on experimentation in the context of his filmography. Except for Following, had never had so little script at hand. That Dunkirk sort after processed behemoths like Interstellar, Start or the trilogy Batman it makes the process even more interesting. We feel that he wants to return to a more emaciated form, with the substantial means that we now dedicate to him in this phase of his career.
6 – principle (2020)
principle is perhaps the most divisive film in Christopher Nolan’s filmography. A science fiction-tinged spy thriller that uses a concept difficult to understand : the principle of inversion. Using a machine, the protagonists invert themselves, experience time upside down and thus return to the past.
If the concept of the film has lost more than one, the fact remains fascinating. Furthermore, as Clémence Poésy’s character says, we must not seek to understand but to feel. Those who accept the experience can be passionate this extraordinary work whose richness is in the details (see our review).
5 – Prestige (2006)
Through the prism of a confrontation between two wizards, Christopher Nolan draws an obvious parallel between magic and the power of cinema. Prestige wait this lucid intention of its author, who wants to offer a reflection on his medium and his art, based on illusion. In him it is recurrent to deceive us, surprise us or lose us.
From the Following he has shown that he wants to design scenarios that will take surprising turns. THE Prestige it’s right in there. Especially when it comes to genres. Here there is this surprising turn into the fantasticwith an undeniable horrifying part and the certain emotion of the father / son relationship.
4 – Start (2010)
Upon departureStart, there is first the amazement. Summer blockbusters no longer make us used to thinking. And that’s where Christopher Nolan comes in with a high concept which he then uses to construct a labyrinth of action scenes. The impression of seeing a great intelligent show fades a bit while watching (and even more when watching the movie multiple times) because the writing is a lot about not so complicated concepts to assimilate.
The long explanatory tunnels to initiate all the questions then give way to other tunnels – their most pleasant – where the thunderous show beats to the rhythm of Hans Zimmer’s notes. For its completely insane second hour, Start fully deserves its place at the top of the table.
3 – Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan’s film maintains its combination of a truly unexpected plot and an unstoppable emotional reach. It is the first time that his cinema manages to move so much. Matthew McConaughey’s titanic journey is even miraculous.
Interstellar it is a great film from all points of view: one of its author’s longest, spectacular, and which goes very far in the development of its concept. But the most amazing thing is that behind the facade of a huge sci-fi steamroller nestles a melody much simpler than all of that about a family scattered in the gears of time.
2 – The dark Knight (2008)
The attractiveness of The dark Knight it is sometimes abbreviated to the Heath Ledger case. His memorable performance and his unfortunate passing elevate the film to an even higher sphere. Such a villain parasites so much attention that the hold of him extends to the rest. But the central work of the trilogy deserves a concert of praise for its overview that turns into a thriller more than in the pure superhero film with supernatural trappings.
There’s almost only Batman who can allow it, he who has no power. Christopher Nolan Agency its plot with twists and turns around this struggle between Evil in its most uncontrollable form and a figure of Good who questions his own actions. With this Joker as the nerve center, The dark Knight evoked the best of american crime films (the introduction will make everyone agree), in a modern reinterpretation (the shadow of September 11 hovering over the film), intelligent and original of a universe known to all.
1 – Oppenheimer (2023)
With OppenheimerChristopher Nolan is interested in the physicist known for his involvement in the creation of the atomic bomb. From there, the director could only approach his biopic in an imposing manner far from any classicism. Taken from Cillian Murphy at her bestthe film is fascinating both for the subject and for the approach of the director who manages to deal simultaneously with a series of human and political themes.
By immersing ourselves in Oppenheimer’s tortured mind and linking dialogue scenes like action sequences, Nolan creates a form of chaos. The staging of him also crushes the viewer and tests his senses. three hours long, the film is the most impressive of all this rich filmography. It is also the darkest with an exhausting and disturbing ending.
Oppenheimer: the monumental work of Christopher Nolan
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
