The Life and Career of Christopher Nolan

             “Every film should have its own world, a logic and feel to it that expands beyond the exact image that the audience is seeing.”

-Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is one of the premiere Hollywood directors and has been named on more than one occasion as one of the best living filmmakers. His latest film, Interstellar, will undoubtedly cement this reputation in the annals of cinema. In honor of the November 7th release of Interstellar, we proudly present a short glimpse of The Life and Career of Christopher Nolan, a master storyteller.

Early Life

The writer/director/producer was born in London, England on July 30, 1970. Using his father’s Super-8 camera, Nolan clearly had an eye for filmmaking. Nolan’s experiences and education later influenced his first foray into low-budget independent feature filmmaking. The budget for his first film Following was only $6,000. Regardless of the film’s budget, it was clear that Nolan’s was a talent worth sharing.

                Nolan’s next film was the cult classic Memento, a written collaboration with his brother Jonathan. Guy Pearce took the starring role after big names such as Brad Pitt and Alec Baldwin were thrown around. Pearce as Leonard is now an iconic character and Nolan received his first major award nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Unfortunately Nolan did not win, but his credibility as a modern filmmaker continued to rise. The independent auteur went on to direct an American version of the Norwegian hit Insomnia starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank.

Nolan Bursts Into Big-Budget Filmmaking

                Nolan began with psychologically twisting and turning films, but it wasn’t until Warner Bros. approached him to helm a new Batman franchise that Nolan become a household name. Batman Begins marked a new beginning for the caped crusader and a change in how superhero movies were made. Nolan’s focus was character building and the story; the action came second, but was still flawless. Nolan took a “break” after Begins came out to direct one of our favorite films The Prestige, a brilliant exploration of greed, treachery, and sleight of hand with a magicians’ backdrop.

                Nolan outdid his previous creations with his masterpiece Batman film The Dark Knight. The film went on to gross a billion dollars worldwide and received multiple Academy Award nominations including a Best Supporting nod and posthumous win for Heath Ledger as the Joker. Nolan was far from done astounding audiences though, as he had yet another trick up his sleeve in the form of  2010’s Inception. His previous original film blew audiences away emotionally, mentally, and dipped into their wallets with an exceptional $800 million gross.

A Brief Break

                In 2012, after his longest break from filmmaking, Nolan finalized his intoxicating Batman trilogy with the introduction of Bane and an epic fight for Gotham City. His sequel was not nearly as well-received as The Dark Knight, but still managed to make nearly $500 million. Nolan was far from done with Warner Bros. and superheroes though. He currently works as a producer for DC Comics projects including Man of Steel and the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

                Wow, what a trip down memory lane! Simply thinking about Nolan’s sterling career brings back images of thousands of brilliant shots, phenomenal performances, and insane storytelling. Please join Aksarben Cinema and revel in a career spanning nearly 20 years that has wrought some of the greatest cinematic treasures of all time.