Christopher Nolan is my favorite director. His films are masterfully woven, intricate tales that rely on characters and their relationships to propel a story, rather than bombastic action. This is something that I believe is sorely lacking in the majority of films today, especially in the mainstream. Sure, many of Christopher Nolan's films have A LOT of action (especially The Dark Knight Trilogy), but it is action that serves (and is not in excess of ) the story. Nolan was considered an "indie darling" with his exceptional Memento and is now being called the modern day Kubrick (which may be solidified with the release of 2014's Interstellar) as he continues to find new and innovative ways to prove he is a storyteller and a filmmaker beyond the producer driven cookie-cutter directors that often populate Hollywood.
All of Christopher Nolan's films (so far) focus on human psychology. As a major theme, Nolan likes to explore the many different layers of the mind and the different forms it can take, whether that be obsession, insomnia, revenge, sociopathic behavior, dual personalities, hyper rationalization, schizophrenia or anterograde amnesia. To that end, most of Nolan's main protagonists range from having a intellectual oddity to clinical mental illness. This is so prominent, that many of his characters become the embodiment of mental or moral characteristics. This allows Nolan's films to take on a philosophical quality (questioning the human condition) that welcomes social analysis and criticism. Because of this (and my love for these films), I am committing to an in-depth critical sociological analysis of ALL of Christopher Nolan's films periodically throughout the next year.
I was first introduced to the brilliance of Christopher Nolan through Batman Begins. After which I went back and watched/read anything and everything I could about him and his work. I hope the analysis that follows do both honor and justice to the man that not only gave me MY definitive Batman on film, but showed me what movies could be, and made me love them.
For the sake of clarity, the order of these posts will be based upon the film release dates from earliest to latest.
