As The Dark Knight Rises draws nearer, I'm having a bit of a mini-Nolan-fest at home this week. Lovefilm sent me Nolan's feature debut Following this week. It's an interesting, twisty, non-linear, black and white low budget gem but not a bona-fide masterpiece. However you can see many of Nolan's signatures germinating in his tale of a morally questionable anti-hero getting lured and manipulated into a criminal underworld beyond his control. 
It's interesting to note there is a character named Cobb as in Inception. Like Memento the narrative is a bit of a puzzle that needs piecing together by the viewer. And both Following and Inception have morally dubious protagonists and characters that delve into the minds of others.The Dark Knight Rises will only be Nolan's eighth feature but his filmography is packed with brilliant films from Memento and Insomnia right up to his Batman trilogy. I urge you to check out any you may have missed!
Watching Following this week and then um... following that with Inception today has reminded me of Nolan's early short film Doodlebug. So the real reason I write today is to share it with you. If you haven't seen it before or you just can't wait for The Dark Knight Rises to be released, then give Christopher Nolan's short film a go to tide you over. It's got a killer ending!
What do you think of Mr Nolan? Legendary or over-rated? Be careful what you say, Bane's watching.
Nolan is definitely legendary. His films has always been cerebrally engaging and suspenseful. I've probably enjoyed "Following" more than "Insomnia", although the latter film was pretty solid too. His other films "Memento", "The Prestige", "Inception", and the two Batman films are forever on my all time favourite films.
ReplyDeleteI think I enjoyed Insomnia more than Following but both are still pretty damn close to great films! It's an incredible filmography so far. I wonder what he'll do after he finishes the Bat.
DeleteA very good filmmaker, I have yet to see Following, i've seen the rest of his work and enjoyed all of it. Surprisingly enough Dark Knight is near the bottom of the list of favorite Nolan films (obviously Memento tops the list).
ReplyDeleteSome big film snobs don't like him because he pleases a mainstream audience, yet he pleases critics as well.
haha well that's their loss! Yeah he's a filmmaker who as soon as I watch one of his films, I want to see it again. I'm still trying to get round to re-watching The Prestige and Batman Begins. Memento I've watched countless times. It's probably my favourite too. Though Inception and Dark Knight are close.
DeleteI saw Following before I saw Inception and it's apparent this guy is destined for great things. Yeah, funny to see the character named Cobb and also a Batman logo on the apt door :D I'll check out this Doodlebug short later tonight, Pete. But to answer your question, I think he's an excellent director whose masterpiece is still yet to come.
ReplyDeleteYeah definitely the film of a guy destined to be great. I forgot about the logo on the door, that was freaky! Wow if his masterpiece is yet to come, it's going to be mindblowing! Hope you like the short!
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