Continuing the Oscar related topics in this series, this time I will present the silhouette of the filmmaker whose film has the most nominations in this edition. Along with his latest work, Oppenheimer, he is the frontrunner to win the most statuettes this year. We are, of course, talking about Christopher Nolan. He needs no introduction. He is the most popular and biggest director today. Although his creative decisions do not always fully resonate with me, I have to admit without a doubt that he is a great artist. Every single one of his pictures is a huge hit. He has achieved the status that every artist dreams of. He is praised by critics and audiences and on top of that he attracts gigantic crowds to theaters. This state of affairs allows him to create productions with huge budgets and with full creative control.

What makes his films stand out?

What distinguishes his style? The director is all about celebrating the creative process of filmmaking and cultivating the traditional way of shooting. He uses CGI, of course, but only as a tool, an addition and a supplement to what can be realized. He creates most things on set, building marvelous sets and organizing amazing practical effects. If we see an explosion in his productions – it was actually realized on set. He overturns trucks, detonates buildings and destroys airplanes. All this to make the story depicted on the screen as real as possible. In this way, he pushes the limits of what can be shot, just as the first great filmmakers once did. Additionally, the artist himself is constantly evolving, and as a result, his every new film is filled with new ideas. On top of that, Nolan does a great job of building connections between heroes and locations using the film’s setting as a character in itself. The areas in which his films take place are unique and have their own personalities. To show them, Nolan uses establishing shots with his trademark slow-approaching drone.

From his earliest productions it was clear that he was fascinated with time. Playing with chronology, the countdown motif or sticking to given time frames within the film’s runtime comes back in most of his works to a greater or lesser extent. But this is only one of the themes manifested in his movies. The filmmaker likes to focus on one selected concept and build a plot around it. Especially around scientific ideas he is interested in. Within the worlds depicted, his productions are very focused on the technicalities and scientific background of the addressed issues. These problems are often presented within a “low sci-fi” style strongly hooked on actual scientific research and theories. In this way, the concepts raised, even if fantastic, have a source in our world and seem more real.

The dialogues in Nolan’s films are very formal. The characters speak in a language that often falls into haughtiness. In addition, often these dialogues are in the form of quotes almost ready to be cited, reminiscent of “fortune cookies wisdom”. The stories sometimes lose their authenticity because of this, but in return they are very easily written into the audience’s consciousness by the multitude of memorable quotes and sentence exchanges. It is said that Nolan’s films lack humor, but in fact it is more subdued and hidden between lines.

The characters themselves are often adapted to the main theme of the film and built to suit the plot. When a director overdoes such construction he sometimes faces criticism that they lack depth. Staying with the characters of his productions, these are often dressed in suits and formal wear in muted gray and black colors.
As for the aforementioned time. This is one of the elements of something at which the British filmmaker is a master. We are talking about building tension. The director skillfully creates a dense atmosphere that accompanies the stakes that does not lose weight, even for a moment. Each of his films with the help of a multitude of different measures keeps us on the edge of our seats at each screening.

Approach to cinema

What is worth noting, however, is the director’s personality. He has gathered a huge fan base, even among people to whom his work does not appeal. This is because of his approach to cinema. He never descends into snobbery. He treats the entire landscape of cinema equally, with the same love and respect. Of course, he is a fan of many legendary productions and filmmakers. But, aside from that, he is not ashamed of his love for parodies, “silly” comedies or, for example, the Fast & Furious Saga. This makes him “more human” in people’s eyes, closer to us. After all, each of us has our own rejuvenators, quirks or guilty pleasures. Besides, it shows his humility, intelligence and understanding of many different genres and styles.

First steps in filmmaking

Christopher was passionate about cinema from an early age. He wanted to attend film school but his father dissuaded him from this idea. However, this did not stop him from developing his passion and pursuing his career. His first works were small short productions which he created together with his brother (now also a talented director and screenwriter) and a few friends. From the very beginning, the aforementioned ability to build tension is evident and the films created are balancing on the border between thriller and horror. A significant achievement in his early career was his first feature film Following. He received his first nominations and a film award for it. In it, he told the story of an unfulfilled writer who follows randomly met passersby, and as a result gets into serious trouble. In the film, we can see for the first time how the director plays with time

Memento and Insomnia

For his next film, he managed to find a studio, producers. He also attracted the interest of a well-known actor – Guy Pearce. Memento is a psychological neo-noir thriller based on his brother’s short story called Memento Mori. It tells the story of a man who loses his short-term memory through an accident. He tries to gather scraps of information and find the murderers of his wife. So he writes down and leaves information everywhere he can, including tattooing his own body.

And this is where Nolan’s talent for messing with time shines through. The director has taken it upon himself, which will also be important to him for future films, to make one screening not enough. He tries to create works in such a way that they can be watched many times, with each showing giving a different perspective. This is also the case here. The story is mixed up, told non-chronologically. Together with the main hero, we feel lost and try to connect the facts curious about what is actually happening. Like the protagonist, we don’t know who we can trust. The director hints a few clues but very softly. One of those clues is the two time planes. One in black and white, the other in color. These procedures make the film extremely challenging and give a brand new experience. Despite repeated screenings, people are still discovering new pieces of the puzzle, some still find it hard to grasp the confusing riddle of the filmmaker. The film was a tremendous critical success and made the artist’s name echo through Hollywood.

The success of Memento guaranteed him a directing job on the Insomnia. It tells the story of a police officer suffering from insomnia who is pursuing the murderer of a teenage girl. During the chase, he makes an unforgivable mistake that only makes his condition worse. Nolan, therefore, for the first time had the opportunity to work with actors from the very top. The two lead roles are played by Al Pacino and Robin Williams. The director, as always, plays with tension brilliantly. The film never leaves the main character, we constantly feel his fatigue with the investigation intensified by his sleep problems. The British filmmaker brilliantly captured the atmosphere of Alaska, where the events take place. The whole time we feel the cold, loneliness and dangers of the foggy and sparsely populated region of America.

Batman Begins

Success with smaller films gave Nolan the chance to pursue large-scale productions. Warner Bros. had been looking for someone to revive the Batman franchise since the 1990s. In the end, they decided on a young British filmmaker with a distinctive style who is making his way through Hollywood with his unique voice. It was a brilliant choice. The film that turned into a trilogy established the director as one of the most important filmmakers today, and the series itself became one of the most important and influential in modern cinema. It stopped the early 2000s trend for kitsch and brought back darker and more serious tones to cinema. He also turned people away from the overuse of CGI by bringing the classic filmmaking process back into favor.

The first film in the trilogy is Batman Begins. After the 1990s film incarnations of this character were portrayed in a cartoonish style, Nolan went in exactly the other direction. He created adaptations in his own way, very realistic, tangible. The city of Gotham is not so stylized here. Unlike its predecessors, it resembles a modern city like, for example, Chicago. However, the gothic atmosphere of the original is contained in Narrows, an island in the middle of the city that is the poorest district. The design and depiction of it is based on the original Blade Runner. The largest part of the film’s plot is centered around this area.

The main character in this incarnation relies heavily on gadgets and technology. Here the director drew inspiration from the Bond films, of which he is a huge fan. You won’t find the nocturnal patrolling of the city known from the comic books. Instead, Batman’s actions are planned missions with a specific goal, for which the main character takes customized equipment. The technological aspect itself is carefully explained in order to gain even more realism in the eyes of the viewer. The countdown motif is used brilliantly at several moments, which heightens the sense of pressure under which the hero operates.

The plot construction here was inspired by the book The Count of Monte Cristo. So, the story itself tells about the origins of the protagonist – Bruce Wayne. We follow his fate from the tragedy that happened to him as a child. The protagonist goes out into the world, studying and learning new skills to return to his hometown years later. The film was a success, rebuilding the image of the character and making audiences fall in love anew with the world known from DC comics.

The Prestige

Before the director returned in his work to the city of Gotham he took us to 19th century England. The Prestige is a screen adaptation of Christopher Priest’s novel of the same name. The film tells the story of two illusionists, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, friends who perform together. However, when one of their shows results in a tragedy these two become mortal enemies. From that point on, the illusionists’ fight for position and fame begins to escalate, reaching at one point to going as far as crime and endangering lives.

Film is primarily a character study. It shows what the inability to forgive and, above all, what obsession leads to. Both main characters take revenge on each other. In addition, they have an unstoppable drive for perfectionism and being the best in their profession. These two fixations them both, pulling out of the character the worst qualities, but also huge amounts of creativity and motivation. Along with the protagonists brilliantly portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, the film is filled with great supporting characters. They are played by such actors as Scarlett Johhanson, Michael Cain, Andy Serkis, Rebeca Hall and the legendary David Bowie. Particular attention should be paid to the last one. The British musician took on the role of Nicola Tesla, creating with this role an unforgettable creation, full of subtlety, sincerity of emotion and depth.

I will not hide that this is my favorite title in Nolan’s filmography. The ability to build tension and attention to every single detail here gives a perfect effect. Each trick in the film is masterfully explained, planned and executed. The equipment used by the main characters during their performances was made with extreme accuracy. So are the scenery and costumes, which build an extraordinary atmosphere of the late 19th century. All this with a touch of gentle steampunk flair adding soft sci-fi motifs that only enrich this world and make it more unique.

The title of the film refers to the last of the three phases that each magic trick is supposed to have. It is the culmination of the performance that decides its rank. The entire structure of the film’s script was created like such a performance. Christopher wrote the script together with his brother Jonathan, as in Memento, non-chronologically. In this way, the viewer himself, together with the characters, discovers new secrets. Nolan brilliantly builds this story all the time playing with the viewer and his expectations. It is full of mysteries, twists and turns. But when they are finally explained it turns out that the answer to them was suggested to us from the beginning of the film. Everything here has been implemented according to the maxim of hiding in plain sight. However, the director gives the story such momentum that, despite giving the viewer all the clues, we are left at his mercy in understanding the story. Something like this requires extraordinary mastery in the art of directing.

At the end of the day, the film, by showing the complexity of the tricks, pays a tribute… to the art of filmmaking and the art itself. It shows how much work artists put in to create the “illusion” of something real. That underneath it all lies the wonder of sharing passion and evoking emotions that are in no way illusions anymore. It shows that learning the “backstage” of art and being able to create it does not kill its magic, it only enriches it, feeds it and deepens how strongly we feel it.

The Dark Knight

The second part of his Batman trilogy was an even bigger success. It became a phenomenon and a modern classic. The director continued his realistic take on the hero and Gotham in The Dark Knight. This time the events in the film took place in various parts of the city. Thus, the style from Blade Runner was fully replaced by a modern design of the city.

The director has moved away from depicting the theatrical elements of Batman’s action and focused on the technological background. The story itself already fully sheds its gothic atmosphere in favor of crime drama. This is because it was inspired by Michael Mann’s Heat. So the plot of the film is built on the protagonist and antagonist, their pursuit of each other and the strange relationship that develops because of it.

This time batman is faced by his nemesis: the Joker. This role was played by Heath Ledger, who received a posthumous Oscar for it. To this day, this role is considered one of the best in the history of cinema. The conflict of the central characters revolved around the question of whether people are inherently evil or good. That’s why the Joker provoked one situation after another in which people were pushed to their extremes. He tested where the limits of morality reach and when a person cracks. Nolan brilliantly showed why the clown is Batman’s greatest enemy and why he poses the ultimate challenge to him. He perfectly captured the unpredictability of the criminal and how his lack of brakes combined with his intelligence makes him dangerous. At the center of the conflict a lawyer named Harvey Dent was placed. He fought crime from the legal side, in the courtroom. Within the story, it is shown how the situation in the city and the battle with the Joker make him slowly break his own rules. In addition to this, the story begins a theme that will continue, which is what heroism, sacrifice and making decisions that no one else is ready for means.

The director had a great understanding of what worked in Heat and transferred it to his film. He constantly maintains tremendous tension and raises the stakes. The countdown motif returns, this time used on many layers and at many moments. Scenes are perfectly timed to coincide with the set time. Here, we also get huge, spectacular scenes like the chase with the Batmobile, the overturning of trucks in the middle of the city and the blowing up of hospital buildings. All done practically, on set. However, the larger focus on the characters of the Joker and Harvey Dent meant that the character development and depth of Bruce Wayne himself suffered.

Inception

The director’s first blockbuster, which was an original IP. The film earned more than 800 million worldwide. This was the moment when the power of the name that the filmmaker had built for himself could be felt for the first time.

This movie is a gigantic spectacle. The production is filled with groundbreaking special effects. Both practical and involving CGI. They are used to show a dream world. So here we find breathtaking scenes of the city “wrapping up” or practically made scenes where rooms in buildings rotate with people inside. And at the very end, the director serves up sequences of a spectacular, multi-level planned, spy mission inspired by the one in the James Bond film On the Majesty’s Secret Service

The main characters are a group that, thanks to special technology, is “diving” into the minds of sleeping people and planting thoughts to influence their world view. They use these skills to carry out heists and thefts. They are also hired to affect the decisions of powerful people. The roles of the characters in the team are inspired by members of the film crew. The entire group are characters played by top actors who will later return frequently to work with Nolan. We follow the stories from the perspective of thief Cobb, who, in addition to the hardships of his job, has to deal with remorse over the effects of his actions in the past. The film plays with the viewer’s expectations by introducing confusion as the characters balance between dreams and the real world to the point where we ourselves stop distinguishing what is true.

The second part of this article coming next week!