Ranked from least great to greatest, here are Christopher Nolan's films.
It is by no means a bad film, it is merely his weakest film. The Prestige centers around the theme of illusion; by which magicians tend to use tricks basing from what cannot be seen. The film injects this concept into the structure of the plot, making use of twists and turns from this theme. It stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as two magicians that are rivals. The film is, as always, excellently made and looks beautiful, leading to an Oscar nomination for best art direction. The plot is consistent and very well thought out, however suffers from a very random and deal breaking climax. Perhaps some restructuring and editing of the ending could've made this a Nolan classic. Still definitely worth a watch though.
The Following is the most under-watched Nolan feature. It centers upon a young man who becomes involved in a criminal group whilst going around the streets. As a debut, it's quite outstanding. It's suspenseful, gripping, and makes creative use of lack of appropriate light. It's ridiculously short at a mere 70 minutes, but packs an immense amount of gusto into those short moments. Nolan directed, wrote, edited and was the cinematographer in order to cut costs. This small movie made for a mere $6,000 dollars launched the career of then a then twenty-something Nolan and he would later go on to direct movies made for nearly $200 million. It's a directorial success story.
Now for the heavy hitters. Insomnia is a remake of a Norwegian film of the same name. I've never watched the original, however, I can comment that this is an excellent film. It's a gripping psychological thriller; most significantly because of the trio of performances from Robin Williams, Hilary Swank and most importantly Al Pacino, who gives his absolute all here. There's plenty of creativity here; it's perhaps one of the best remakes I've seen so far. It's not often that a Hollywood remake of a foreign film, most especially a horror or thriller, becomes successful in becoming its own film. Nolan certainly made it in his own way of making movies. It's definitely worth a watch, seeing as how the top 4 remaining has been watched by everyone.
Besides the fact that this is an excellent film, Batman Begins also deserves recognition for the creation of the gritty reboot; films that were reboot into their own series but told in a much darker fashion. Hollywood soon followed that trend, as seen in the multitude of dark adaptations such as the upcoming Spider-Man. This Batman Begins strips the batman we know from the first series as a rich, gadget-using crime-fighter down to his core. The movie is a rich character study; and focuses far more on Batman himself than its sequel. It's less of a superhero movie, more of a thrilling, character-driven action-drama where the main character merely wears a bat suit. It's deep.
To all those loyal Inception fans out there, no, I am not completely insane for not giving Inception a perfect score. It's a film I want to give a perfect score to, however, can't for reasons I'm still not sure of myself. In terms of its placement here on the list, I do believe it'll be correct, regardless of the score. Inception is widely regarded as a modern science-fiction masterpiece, a deep and challenging movie about the architecture of the mind. It's highly involving; filled with rich and realistic characters and intelligent use of its core themes. It's also nearly perfect in Technical terms. The score from Hans Zimmer is astounding. The visual effects were incredible without being too heavy handed. Possible one of the most gorgeous science-fiction films I've seen.
Memento is an astounding film. It's an innovative film; thanks to the film's narrative structure which stands as the most unique way to tell a story that I've seen. This movie was what established Nolan as a director who can make films that are like nothing that anyone has made. I'm not going to try and explain the way its presented since Wikipedia has a five paragraph section just for that. However, apart from its innovative structure, it's also a thematic success. The way the story is told only enriches the story itself. It's an exploration into memory; and how it affects our way of looking into things. It's impossible to not try to watch it twice, since it's extremely difficult to comprehend everything on the first viewing.
It's the obvious choice for the top spot, but it's still the clearest. The Dark Knight remains to be one of the greatest movies of the decade; a look in what a superhero film should and could be. Bolstered by the incredible performance from Heath Ledger and a strong performance from Christian Bale, this film that deals with themes of crime and the human psych instead of typical superhero pathos becomes a modern classic masterpiece. It's technically pitch perfect and thematically pitch perfect. It's one film that can be appreciated by nearly everybody; from critics to audiences to those who rarely watch film, and even aficionados of the comic series. It's a movie that rises completely above what we expect; at least until The Dark Knight Rises comes out. Let's wait and see.
I loved The Prestige. Tesla is why I had to see that movie! Inception was such a unique film, I dare anyone try to copy that idea!
ReplyDeleteINCEPTION and MEMENTO are masterpieces. Both in terms of conception of the plot and directing it.
ReplyDeleteWill always look upto Nolan's movies.