Christopher Nolan makes charcoal movies: dark sketches of good people and bad people, and what happens when they all collide. You don’t reach the end credits, get up, smile and go throw a frisbee in the sun. These are mild toothache films, ones that stick in your craw, and make you want to dissect them with buddies until it’s really late, and then you go the next night to see them again. He makes movies that big time actors, not “movie stars,” want to be in. He surrounds them with lush, meticulous visuals, and then coats the whole magic with a sheen of incredible music, most recently done by the master Hans Zimmer. He made ‘Inception,’ which opens today and has been kept in an awesome shroud of secrecy with trailers that have booming ominous music and topsy turvy visuals. I’m pretty sure I will love this movie, but feel confident most of it will fly right over my head. And you know what? I’m totally okay with that. I’m ok having a filmmaker be smarter than me, in fact, I love that. Don’t pander to me – I can handle being cleverly duped. I’m also more than ok that almost every picture of Nolan I’ve seen he’s in a suit, or working, or both. He’s not stumbling out of a club, fucking a starlet or recasting Heath Ledger’s Joker role. He’s a goddamn man of style, taste and quiet talent in the loudest, cheapest and most tacky town in the world. There oughta be an Oscar for that. [Editor's Note: Nearly every member of R2AK has now seen and adored 'Inception.' It even enticed Piggy to come out of school hibernation and review it here.]
I’ve seen all but one film of his, ‘Doodlebug,’ made in 1997. Here is the rest of his filmography and a few thoughts on each. I didn’t love ‘em all, one went down like that Dutch salty licorice, but they are all undeniably great films.
Following (1998)
This I saw what seems like 40 years ago, after seeing ‘Memento,’ and after buying and systematically going through one of those “Indie Movies You Must See Before You Die!” books that overrun the Film section of any book store. I honestly had totally forgot about it until I just IMDB’d Nolan for this article. What I do remember is it being stylish and clever and moody. Sound familiar?
Memento (2000)
This is what started it all. If you didn’t like this movie back in the day you kept your mouth shut for fear of being ragged on mercilessly. I am not a film scholar by any stretch, but I had never seen anything like this before. Yes, films had experimented with less than linear plots, but combined with Guy Pearce’s rangy raw desperation and Joey Pantoliano’s slick fuck of a character, and mashed together with scenes you almost needed/wanted to write down to keep track of.. Ultimately you just got wrapped up in it all and tried to keep your head from exploding.
Insomnia (2002)
Here’s my one Nolan “meh.” Maybe because it was a remake, maybe because it was filmed locally, so I kept expecting the Beachcombers cast to pop up on a giant moose covered in maple syrup, maybe because I didn’t fully believe Robin Williams in this new type of role. Maybe I hated Hilary Swank’s haircut. Maybe I should watch it again.
Batman Begins (2005)
Batman is my favourite superhero. This is the best gift a Batman fan could ever receive (until ‘The Dark Knight’ anyways). Bubbling over with the scenes you love in superhero movies – the why, the the how, the who – and plugged up with talent, it was a beautiful palate cleanser for Schumacher’s NippleGate fuck up.
The Prestige (2006)
A forest full of top hats, Jackman, Nolan favourite’s Caine and Bale, magicians, murder and mystery = in like Flynn.
The Dark Knight (2008)
We saw this opening night in IMAX. Everything was bigger, darker, more menacing and more terrific. The beginning sequence, Christ, it’s so good. The slow pan into Gotham City, all big shiny faceless buildings until a window gets shot out, the shot coming up behind Ledger with his mask dangling. Look at his frame, his posture; even from the back you knew this guy was crazed. (I felt his death more than any body else I’d never met. It felt like an important part of my generation was gone. His post-humous Oscar for this performance was necessary.) The bank robbery sequence ending with the reveal of Joker’s face and the accompanying musical punch, and then the bus bumpily breaking out of the bank and joining the line up of school buses already in transit. This is big time epic storytelling, and that was only the first six minutes. I was transfixed for the entire movie and for the first time in my life, happily went and saw it again two nights later and was just as emotionally enthralled. This has become my new ‘Overboard,’ i.e. the movie if it comes on TV, I’ll slow down what I’m doing until I’m sitting watching it, sucked in and ignoring everything else. Not only is it my favourite Nolan movie, it’s one of my favourite movies period.
You should indeed watch Insomnia again.
I second Nuv’s challenge to your “meh” call. The only issue with Insomnia is that it isn’t quite the original, but it makes up for that in spades with mood and excellent crafting. After attending the midnight show of Inception last night, I can happily state that it lives up to the hype. I plan on seeing it at least once more in the next week, and making a heralded return with a one off review of it. I can’t see and love something that much without writing about it, no matter how busy I am.
I’d also recommend re-watching the Following either before or after Inception as there may be hidden connections between the two (all I’ve noticed from memory so far is that the main characters share a common last name, but that’s enough to make me think there’s more).
Great post. That opening sequence is one of the greatest.
Apart from the steps that keeps you at the edge of this seat, the romance and notion of ambitions vs. simple fact entirely produce this film. The acting in all elements was immaculate. I got chills every single time Marion Cotillard came on screen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt altered my opinion of him in this dvd movie, he did remarkable stunts (with no a double) and did a fantastic work as Leo’s right-hand man. And as for Leo, nicely, have you possibly witnessed a performance exactly where he does poorly? His sensible romantic relationship with Mal inside the motion picture combined with his conniving tricks to get into people’s minds blew me apart.