With Tenet on the verge of being released into our cinemas this week, it feels like as good a time as any to look back over Christopher Nolan’s enormously successful career so far and pick out the highlights. Nolan is the modern pioneer in event cinema, a new release on his part is treated as something on par with a new James Bond vehicle, such is the scope and vision of his film making. Tenet is Nolan’s 11th full length feature film, so pressing on with a top five seemed more appropriate than a top ten! This list is naturally a very personal choice, and I’d love to know your opinions on what you may agree with, or indeed, what you think is absolute codswallop on my part.
5. THE PRESTIGE (2006)
I still feel that The Prestige goes under the radar slightly, even if it is acclaimed in many circles. Nolan’s mainstream introduction post Batman Begins wasn’t to everyones taste, but a cleverly woven story around two friends and fellow magicians, who, after a fatal accident, become bitter rivals offers a thrilling narrative. Nolan’s now trademark big ending was probably seen by the majority in The Prestige first, and Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman excel in the main roles, with a characteristically Lynchian cameo from David Bowie to fall alongside. The Prestige covers a huge variety of topics simmering beneath the main storyline, including a nod to the birth of cinema. As ever with Nolan films, it bears repeat viewings.
4. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
I’m sure there will be many screaming in disbelief at Nolan’s central Batman movie being so far down the list, but that isn’t to say it’s not an excellent film. Heath Ledger’s Joker is not one that will be forgotten quickly, and his posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the clown prince of crime is fully deserved. There is so much of The Dark Knight that is stunning, especially the extraordinary opening bank heist sequence that, eventually, offers introduction to the Joker. The final sequence with the two boats isn’t as convincing an ending for me as many others believe, and it is a purely personal opinion. The Dark Knight owes an enormous debt to Michael Mann’s crime opus Heat (1995), with Batman and the Joker on different sides of the law a la Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. It is without doubt, the second best Batman film ever made.
3. MEMENTO (2000)
The turn of the millennium saw the turning of Christopher Nolan’s mind once more, cementing his place on the big time after his debut feature Following in 1998 (which is well worth a watch). Guy Pearce is superb as the central protagonist who suffers from anterograde amnesia, meaning he has short term memory loss every fifteen minutes. Through a series of polaroid pictures and various tattoos, he is trying to solve the murder of his wife, and Nolan presents this to us in two ways; a series of black and white sequences shown in chronological order, combined with a colour film narrative, shown in reverse. Both sequences meet at the end, in what can only be described as groundbreaking cinema. Sure, it’s not the first time this format has been tried and tested, but it was certainly for me the first time that I’d seen it done so effectively. It’s not as brutal as something like Gasper Noe’s Irreversible (2002), but it is every bit as excellent.
2. INCEPTION (2010)
The ultimate mega-budget enormous blockbuster film that is as intelligent as it is epic? Inception sent pulses racing and minds into overdrive on its release in 2010, bending as many brains as it did buildings. The dream within a dream within a dream was unlike anything seen in cinema, and although it was dubbed the closest thing we’d get to Nolan Bond movie (I’ve already read reviews that claim Tenet now deserves that title) it barely warrants a comparison with the 007 universe. Inception is its own idea, its own film, its own dream, and I remember walking out of the cinema thinking “Wow”. Admittedly this tends to happen whichever Nolan film you walk out of, (especially in IMAX) but Inception stays with you in a way something like Interstellar (2014) doesn’t in the long term. It’s a blockbuster with massive set pieces that also makes you think, a film that assumes its audiences intelligence can keep up with the drama, and probably remains one of the most inventive movies of the twenty-first century.
1. BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
That’s right, I’ve dared to place Nolan’s first foray into the Caped Crusader’s world above his sequel. My personal viewing experience of Batman Begins on its release still remains, arguably, my greatest experience in a cinema. With a VIP box to ourselves, my Dad and I were able to stretch out, put our feet up, eat copious amounts of popcorn, and experience something I hadn’t before; a superb art house movie, made by an excellent director, disguised as a major studio blockbuster. Batman Begins, crucially, takes its time, and is allowed to do so. It takes a long while before Batman himself appears on screen, and that is the films great beauty. As a big fan of the graphic novels, seeing Batman Begins treated so brilliantly on the big screen was very special. Excellent turns from Christian Bale, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman, amongst others, very much add to the story, one of origin that explains itself superbly, and culminates in a thrilling yet respectful ending. It satisfies the blockbuster fan, but does more than enough to stand by its art house roots.
I’m sure that plenty of you will disagree with the entire list, and I’d love to hear from you if that is the case. Feel free to lend your opinions below, or email me at christiankeane7@gmail.com