Directly instigating such massive cinematic events as The Dark Knight craze in the late 2000s, and the iconic Barbenheimer trend of 2023, Christopher Nolan is synonymous with modern film. The British-American director acts as a sort of bridge between the worlds of classic filmmaking and digital filmmaking, ushering in the modern era of film while also remaining as a major proponent of traditional film stock. Furthermore, Nolan advocates for a heavy emphasis on the IMAX format of movies. The groundbreaking practical effects featured in his films lend themselves perfectly to a wide, wondrously immersive screen.
Not only does Nolan revolutionize the technical aspect of filmmaking, he also continues to present the most intricate and grand narratives of the 21st century. Often collaborating with his brother Jonathan on his complex screenplays. After covering such staggering subject matters as the infinitely unknowable elements of our universe and the world-altering development of the atomic bomb, it’s no wonder that Nolan’s next release, The Odyssey, is based on arguably the most instrumental story in the history of literature. Nolan does not plan on stopping his ambitious and monumental career anytime soon, and with every new installment in his lineup of films, we can surely expect another tale of epic proportions.
However, despite the impressive bells and whistles of these masterclass movies, I can’t help but feel drawn to the intimate, often disturbing core of some of these films. Existentialism and the nature of human beings often play a major role in Nolan’s stories. The all-encompassing feelings of destructive obsession contrast with the beautiful desperation to find love. Nolan films often balance the psyche of man with an extraordinary narrative of enormous proportions. Truly, he excels at these story-rich and gorgeous films, constantly setting the bar for modern cinema. The following five films, in my opinion, best exemplify his creative capabilities.
#5 – Inception
“An idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious.”
In the midst of his extremely successful Batman trilogy, Nolan released the wildly mindbending rollercoaster that is Inception. Rather than slow down and breathe between the already high-profile Batman flicks, the madman went full throttle with an original story of massive scale. Leonardo Dicaprio, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Elliot Page—the cast of Hollywood superstars lends itself well to the all-start team of dream thieves. Dicaprio portrays Dom Cobb, an elite dream thief called an extractor, who, alongside his team of professionals, enacts a dangerous invasion into the subconscious of a wealthy businessman’s son with the intent of performing “Inception,” a special job requiring the implanting of an idea in another’s mind. The twisting, mindblowing action that ensues within the subconscious pulls from the greatest action films of all time, while also bringing forward its own, uniquely confounding flair. Inception might just be the most unapologetically “action film” of Christopher Nolan’s catalogue. The film tells the story of grief, and not allowing the past to control you. After one of the craziest heists to ever occur on the big screen, the story concludes with the iconic, disturbingly open-ended final shot: a simple spinning top. Left wondering whether the dream has truly ended, the viewer leaves Nolan’s sci-fi epic with a desire for answers that will never be. Undoubtedly one of the most gripping cinematic experiences in recent history
#4 – Oppenheimer
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Arguably his most personal work, Christopher Nolan’s recent Oppenheimer did the unthinkable: a bona fide atomic explosion caught on camera, plastered on IMAX screens for the people’s viewing displeasure. While his films typically involve some aspect of lingering horror, Nolan’s Oppenheimer speaks of terrors beyond fiction. The final montage of the film cuts between various shots of the atomic bomb’s impacts on human history, showcasing that the contents of this story influence the world beyond the screen. Cillian Murphy expertly portrays the guilt-ridden, utterly destroyed titular genius, indisputably earning the Academy Award for that year. Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon round out the award-winning cast, each fueling the emotional drive of the brilliant biopic. Evidently, much of the support for the film came through the once-in-a-lifetime cultural phenomenon Barbenheimer, in which fans would watch both Oppenheimer and the Greta Gerwig film Barbie back to back as a double-feature. Thanks to this silly trend, many casual moviegoers, including myself, were introduced to the magic of Christopher Nolan for the first time. Biopic films often fall into tired tropes and uninteresting storytelling, but Nolan, with his magic touch, created a film that uses jumps in chronology and visual exaggeration to heighten the thrill of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s inevitable path of destruction. Additionally, Ludwig Göransson’s soaring track “Can You Hear the Music” goes toe-to-toe with the Hans Zimmer soundtracks of Nolan’s other works, musically imitating the molecules swirling around within the atomic bomb.
#3 – The Prestige
“Are you watching closely?”
The Prestige always has another trick up its sleeve. As soon as you think you’ve figured out the trick, the film hits you with an abracadabra moment like no other. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman excel as these self-obsessed magician rivals. The movie introduces a three-step process all magicians use to perform their tricks: the pledge, the turn, and the titular prestige. During the pledge, the magician shows the audience something ordinary. The turn introduces the extraordinary variable. Finally, the trick concludes with the prestige, the awe-inspiring payoff that leaves the audience guessing. The structure of the trick directly mirrors the structure of the movie. Act 1: A seemingly normal tale of obsession, with two cocky magicians going head-to-head for years. Act 2: A peculiar dosage of the supernatural is introduced to the story. Act 3: Everything you thought you knew comes crashing down in a finale that makes the viewer want to jump out of their seat and applaud. Toying with the chronology of the story, Nolan interweaves Borden’s (Bale) and Angier’s (Jackman) stories in an exhilarating puzzle. Unlike Inception or Oppenheimer, however, I found the distortion of time much easier to follow here. Rather than simply existing for the sake of style or even plot, the mixed-up order of the narrative elevates the suspense and entertainment value of the movie, giving us just the right amount of knowledge we need on a character before dragging us back to a different point in the timeline. I don’t think a twist has ever bewildered me like this, I don’t think a movie cast could get any better than this (David Bowie is in this!), and I don’t think there’s a single Christopher Nolan movie more fun than this. It really is pure magic.
#2 – Interstellar
“Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends time and space.”
If Hans Zimmer’s gorgeous score doesn’t transport you to the fifth dimension, I don’t know what will. Interstellar is not a space movie, it’s an Earth movie. It’s about the monumental value of our home, the value of the people living on it. That beautiful sense of purpose in humanity comes clear through the story of Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and Murph (Jessica Chastain), a father and daughter who lose all potential time together after the former chooses to embark on a near-impossible intergalactic mission. Interstellar treats space with so much realism to the point where you buy into the ideas and concepts on display here. Nolan’s wide shots of the corn field on Earth contrast beautifully with the bleak emptiness of the black void surrounding the Endurance spacecraft. Highlighting the beauty of life on Earth and the desolation of the far reaches of the galaxy, Nolan drives home the idea that the astronauts on the mission looked beyond what is necessary for humanity’s survival. I’m sure many are familiar with the meme of MatthewMcConaughey crying—I’ll forewarn that said meme appears in this movie, and without a doubt contains the single most heartbreaking performance in any Christopher Nolan movie. Interstellar amazes, devastates, and uplifts the viewer. With the most touching core of any of his films, Christopher Nolan’s very own spacey odyssey deserves the praise it receives from its fans. A story’s stakes cannot outweigh the otherworldly grandeur of Interstellar.
#1 – Memento
“I have to believe in a world outside my own mind.”
In the year 2000, Christopher Nolan released his second ever feature film Memento. As an up and coming young director he had all the right in the world to play it safe and use this film as a further demonstration of his competence and storytelling abilities. But the man doesn’t play things safe. Instead, a gritty, psychological thriller, borderline horror movie told in reverse plays out. Rather than playing forward like a movie typically should, Memento orders its scenes in backwards succession. Simultaneously disorienting and hooking the viewer, Nolan’s unexpected narrative tactic is integral to Memento. The dizzied protagonist Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce) suffers from a short-term memory loss, and uses messages written on his body and hotel room walls to deduce the events taking place in his life. These hotel scenes take place in a linear, black and white timeline that runs parallel to the primarily reverse timeline before colliding near the end. Bear with me, it makes much more sense in context. The backward nature of the film brilliantly confuses the viewer just as much as Leonard, and we experience the desperation for answers at the same time as our equally desperate lead. Memento may not have the massive budget, all-star cast, or ambitious set pieces of his later works, but the genius filmmaking techniques employed in Nolan’s film not only leave a lasting impression on the audience, but also elevates a gripping narrative to miraculous heights. Nolan’s manipulation of audience perspective completely changes the perception of the story, and therefore, exemplifies the most impressive feat a director can achieve.
Christopher Nolan seemingly never misses, and will most certainly go down in history with the Kubricks and the Hitchcocks of the world of cinema. With such a clear vision for each of his endeavors, Nolan constantly changes the game for modern cinema, and reaches a wide audience every single time. If you have never sat down with one of his films, or have only experienced his immensely famous Batman trilogy, I implore you to set aside some time to experience the wild, time-jumping adventures of Christopher Nolan.