[144] He had worked on the screenplay for more than five years after deliberating about its central ideas for over a decade. and Luca Guadagnino called him "one of the ultimate auteurs. [145] Delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tenet was released in August 2020, and was the first Hollywood tent-pole to open in theaters during the pandemic. "[179] In 2016, Memento, The Dark Knight, and Inception appeared in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century list. [51] With a $46 million budget, it was described as "a much more conventional Hollywood film than anything [Nolan had] done before". Describing the film as a survival tale with a triptych structure, Nolan wanted to make a "sensory, almost experimental movie" with minimal dialogue. Christopher Edward Nolan CBE is a British-American film director, producer and screenwriter known for making personal, distinctive films within the Hollywood mainstream. [10] Growing up, Nolan was particularly influenced by the work of Ridley Scott, and the science fiction films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Star Wars (1977). [191] Scott Foundas of Variety declared Nolan "the premier big-canvas storyteller of his generation",[192] while Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called him "the great proceduralist of 21st century blockbuster filmmaking, a lover of nuts-and-bolts minutiae. [111][112][113] A. O. Scott wrote, in his review for The New York Times, "Interstellar, full of visual dazzle, thematic ambition ... is a sweeping, futuristic adventure driven by grief, dread and regret. "[193], The filmmaker has been praised by many of his contemporaries, and some have cited his work as influencing their own. Graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1999. "[140] The film received many accolades, including Nolan's first Oscar nomination for Best Director. Theaters Reopen, Nears $150M Globally", "Tenet review – supremely ambitious race against time makes for superb cinema", "The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan", "Time, Memory & Identity: The Films of Christopher Nolan", "Identity Construction and Ambiguity in Christopher Nolan's Films", "Christopher Nolan Uncut: On 'Interstellar,' Ben Affleck's Batman, and the Future of Mankind", "The rational wonders of Christopher Nolan", "Interstellar's sound 'right for an experimental film', says Nolan", "Tenet: Will Gompertz reviews Christopher Nolan's epic", "Nolan book 2.0: Cerebral blockbusters meet blunt-force cinephilia", "Influencers: Christopher Nolan's Team Is the Big-Budget, Practical-Filmmaking Alternative", "The Exacting, Expansive Mind of Christopher Nolan", "Watch Christopher Nolan and Kip Thorne Discuss the Physics of Interstellar", "Christopher Nolan Embraces Film Tech But Doesn't Own a Cell Phone", "A Man and His Dream: Christopher Nolan and Inception", "Why Christopher Nolan Was the Quintessential Filmmaker of the 2000s", "Quentin Tarantino is most-studied director in the UK", "Why Hollywood Loves 'Interstellar' Director Christopher Nolan", "With 'Dunkirk,' Christopher Nolan Proves He's Blockbuster Cinema's Most Daring Auteur", "The Hollywood Reporter 100: The Most Powerful People in Entertainment 2018", "DUNKIRK Part 2: The art film as event movie", "Why 'Akira' Could Be Christopher Nolan's Next Film", "Newsmaker: Christopher Nolan is a different kind of storyteller", "Christopher Nolan: from superheroes to Dunkirk's small tales of heroism", "Ten years after it changed Hollywood, 'The Dark Knight' is back in theaters. "[159] Film theorist David Bordwell opined that Nolan has been able to blend his "experimental impulses" with the demands of mainstream entertainment, further describing his oeuvre as, "experiments with cinematic time by means of techniques of subjective viewpoint and crosscutting. [125][126] Subsequent events were held at Tate Modern in London, Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, and Tata Theatre in Mumbai. [123][124] An advocate for the survival of the analogue medium, Nolan and visual artist Tacita Dean invited representatives from leading American film archives, laboratories, and presenting institutions to participate in an informal summit entitled Reframing the Future of Film at the Getty Museum in March 2015. [46], In 2012, Nolan directed his third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale reprising the title role. [11][12] He began making films at age seven, borrowing his father's Super 8 camera and shooting short films with his action figures. He is known for his role as Wayne Enterprises board member Douglas Fredericks in Batman Begins, the Gotham Tonight promotional segments for The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. [142] Nolan and Thomas served as executive producers on The Doll's Breath (2019), an animated short directed by the Quay brothers. [31] Co-produced by Nolan with Thomas and Theobald,[32] it was made on a budget of £3,000. "[150], Nolan cooperated with Tom Shone for an in-depth look at his own work, called The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan (2020). "[152] The book was praised by William Gibson, Neal Gabler, and Sam Mendes, with the latter calling it "a superb book about a living filmmaker. [209] Nolan appeared in Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. "[86] The Dark Knight set a number of box-office records during its theatrical run,[87] earning over $1 billion worldwide. His work is permeated by mathematically inspired images and concepts, unconventional narrative structures, practical special effects, experimental soundscapes, large-format film photography, and materialistic perspectives. [48][83][84] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times found the film to be of higher artistic merit than many Hollywood blockbusters: "Pitched at the divide between art and industry, poetry and entertainment, it goes darker and deeper than any Hollywood movie of its comic-book kind. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1997, nobody really had cell phones, and I just never went down that path. 1976 [148] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the film a full five stars, calling it "preposterous in the tradition of Boorman's Point Blank, or even Antonioni's Zabriskie Point, a deadpan jeu d'esprit, a cerebral cadenza, a deadpan flourish of crazy implausibility—but supercharged with steroidal energy and imagination. His directorial efforts have grossed more than US$5 billion worldwide, garnered 34 Oscar nominations and ten wins. Nolan was raised in London and Chicago, and attended Georgetown University, where he majored in English and was a staff writer for The Hoya. "[206], Nolan was named an Honorary Fellow of UCL in 2006,[207] and conferred an honorary doctorate in literature (DLit) in 2017. "[54] Richard Schickel of Time deemed Insomnia a "worthy successor" to Memento, and "a triumph of atmosphere over a none-too-mysterious mystery". [139] In his review, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "It's one of the best war films ever made, distinct in its look, in its approach and in the effect it has on viewers. "[93][94] The film ended up grossing over $830 million worldwide[95] and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay; it won the award for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. Looking for some great streaming picks? It wipes the smirk off the face of the superhero movie. [22][28] Nolan and Thomas made their first attempt at a feature in the mid-90s with a project called Larry Mahoney, which was scrapped and never released. [181] Nolan has been described as "American cinema's most experimental blockbuster auteur"[182] and a "franchise unto himself. [75][76] Roger Ebert described it as "quite a movie – atmospheric, obsessive, almost satanic",[77] and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it an "ambitious, unnerving melodrama". [69] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and has been cited as one of the most influential films of the 2000s. Nolan has received many awards and honours. His production company, Syncopy, formed a joint venture with Zeitgeist Films to release Blu-ray editions of Zeitgeist's prestige titles. To be honest, it's a very clubby kind of place ... Never had any support whatsoever from the British film industry. It received positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office, earning $113 million worldwide. Although Nolan was initially hesitant about returning to the series, he agreed to come back after developing a story with his brother and David S. Goyer that he felt would end the series on a high note. [89] Nolan received many awards and nominations for his work on the film. Jake Gyllenhaal and Denis Villeneuve to reunite for series ‘The Son’, The Son: HBO Orders Limited Series Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Denis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal re-team for HBO’s The Son from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Spouse(s) Other family He earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director for his work on Dunkirk. [91] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film a perfect score of "A+" and called it "one of the best movies of the [21st] century". Updates on Dark Knight Sequel and Superman Man of Steel", "Christopher Nolan reveals title of third Batman film and that 'it won't be the Riddler, "Batman Review: Is 'The Dark Knight Rises' An Epic Letdown? "[169], Having made some of the most influential and popular films of his time,[170][171][172][173] Nolan's work has been as "intensely embraced, analyzed and debated by ordinary film fans as by critics and film academics". Lisa Joy Birthplace [34] To conserve film stock, each scene was rehearsed extensively to ensure that the first or second take could be used in the final edit. From Nolan's experience of living in London and having his apartment burgled, he observed that the common attribute between larceny and pursuing someone through a crowd was that they "both take you beyond the boundaries of ordinary social relations". [211], 1970–1997: Early life and career beginnings, Nolan has continued his collaboration with the Belic brothers, receiving a credit for his editorial assistance on their Oscar-nominated documentary, Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century, List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Nolan, "Christopher Nolan: the man who rebooted the blockbuster", "Christopher Nolan on 'Interstellar' Critics, Making Original Films and Shunning Cell Phones and Email (Q&A)", "Christopher Nolan injects his sci-fi with soul", "Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' — Hollywood's first existential heist film", "Christopher Nolan's Inception tops British box office", "Christopher Nolan interview for Inception", "On Christopher Nolan's birthday, how many of his 15 favourite films have you seen? [50] Warner Bros. initially wanted a more seasoned director, but Soderbergh and his Section Eight Productions fought for Nolan, as well as his choice of cinematographer (Wally Pfister) and editor (Dody Dorn). He has co-written several of his films with his brother Jonathan, and runs the production company Syncopy Inc. with his wife Emma Thomas. "[38] On 11 December 2012, it was released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of The Criterion Collection. [27] He filmed a third short, Doodlebug (1997), about a man seemingly chasing an insect with his shoe, only to discover that it is a miniature of himself. [104], During story discussions for The Dark Knight Rises in 2010, Goyer told Nolan of his idea to present Superman in a modern context. [117][118] At the 87th Academy Awards, the film won Best Visual Effects and received four other nominations – Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Production Design. Jonathan "Jonah" Nolan (born 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, television producer, director and author. Born and raised in London, Nolan developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age.