A Filmmaker's Guide to: 5 Films by Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is possibly best known for his attempts to tell the most post-modern and convoluted storylines ever to grace the screen. With films such as "Following" (1998) and "Memento" (2000) constantly being referenced at the beginnings of this cycle of mind-fuck movies. Contained within the thriller genre, Nolan is able to create the correct amount of suspense that would keep you watching until the end even if you didn't really know what was going on at that particular time. The best thing about a Nolan film is probably this though: if someone tells you that they understood the film entirely, then they really didn't understand it at all.

What we've got here is five films by Christopher Nolan and we're going to go through why they were so revolutionary to see on the screen. The thing about Nolan is that he may be a post-modernist director but a lot of his cinematography work comes from other places with many aspects of cinematography being able to be traced back to Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Oliver Stone and yes, even Derek Jarman.

5 Films by Christopher Nolan

5. Dunkirk (2017)

A film that deals with time in a new and revolutionary way, it is all in all a war film. "Dunkirk" (2017) is one of those films that if you saw it in the cinema, you got the true feat of the experience because of all the wide shots, the crammed frames and the epic scale on which the film was made on. Not to mention the incredible speed at which some of the scenes were filmed. The tracking shots, the close ups and the various characterisation techniques really made this film something to be admired.

4. Memento (2000)

One of the greatest post-modern movies ever made. This film is told entirely from the POV of the main character and is probably best described as a limited perspective film. The most intense thing about this film is the fact that our character cannot remember things and through this, we get to see the troubled lifestyle he leads. From various close ups upon post-it notes to intense scenes of violence, this film is honestly one of Nolan's best attempts on screen.

3. Inception (2010)

One of Christopher Nolan's most recognised films, this tells the story of the dream sequence and how theft within the dream sequence works. Through the amazing cinematography of close ups, tilts, crane shots, wide shots of snowy mountains and so much more, Nolan is able to successfully tell his epic narrative through many different perspectives. The tension is created through speeding up and slowing down the movie at will.

2. The Prestige (2006)

Christopher Nolan's historical thriller starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as rival magicians in Victorian England is possibly one of my personal favourite films of all time. David Bowie as the incredible and yet, controversial Nikolai Tesla and even Andy Serkis and Scarlett Johansson get involved in the story. The thing that this film relies mostly on is the way in which the story is told. From start to finish, we have a framed narrative which is wrapped around the caged bird magic trick that is happening whilst Michael Caine relays it to Borden's daughter. It is a magical movie in itself.

1. The Dark Knight (2008)

The majority of this film's acclaim is carried on the back of the late Heath Ledger and his legendary performance as the Joker. But if we look at the cinematography, we see everything that is classic Nolan. We see these long craning shots, these wide shots of Gotham, incredible uses of tracking shots for longer, more complex sequences and most importantly, we see aspects of slow-motion for which Nolan is lesser known. Everything in this movie just fits together so well and Heath Ledger's performance on top of all of this made it one of the greatest films of the 21st century.