Does Christopher Nolan Work Well with Others? (Or Are His Best Movies the Ones He Goes at Alone?)
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Nolan is such a beast. I thoroughly enjoyed Oppenheimer and it left a lasting enough impact to have me circle back through the rest of the Christopher Nolan archive and see what I could find. His films are so well-planned and always have a tendency to feel exceptionally original (even when they are not). The whole thing had me curious about the level of influence that co-writers or original sources have on him as a screenwriter/director. Oppenheimer was an adapted screenplay that he wrote alone, but what about his other movies? In this video, I go through how each of his films were written and where we might expect them to go in the future. All I can say is: I hope the keeps the great work up because I find every single thing he puts to screen to be well worth the wait.
Tenet is such an underrated movie, easily one of his best. Guys, just because you can’t pay attention, focus, or otherwise take into account what’s going on in a film, it doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Interestingly Memento got Christopher Nolan an Original Screenplay nomination at the Oscars because the short story wasn't published at the time
I like to watch my Christopher Nolan films all together in a marathon watch. Over three days because I like my sleep! To be honest I haven't noticed any difference because I just enjoy watching his films. My favourite is Inception btw
Memento is truly fantastic- would love to hear you do a deep dive on that one
At their core, both Tenet and Inception are most interested in exploring a science fiction concept that creates nested/twisty/unconventional plot structure. And this is placed in a conventional genre to ground it to some extent so the audience has something to latch on to (Spy thriller for Tenet, Heist film for Inception). They also explore psychological and philosophical ideas (grandfather paradox, bootstrap paradox, consciousness, paradox of dreams, etc.). While I think there are interesting themes in both films, they feel more focused on the thought experiments that these movies provoke. I realize not everyone enjoys science fiction mixed with plot structure experimentation and thought experiments, but that's the reason these movies exist. Keeping up with the mechanics of the world and their complexities is part of the fun and joy of these kinds of films. I feel like they should be judged based on this objective and intent, rather than criticizing them for being movies they were never meant to be.
Personally, I don't think there's a clear pattern with Nolan's writing. I think The Dark Knight Rises (a collaboration) is probably his worst script and Memento (a solo effort, although he did get the idea from his brother. The short story was finished after the movie) one of his bests. Outside of Tenet, Inception, and Interstellar, Nolan really hasn't made many movies that weren't based at least partly something that exists previously (novels, historical events, established IPs like Batman).
Excellent review, well said! On my part I'll just say that I love psychological thrillers, such as Inception and Memento. Others that come to mind are David Fincher's The Game and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. For this reason, I do not feel like discarding Inception.
Great feedback! Big fan of Fincher, myself. Thanks so much for watching