Few directors have had such an impact on modern cinema asChristopher Nolan. The Oscar winner made his sensational feature directorialdebut in 1998 withFollowing, and the rest, as they say, is history. Nolan has built a resume on authenticity, realism, andthe marriage between art and commercialism; watching a Nolan movie means surrendering to the movie gods. The worthy heir of the brand of meaningful spectacle that turnedSteven SpielbergandJames Cameroninto legends, Nolan still has a distinct style; he’s colder than Spielberg and more cerebral than Cameron, but his visual language is just as profound.
I, like most millennial cinephiles, have beenprofoundly influenced by Christopher Nolan. His movies were part of my formative years; I was fourteen whenThe Dark Knightcame out, and I remember thinking, quite unironically, that it was the single greatest movie I had ever seen. Indeed, Nolan’s impact on 2000s cinema is considerable, and by the 2010s, he was an outright legend.His movies are cultural events, capable of mobilizing audiences who otherwise wouldn’t go to the theater. He turned a three-hour biopic full of physics talk into a $900 million cultural landmark, for crying out loud! Nolan has made twelve movies so far, each a banger on its own, but a few have made more of an impact on this writer. Indeed,some Nolan movies made a deep and instant impacton my film-loving psyche, andI would give anything to re-experience them for the first time. After all, you never forget how it felt to be amazed by a movie, especially if it’s one of Christopher Nolan’s.
4’Memento' (2000)
Followingmight’ve introduced Nolan to the business, but it wasMementothat cemented him as one of his generation’s most promising talents.Guy Pearcestars as Leonard Shelby, a man suffering from anterograde amnesia that prevents him from forming new memories. Using an elaborate system of polaroids, hand-written notes, and tattoos, he attempts to solve the mystery of his wife’s death and punish the perpetrator.Carrie-Anne MossandJoe Pantolianoalso star.
WatchingMementofeelslike solving a particularly challenging crossword, if the crossword kept changing direction, like the stairs fromHarry Potter. Here, Nolan takes glee in confusing his audience, twisting and turning his narrative, yet always fully in control. Most importantly, henever takes it to the point of frustration;Mementokeeps steady, assured, and compelling, enthralling even when you’re able to’t see where it’s going. Unlikemany other mystery movies,Mementonever takes the traditional approach; just when you think it might go right, it reverses and veers left, into a road that wasn’t there before, which means it will surprise you when its final twist finally reveals itself. Nolan and the story’s creator, his brotherJonathan Nolan, earned a richly deserved Oscar nomination for their work in this seminal picture, and it’s easy to see why.Mementois a Rubik’s Cube thattakes just long enough to solve to keep you fully invested. Rewatching this movie is a must for any self-respecting cinephile, but the unique experience of watching it and letting it shock you for the first time can’t quite be explained.
3’The Dark Knight' (2008)
When thinking of Christopher Nolan, chances are you’ll think ofhisDark Knighttrilogy, specifically the second entry, the seminalThe Dark Knight. Recently named the best superhero movie of the 21st century byThe New York Times, the film is undeniably the most influential and defining entry into the genre.Christian Balereprises his role as Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman, as he faces his toughest challenge, a deranged and unpredictable criminal going by the moniker of The Joker (Heath Ledger). Aided by the new DA, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), future police commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and trusted butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Wayne must stop the Joker from sending the city into complete anarchy.
What can be said aboutThe Dark Knightthat hasn’t been said already? It’s a landmark of the superhero genre and arguablythe single most iconic and defining picture of the 2000s. To the millennial generation,The Dark Knightfelt huge, life-altering even. Would it be sacrilegious to call it theGodfatherof the 2000s? Perhaps, but it’s certainlytheGodfatherof superheroes, and considering the genre dominated the big screen for well over a decade, its standing is nothing short of legendary. WithThe Dark Knight,Nolan legitimized comic book movies, proving they could be more than just men in tights throwing punches at wacky villains. In doing so, he sacrificed some of the colorful and self-aware nature that characterizes the genre and opted for a more traditional crime narrative, but you can’t argue with his result. WatchingThe Dark Knightfor the first time felt like a religious experience, especially for all those who like the comic book medium. From the moment a now-immortalized Heath Ledger shows up as the Joker,you can tell you’re witnessing greatness. Almost twenty years later,The Dark Knighthas lost none of its luster; in fact, at a time when superhero movies feel more tired than ever, it stands as a shining beacon of what the genre can achieve when it has a true auteur at the helm.
2’Interstellar' (2014)
Interstellaris Nolan at his most balanced, finding the perfect mix of daunting physical concepts and simple, highly emotional storytelling. Set in a dystopian future where humanity faces extinction because of dust storms and crop blights, the film centers on retired NASA test pilot Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), who goes on a daring mission through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home. The supporting cast includesAnne Hathaway,Jessica Chastain, and Nolan regular Michael Caine.
One of the most common complaints about Christopher Nolan as a filmmaker is how cold and emotionally detached his movies are, and that’s true — to a degree. Yet,Interstellaristhe director’s warmest and most tender effortto date, a story that’s as much aboutthe power and importance of human emotionas it is about the vastness of the cosmos and our place in it. At the center of it all is a tremendous performance bya mid-McConaissance Matthew McConaughey, accompanied by an equally stellar Jessica Chastain.Interstellarboasts all the landmarks of a Nolan movie: breathtaking visual effects, ambitious, uncompromising storytelling, and a plot that does too many things at once, often to its detriment. However, allthe spectacle is in service of a poignant story about familyand the strongest bond that ties humanity together: love. Because this is Christopher Nolan we’re talking about, his approach to such a familiar concept has his characters literally traversing the galaxy, but the core themes are his most intimate and resonant. Music plays a key role here, andHans Zimmer’s score is simply magnificent; watching the final sequences in the film for the first time wasa landmark experience in my cinematic education.
1’Oppenheimer' (2023)
Oppenheimeristhe apotheosis of Nolan’s and Cillian Murphy’s careers. Murphy, perhaps Nolan’s most consistent collaborator, stars in an Oscar-winning role as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos laboratory and so-called “father of the atomic bomb,” who oversaw the creation of the nuclear weapons that contributed tothe end of World War II.Emily Bluntco-stars as his wife, Kitty, withMatt Damonas Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project, and an Oscar-winningRobert Downey Jr.as Lewis Strauss, a high-ranking member of the AEC and Oppenheimer’s nemesis.
Here, Nolan is at his most assured.Oppenheimeris the result of a visionary filmmaker at the peak of his abilities, balancinga weighty, demanding tale of scientific ambition with world-ending stakes. Although a biopic for all intends and purposes, Nolan treatsOppenheimeras a high-stakes psychological thriller, a look into the dangers of unchecked scientific hunger and the emotional and mental repercussions that follow. The film’s accelerated, bruised heart is Murphy in the performance of his career. Subtle and hermetic, Murphy’s Oppenheimer is a bandaged bruise that never quite healed, a precise tour de force thatoverwhelms by letting silence speak volumes. As has been the case in most of Nolan’s post-Dark Knightefforts, the music is a key component, withLudwig Göransson’s pulsating,Oscar-winning score becoming yet another character in this evolving narrative. WatchingOppiein an IMAX screen wasa cultural event of the 2020s; from the get-go, you could tell you were watching a before-and-after, not only in Nolan’s career, but in modern cinema overall. Two years later, many arealready callingOppenheimera masterpiece, and truly, there’s not another word to better describe it.
Oppenheimer
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