TOP 5 CHRISTOPHER NOLAN FILMS
- MATTHEW ANDERSON
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
What can I say about Sir Christopher Nolan that hasn't already been said? He's a genius filmmaker! He's an amazing storyteller! He's a passionate guy about the movies! Well, I guess it's kind of impossible to say anything new outside of handing in my personal top 5 list.
This month, I thought it would be a good time to discuss the man's filmography in honor of his latest film, The Odyssey. Just like Steven Spielberg, Nolan has a fair number of movies in his filmography that some would consider to be a masterpiece. And he's also known for messing around with time in his films, which has become one of his many storytelling tricks he uses. I should point out that while this will be a top 5 list, not everyone's personal favorites will be on this article.
Before we begin, I want to list off some honorable mentions:
Dunkirk
Tenet
The Prestige
With that said, let's talk about my personal favorites from Christopher Nolan!
5) Batman Begins
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.
At the time, the intellectual property was seen as a diluted brand thanks to its last live-action film, Batman and Robin. Batman Begins was a chance for Warner Brothers to see this as a fresh start and showcase that this brand still had a fanbase. The studio even took a risk on having Nolan tackle his own take on the caped crusader, despite not having much experience on working within a big tentpole world; prior to this, he only had three movies on his belt (one of which I'll discuss later in the article). And thank God they did, because this is a pretty solid origin story.
Batman Begins succeeds due to Nolan's visual style and writing, which can be a pro or con depending on the film he's doing. With some of the director's lesser efforts like say Interstellar, he lets the story do all the work and hopefully character follows with it, except with that one I didn't care too much about the people the film followed. With this, it works so well because you can buy that these characters would do what they do, while also being invested in Bruce Wayne's origin.
Even as an origin story, it works enough due to Nolan putting the natural building blocks of the characters' motivation and struggles, without feeling like a cynical cash grab. I would argue this and Casino Royale (which would come out the very next year) do a brilliant job at rebooting their respective IP for a new audience, as well as providing a story that interests older fans of the overall franchise. Something like The Lone Ranger or Fan4stic failed miserably, because they're bogged down by heavy exposition and a lack of an interesting vision to their films. While there are some legit criticisms I have with Batman Begins, such as the action scenes being hard to make out or Katie Holmes being miscast in her role, it's not enough to knock it off the list.
4) Oppenheimer
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
Oppenheimer not only became a gigantic box-office hit to where it became the then-highest grossing biographical film of all time, but it also garnered critical acclaim for the film's approach to the man who made the atomic bomb. Nolan does such a terrific job exploring Oppenheimer's complex mind, while putting his visual style for the film. If anything, this reminded me a bit of another Oscar-winning Best Picture winner, Amadeus, where we explore the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri. With this, the film tackles the jealousy and bitterness Lewis Strauss had for the man.
Just about everything in this film is amazing from the astounding score by Ludwig Göransson, the superb editing by Jennifer Lame, to the stunning cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema; ironically enough, all three would be awarded their respective Oscars at the 96th Academy Awards. The entire ensemble does a terrific job as well, with Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon being one of the many standouts from this film. And of course I can't ignore the titular role himself played by Cillian Murphy. This is an incredible performance that showcases the actor's range as not just what he can do, but what he can do as a leading man. Most roles he's done before were arguably as a supporting part or if he did play a lead, it was in low-budget films like 28 Days Later. From his delivery to his subtle facial expressions, there's a reason why Cillian won the Oscar for Best Lead Actor.
If I had any complaints, it's the lack of complex female characters which has become a problem in other Nolan films. Even if Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh are giving it their all, they're saddled with such flat characters that don't allow them to create a lot of depth within their performances. Had this film fixed that one issue, I might've flirted with the idea of putting this even higher on my list. As is? What a picture!
3) Memento
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife’s killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he’s going, or why.
While some consider this to be the filmmaker's debut, he had actually done a film prior to this called Following. Not only did that use the man's signature style of the non-linear narrative, but it also got a fair amount of critical acclaim. It wasn't enough to garner anything big, but at least he had a feature film on his belt. With Memento, it put even more eyes on Christopher Nolan to where he was nominated for his first Academy Award in the Best Original Screenplay category.
What I love about Memento is that despite the film playing around with time and even intercutting scenes that are a mix of color and black-and-white, the film holds your attention and you're curious to see where it goes next. In fact, it's one of the few times I can instantly think of where the non-linear structure actually pays off. In other films like 21 Grams, the out-of-order storytelling hinders the film as it isn't told in a way that makes sense within the context of the story. With Memento, it needed to be told this way as we're not only trying to piece together this puzzle but also feel like we're losing our minds like Leonard is.
The performances from this ensemble are terrific, especially from Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss. Both of them work incredibly well together, as does Joe Pantoliano. If you haven't seen this film, I'd highly recommend you check it out. Also, fun fact: both Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson (who was up for The Royal Tenenbaums) were nominated against each other at the 74th Academy Awards; both would go on to win for the first time in different categories years later at the 96th Academy Awards.
2) The Dark Knight
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
At the time, there was a ton of hype for The Dark Knight. From coming off the heels of Batman Begins, this being the last completed role by Heath Ledger, to the IMAX sneak peek that was shown to the public months in advance. It was honestly crazy to see a movie like this get that much attention. Even people at the time were doubtful that Heath could play the Joker, as he didn't have anything major on his acting belt to show he could do it, outside of his subdued role in Brokeback Mountain. Thankfully, he pulled off a miracle as the Australian actor was posthumously awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Heath's performance is easily the best thing about this wonderful film, as he's able to play the Joker in a fresh way, without giving a one-note performance or replicating what came before him with other portrayals. I even love his ticks he adds to the role, like him licking his lips or his spine-tingling laughter. It's honestly a worthy win in what was considered an impressive lineup at the Oscars.
As for the film itself, it's fantastic as this was one of the few comic book films that was taken seriously. Why may you ask? Because it wasn't just a movie about good vs. evil. It was about the lengths you'd go and which lines you're willing to cross in order to bring justice within a city that's filled with corrupted officials. I also love that while Batman is continuing his mission of putting fear into the criminals, his actions are taking a toll on Bruce Wayne as he can't always keep up with his public persona if he wants to bring order to Gotham City.
I should also point out that the action is a major improvement over the last installment. The first film had action set pieces that are at best mediocre, the stunts in here are terrific, particularly the Batmobile chase. It's shot and edited in a manner to where you can geographically see where everyone is, as well as feel the tension brewing as the scene continues. Even the cinematography by Wally Pfister is a huge setup, as not only is he shooting on a large format like IMAX but he's also presenting each sequence on a wider scale, rather than relying on shaky, handheld cameras. All of this is masterfully done without a lot of overbearing music.
Don't get me wrong: music can work incredibly well, especially when you're trying to establish a certain tone or mood. However, with something as chaotic and noisy as this chase sequence, adding a loud score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard would only draw attention to itself, rather than letting us feel like we're there with the characters. A choice like this is sadly not as often as you'd think, as a fair number of tension-building scenes in modern films always use a loud score and tell you how to feel within the moment. I could go on and on about how amazing The Dark Knight is, but all I can say is this is one terrific ride I'd love to go on again and again.
1) Inception
Plot Summary via Letterboxd: Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: “inception”, the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious.
Yeah; I'm going to be honest here: this has and always will be my favorite Christopher Nolan film. When Inception came out, I didn't think I'd be on board with the film as I didn't know too much about it. All I knew was that it starred Leonardo DiCaprio and was directed by the guy who did The Dark Knight. I saw this opening day and man! Did I have a blast watching this.
I get that Inception is riddled with a fair number of criticisms, such as the constant explanations and confusing story, but it works enough for me on that first viewing I was willing to rewatch this over and over again. And I think I nailed down why this works for me the most. Outside of the ensemble doing a fantastic job and the technical work (as well as the action set pieces) being first-rate, especially Hans Zimmer's incredible score (might be my favorite of his work), the film works because of one actor. And that actor is Cillian Murphy. I get that he's not the most complex character written by Nolan, but he's able to sell this role so well that it makes me emotionally invested with the rest of the story. If anything, Cillian's character arc is a bit of a parallel to Cobb's own arc, as they're both forced to let go of their loved ones and move on in life.
In regard to the film itself, the whole experience for me felt like a dream; one minute you're in a ticking time bomb scenario and the next you're in an emotionally cathartic moment. If you tried explaining what you dreamt, you'd sound like a crazy person. I could go on and on as to why this is my favorite Nolan film of his career thus far.
Conclusion
Coming off the heels of winning his first set of Academy Awards with Oppenheimer, Sir Christopher Nolan is coming back to the big screen with his own take on Homer's The Odyssey this month. We'll see if he can strike twice and become an awards darling again, but even if he doesn't it's nice to see him working on a giant epic. It's rare in today's Hollywood system that we get to see a huge film like this, where the money and resources are used in a way that makes it feel grand in scale. And based on the previews I've seen so far, it looks like we'll be getting a promising feature that feels like something worth seeing on the big screen.
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