Summary of Christopher Nolan's works: A genius who combines outstanding authorship with megahits

Christopher Nolan is a genius and hitmaker who continues to demonstrate his artistic talent with Big budget films. His latest film, Oppenheimer, won a total of seven awards at the 96th Academy Awards (2024), including his first Best Director award, and has grossed $960 million worldwide (as of March 25). He also took on new technical challenges, such as filming in IMAX black-and-white and analog for the first time in history.

Born in 1970, director Nolan began making films when he was in college, and made his feature directorial debut with ``Following'' in 1998. Since then, he has captivated audiences all over the world with his unique ideas that no one has ever seen before, and his analog, large-scale, "authentic" images that exude a love for movies.

He is a man who values ​​his family, often collaborating with his wife Emma Thomas as a producer and his brother Jonathan Nolan to write scripts, and often using his favorite actors such as Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine. On the other hand, it is also noteworthy that since ``Tenet'' (2020), he has teamed up with newcomers such as editing engineer Jennifer Reim and composer Ludwig Göransson, and has brought Oscars to both of them.

This time, we will be introducing 12 feature films directed by Christopher Nolan, sorted by year.

Index

• 1. “Following” (98) 70 minutes
• 2. “Memento” (00) 113 minutes
• 3. “Insomnia” (02) 118 minutes
• 4. “Batman Begins” (05) 141 minutes
• 5. “Prestige” (06) 128 minutes
• 6. “The Dark Knight” (08) 152 minutes
• 7. “Inception” (10) 148 minutes
• 8. “The Dark Knight Rises” (12) 165 minutes
• 9. “Interstellar” (14) 169 minutes
• 10. “Dunkirk” (17) 106 minutes
• 11. “Tenet” (20) 151 minutes
• 12. “Oppenheimer” (23) 180 minutes
  

1. “Following” (98) 70 minutes

This is Nolan's first feature-length directorial work, after making three short films. It is a black and white film made on a very low budget, costing $6,000. However, the film grossed more than $48,000 at the box office, and received attention at film festivals. They have suddenly achieved success in terms of both grades and evaluations.

A thriller in which a young man who aspires to be a writer begins tailing a man he sees on the street in order to obtain a motif, and becomes involved in a certain incident. It was released in Japan in 2001.

Director Nolan directed, wrote, produced, shot, and edited this film, and you can see the influence of film noir and homage to `` The Shining '' (1980). In that sense, it can be said to be a personal work, but it also incorporates the ``chronological shuffle'' direction that was also used in his next work, `` Memento '' (2000), which gives you a glimpse of his talent.

2. “Memento” (00) 113 minutes

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A work of ideas that made director Nolan famous, and is best described as "brilliant." This is an intellectual suspense story about a man who has only a 10-minute memory and tries to find out who killed his wife.

Director Nolan's films have a common theme of ``time,'' but this film brings to the fore a unique approach to ``time.'' The timeline is played in reverse, and there is no tutorial-like "explanation of the personalities of the characters or the origins of the incident," and the game suddenly starts from the scene of the murder (and is played in reverse. This "rewind" effect is... (It is also used in the trailer for the latest work ``Tenet''). The audience's memory and reading ability will be tested as black-and-white and color images are mixed together.

The main character's style of carving notes on his body and carrying around Polaroid photos to supplement his memory will leave a strong impression on you. The urgent acting of Guy Pearce, who has dyed his hair blonde, also shines.

Nolan, who directed this film, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing for his second feature film, and it grossed $39 million worldwide against an estimated production cost of $9 million. ``Memento'' became a work that is still talked about to this day.

More details: "Memento" Nolan's masterpiece reverse movie that overturns the standard detective/revenge drama *Note! Contains spoilers.