Line #24 Creator/ChristopherNolan


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8	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff_darknight6_1294.jpg]]
9	[[caption-width-right:300:[[MemeticMutation BRAVO NOLAN.]]]]
10	[floatboxright:Influences: Creator/MCEscher, Creator/RidleyScott, Creator/StanleyKubrick, Creator/MichaelMann, Creator/TerrenceMalick, Creator/NicolasRoeg, Creator/FritzLang, Creator/DavidLean, Creator/SidneyLumet, Creator/JohnFrankenheimer, Creator/TerryGilliam, Creator/OrsonWelles ]
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12	->''"I think audiences get too comfortable and familiar in today's movies. They believe everything they're hearing and seeing. I like to shake that up."''
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14	[[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Sir]] Christopher Edward Nolan, CBE, (born 30 July 1970 in Westminster, London) is a British-American film director, screenwriter, and producer.
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16	Regarded as a [[{{Postmodernism}} postmodern]] filmmaker, he is renowned for making {{Mind Screw}}y neo-[[FilmNoir noir]] movies, [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy reviving the Batman film franchise]], having a persistent preference of film stock and PracticalEffects over digital filmography and CGI, and single-handedly ending the longest 3D movie craze yet by [[http://www.slashfilm.com/imax-3d-phasing-out/ convincing IMAX to scale back new 3D presentations considerably]]. The man clearly ''loves'' Creator/{{IMAX}}. In addition, he is a staunch proponent and advocate of the "theatrical experience" in an age where streaming and video on demand are all the rage.
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18	His films tend to emphasize themes of obsession, deception, guilt, and {{order versus chaos}}, and time[[note]]''Memento'' is presented non-linearly, ''Interstellar'' focuses on lost time with loved ones, ''Tenet'' is about stopping a temporal disaster by traveling forwards and backwards in time[[/note]]. His protagonists are often grief-stricken men lying to themselves or others as a coping mechanism.
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20	He's known for meticulously planning his films ahead of time by developing detailed scripts and elaborate backstories. This is because he's loathe to shoot more than what he deems absolutely necessary[[note]]due to his roots as an indie filmmaker, he hates to waste time and money on scenes that won't be included in the final cut[[/note]]. As a result, his films have ''no'' deleted scenes. What you see in the theater is his final vision.
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22	Also, he's regarded as a joy to work with, as he maintains a professional and friendly set and welcomes actor input while gently, but firmly showing where he draws the line. This engenders a lot of loyalty among his casts and crews with many working with him across multiple projects and A-list actors clamor for the opportunity to appear in his films, even for walk-on roles and bit parts, because they heard through word-of-mouth of how enjoyable an experience it is to be in a Christopher Nolan film.
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24	His brother is scriptwriter Creator/JonathanNolan, who frequently collaborates with him.
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26	----
27	!!Films he directed:
28	[[index]]
29	* ''Film/{{Doodlebug}}'' (1997, short film)
30	* ''Film/{{Following}}'' (1998)
31	* ''Film/{{Memento}}'' (2000)
32	* ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'' (2002)
33	* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': %% Put here so it will be indexed properly. Please don't change this without ensuring that it remains indexed.
34	** ''Film/BatmanBegins'' (2005)
35	** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' (2008)
36	** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' (2012)
37	* ''Film/ThePrestige'' (2006)
38	* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' (2010)
39	* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' (2014)
40	* ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017)
41	* ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' (2020)
42	* ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'' (2023)
43	[[/index]]
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45	!!Films he has producing credits in:
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47	* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse
48	** ''Film/ManOfSteel'' (2013) [[note]]He is also credited with writing the story[[/note]]
49	** ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' (2016) (executive producer)
50	** ''Film/{{Justice League\|2017}}'' (2017) (executive producer)
51	** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) (executive producer)
52	* ''Film/{{Transcendence}}'' (2014) (executive producer)
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54	!!Tropes usually applied in his works:
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56	* AnachronicOrder: There are elements of this in every single one of his films.
57	** It's most extensively used in ''Memento'': over the course of the whole film, the main narrative is entirely in reverse scene by scene, with a B-story that happens prior to chronologically intercut.
58	** There are also elements of this in ''Batman Begins'' and ''Man Of Steel'', which both have extensive flashback sequences over their first halves.
59	** ''Dunkirk'' is a particularly bizarre example: the events are ''technically'' all overlapping and progressing forward in time, but we see them in three different time scales (a week, a day, and an hour, respectively) over its 106-minute runtime, thus producing this effect.
60	** PlayedWith In ''Film/{{Tenet}}'': [[spoiler: Due to the nature of the film's time travel mechanics, the order of events turns in on itself in the final act, so that the characters revisit the timeframe of the previous two acts in reverse, with the final scenes taking place near the film's chronological beginning.]]
61	* AntiHero: Morally ambiguous, psychologically-obsessed protagonists are his trademark.
62	* AspectRatioSwitch: He switched between aspect ratios in several of his film, including ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'', ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' and ''Film/{{Tenet}}''.
63	* AssociatedComposer:
64	** Music/HansZimmer is a longtime collaborator of his, composing most of his biggest films' soundtracks until ''Tenet''.
65	** He works with Music/LudwigGoransson since ''Tenet''.
66	* AuteurLicense: Hollywood is under the impression that any film in which he has the slightest involvement will turn to box-office gold and critical acclaim. The successes of his non-Batman films--''Film/{{Inception}}'', ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'', and ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}''--proves that this belief is not unfounded. Even after ''Tenet'' underperformed during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and he had a falling out with Creator/WarnerBros due to their hybrid Creator/HBOMax / theaters release strategy in 2021, Creator/{{Universal}} welcomed him with open arms for ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'' and agreed to his specific theatrical exclusivity window conditions and the film became another huge hit.
67	* AuthorUsurpation: ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' and ''Film/{{Inception}}'' have overshadowed his other films.
68	* AwfulTruth: Many of his protagonists must deal with this and have varying levels of success in doing so.
69	* BelievingTheirOwnLies: A recurring theme throughout his work is self-deception and how characters lie to themselves to avoid their own evil nature or as a way of dealing with terrible truths, most notably Leonard in ''Film/{{Memento}}''.
70	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Many of the {{Femme Fatale}}s in his work will present themselves as much sweeter than they really are.
71	* BlackAndGrayMorality / GreyAndGrayMorality: His ''Dark Knight Trilogy'' is the former while his other films are usually the latter.
72	* CentralTheme: Obsession, deception (both of others and the self), theft of personal and/or [[MacGuffin important objects]], fatherhood, and guilt are common themes shared by almost all his films.
73	* CloseOnTitle: ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'' and ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' have the title card appear at the end (at the beginning of the credits), instead of the beginning. Ironically (or perhaps fittingly), he put the title card at the beginning of ''Film/{{Memento}}'', a film where the present events are shown in backward-chronological order.
74	** {{Averted}} with ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'', which ''begins'' the film (and concludes the credits) with the title.
75	** Again averted in ''Film/{{Tenet}}'', with the title card appearing at the beginning and end of the prologue sequence. Likely done to mark the Protagonist's faked death [[spoiler:and the final act of the film occurring at the same time as the prologue]].
76	* CollateralAngst: A number of his protagonists are motivated primarily by the deaths of their loved ones, guilt over [[ILetGwenStacyDie their deaths]], and so on. ''Film/{{Memento}}'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'' come to mind.
77	* CreatorCouple: He's married to Emma Thomas, who's worked as a producer on all of his films. According to a profile of Thomas in [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Daily Telegraph]], "Thomas produces her husband's films, Nolan directs his wife's films." It describes Thomas's great strength as being able to accurately work out the schedule and budget before filming, and then make everyone stick to it. Being known for delivering films on time and on budget is obviously a great help to Nolan in his dealings with studios.
78	* CreatorInJoke: The {{Working Title}}s of most of his movies include the names of his four kids (e.g. "[[Film/{{Interstellar}} Flora's Letter]]").
79	* CreatorsOddball: ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'' is his first foray into the {{biopic}} genre.
80	* [[DarkAndTroubledPast Dark and Troubled Pasts]] that haunt his protagonists like no other. Sometimes literally, as in ''Film/{{Inception}}''.
81	* DeadpanSnarker: It's practically his sense of humor. The humor in his films is both dry wit and ironic. More noticeable in ''Film/{{Inception}}''.
82	* EnforcedMethodActing: Nolan loves using complete sets, practical effects, and making actors eat real food on camera. Especially on ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'', where hydraulics were used to simulate the impact of real ordinance on the ship interior set (and everybody eating bread-and-jam until they had to spit it out).
83	* EpicMovie: ''Film/{{Interstellar}}''. Nolan has also stated in his ''Wall Street Journal'' article that this kind of movie is almost a necessity for the future if studios want people to come to the theater instead of being content with home theater TV systems.
84	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Major characters in his movies are often willing to sacrifice themselves, and even if not often face up to impending deaths calmly.
85	* FemmeFatale: To go with his Neo-noir style mentioned below.
86	* FilmNoir: Many of his films are of the Neo-noir variety.
87	* HumansAreBastards: A common topic in most of his films in regards to human nature. However, most of them end up showing the [[RousseauWasRight complete opposite of the trope]], and the ones who thought so previously end up being wrong. This is especially notable in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' and ''Film/{{Interstellar}}''.
88	* IgnoranceIsBliss: Nolan's films often deal with the theme of fooling either one's self or others into believing something that's easier to digest than the reality.
89	* InMediasRes: In keeping with his fondness for AnachronicOrder (as described above), many of his films use this, such as ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''Film/{{Inception}}''.
90	* AnInsert: A close-up shot of hands, seemingly non-threatening objects, and/or both tend to appear in his films. Often at the very beginning, but not always.
91	* JitterCam: His Batman films, ''Film/{{Inception}}'', and ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' use handheld camerawork extensively, but it's often hard to notice because he uses them very strategically, using simpler shots when nothing intense is going on. He even goes so far as to have the camera operators ''carry IMAX cameras'', which are much heavier than the traditional cameras[[note]]It helps that Hoyte van Hoytema, Nolan's go-to cinematographer post-''Interstellar'', is a very large and strong man who can shrug off the extra weight[[/note]].
92	* TheLostLenore: The death of a LoveInterest is often a key plot point and strong character motivator in his films.
93	* LoudnessWar: Nolan has become infamous in recent years for only allowing ''one'' audio mix to be made for his films: a theatrical mix, meant to take advantage of the specialized audio setups of nearly all movie theaters. When watching one of his films on even the most cutting-edge home theater setup, it's not uncommon for fans to complain about the track being poorly balanced in regards to the sound effects or score drowning out dialogue. Some of his later films, like ''{{Film/Tenet}}'' and ''{{Film/Oppenheimer}}'', have become infamous for their problems with audio balancing and inaudible dialogue drowned out and buried in the mix compared to the sound effects and score even in many less-advanced theaters that themselves don't have state-of-the-art audio speakers.
94	* MindScrew: His resume outside of the ''Batman'' films can be confusing to follow due to their chaotic narrative structures.
95	** Nolan's short film ''Doodlebug''--which follows a paranoid guy who finds a tiny version of himself at his feet, and is compelled to follow said tiny versions actions up to and including getting squashed--would be the most straightforward example.
96	** ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' is told chronologically but can be confusing for those who don't have a great grasp of general relativity, quantum theory, and other space oddities.
97	** And then there's ''TENET''... the TimeRewindMechanic and the shenanigans around it can be difficult to follow.
98	* MultiTakeCut: He sometimes {{downplay\|edTrope}}s this trope, such as in the hospital explosion in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. As shown [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-iuuwOtsow here]], Nolan filmed the explosion from several angles but decided to put only two in the finished movie.
99	* OneWordTitle: Of his twelve films, eight have one-word titles. ''The Prestige'' (which takes its name from the original novel) is the only non-Batman film that doesn't use this format.
100	* OnceMoreWithClarity: Used in ''Film/{{Memento}}'', ''Film/ThePrestige'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'', and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', to go along with ''the audiences'' learning the AwfulTruth. It shows up in ''TENET'' too, but more in a StableTimeLoop way.
101	* OnlyOneName: Many characters in his film only use one name, sometimes implying that they're hiding something about their identity. There's "Cobb" in ''Film/{{Following}}''; "Natalie" in ''Film/{{Memento}}''; "Fallon" and "Cutter" in ''Film/ThePrestige''; "Lau" and "Gambol" in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''; "Arthur", "Eames", "Saito" and "Ariadne" in ''Film/{{Inception}}''; "Cooper", "Murph", "Doyle" and "Romilly" in ''Film/{{Interstellar}}''. [[note]]The script for ''Interstellar'' gives Cooper's full name as "Joseph C. Cooper," but this is never stated in the film itself. His daughter is referred to as Murphy Cooper, confirming that Cooper is his last name.[[/note]]; and Neil in ''Film/{{Tenet}}'', while "The Protagonist" (John David Washington's character) takes it up a level by having NoNameGiven.
102	* PlotTwist: All the freaking time, even though it's quite difficult to pull off in the age of things like the Internet.
103	* PracticalEffects: Nolan is a massive proponent for practical effects.
104	** ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' was very conservative on the post-production special effects. Only the most extravagant or dangerous stunts were performed in post-production. But certain scenes like Bruce saving Ducard from sliding off the edge of a cliff was done on location, with Christian Bale and Liam Neeson wearing the necessary safety lines. ''The Dark Knight'' managed to film the flipping of an 18-wheeler by...[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRgq12XOhjc actually flipping an 18-wheeler]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJmEZe3ICpY on the streets of Chicago]]. They got it in one try. The plane hijacking scene in ''Rises'' makes rather spectacular use of practical sets and stuntwork.
105	** Other notable examples include the tumbling hotel corridor scene in ''Film/{{Inception}}'', and the robot characters TARS and CASE in ''Film/{{Interstellar}}''.
106	** For ''TENET'', it was apparently ''cheaper'' to buy an '''actual''' Boeing 747 and crash it into a hangar than building a miniature model for that purpose.
107	** ''Oppenheimer'' features the extreme feat of convincingly simulating ''a nuclear explosion'' (complete with the signature blinding flash and mushroom cloud effect) without any CGI. Mercifully, no actual nukes were used, but the film ''did'' require an unholy amount of gasoline, petroleum, aluminum powder and magnesium flares ([[BoringButPractical as well as some mundane forced-perspective cinematography]]) to get the look and size of the explosion correct, and actors were placed in a bunker watching a very real and gigantic bomb go off before them.
108	* PragmaticAdaptation:
109	** ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' takes many liberties with the Batman universe, but they are considered to be among the greatest Batman adaptations ever put to film.
110	** ''Film/ThePrestige'' changed everything from the plot to characterization, but all without detracting from the original work. And it is widely considered better than the usual book-to-film adaptations.
111	* ProductionPosse:
112	** Nolan uses many of the same actors in his various projects, most notably Creator/ChristianBale, Creator/KennethBranagh, Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/MarionCotillard, Creator/TomHardy, Creator/AnneHathaway, and Creator/CillianMurphy. He's even referred to Caine as being his "good luck charm".
113	** From a business angle, everything he's made from ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'' to ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' has been at least partially distributed by Creator/WarnerBrothers[[note]]WB bought the overseas distribution rights to ''Film/ThePrestige'' and ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'', which were domestically distributed by Creator/TouchstonePictures and Creator/{{Paramount}} respectively[[/note]], who would write him a blank check to make anything he so wishes before their relationship became severely strained by the studio's decision to release its 2021 film slate simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax; he wound up taking his next project to Creator/{{Universal}}.
114	** This also extends to his behind the scenes crew: Music/HansZimmer scored all his films from ''Film/{{Inception}}'' to ''{{Film/Dunkirk}}'' (and co-scored ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' with Music/JamesNewtonHoward) with his first three films and ''Film/ThePrestige'' being scored by Music/DavidJulyan and Music/LudwigGoransson scoring both ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' and ''Oppenheimer''; Lee Smith edited all his films from ''Film/BatmanBegins'' to ''{{Film/Dunkirk}}'', while Dody Dorn cut both ''Film/{{Memento}}'' and ''Film/{{Insomnia}}''; Nathan Crowley working as production designer on all of his films post-''{{Film/Insomnia}}'' (barring ''{{Film/Inception}}''); and Wally Pfister served as cinematographer on all Nolan's projects from ''{{Film/Memento}}'' to ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' (Hoyte van Hoytema became Nolan's preferred cinematographer from ''Interstellar'' on, when Pfister began his own directing career).
115	* RecognitionFailure: When casting ''Dunkirk'' he didn’t really know who Music/HarryStyles was until his daughters told him. He knew Harry was famous but nothing really beyond that.
116	* {{Reconstruction}}: ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' in particular, which takes the pretty fantastical concept of a masked vigilante superhero dressed as a bat and grounds it in a somewhat-realistic, though still "[[ArtisticLicense comic-booky]]", worldscape.
117	* RedIndexGreenIndex: ''Averted'', since he's red-green colorblind. There's also a distinct lack of either color in most of his works.
118	* RewatchBonus: Many of his films have details which become easier to appreciate after the first viewing when the major twists in the story are known.
119	* RousseauWasRight: Even though his films can debate about whether or not HumansAreBastards, many of his films end up proving it to be this trope instead.
120	* RuleOfSymbolism: Especially in ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'', ''Film/BatmanBegins'', ''Film/ThePrestige'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'', and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.
121	* RuleOfThree: His movies are often built around well-defined groups of three. There's the three-act structure of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', the three-part magic tricks in ''Film/ThePrestige'' (the Pledge, the Turn, and [[TitleDrop the Prestige]]), the three layers of Fischer's dream in ''Film/{{Inception}}'' (the City, the Hotel and the Mountain), the three planets in ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' (Miller's planet, Mann's planet, and Edmunds' planet), and the three interacting plots in ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}''.
122	* SadisticChoice: Many of the 'right' choices in his films are often debatable. Usually happens to the protagonists, but sometimes not even secondary characters or extras are spared.
123	* SceneryPorn: All of his films, especially ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' and ''Inception''. There's a reason why ''Inception'' won an Oscar for Best Cinematography.
124	* SiblingTeam: His brother Jonathan is sometimes his screenwriting partner.
125	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: A common theme of debate in most his movies with characters representing either side, especially predominate in ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. His films differentiate about where they stand at the end.
126	* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: All of his movies are very much on the serious end of the scale. While most of his films aren't ''completely'' humorless, the jokes that are there tend to be very dryly delivered and [[BlackComedy quite dark]].
127	* StableTimeLoop: All of his movies that involve time travel have a fixed timeline. Nolan has said in an interview that fixed time is how he expects things to work.
128	* TragicHero: Most of Nolan's protagonists suffer from some tragic flaw that leads to their downfall.
129	* TwistEnding: Many films written by him and/or his brother have this.
130	* ViewersAreGeniuses: His stock in trade. Nolan is ''not'' a filmmaker who dumbs things down for his audience, that's for damn sure.

Context Creator / ChristopherNolan