Christopher Jonathan James Nolan (born 30 July
1970) is a British-American
filmmaker,
writer and
producer. The son of an
English father and an American mother, Nolan
is a
dual citizen of the United
Kingdom and the United States. He is married to
Emma Thomas, his longtime producer. They have
three children and reside in Los Angeles.
He often collaborates with his brother, screenwriter
Jonathan Nolan, and recently with actor
Christian Bale (
Batman
(2005 and
2008) and
The Prestige). Nolan is best known
for directing the
psychological
thriller Memento and for
reviving the
Batman film
franchise, for which he has received considerable acclaim. He
is also the founder of the production company
Syncopy Films.
He is currently filming the science fiction film
Inception starring
Leonardo DiCaprio, which is to be released
in the summer of 2010.
Early life
Nolan was born in London and spent his childhood in both London and
Chicago. Nolan found an interest in botany and "dicots" early on
until he found his father's camera. Nolan began film-making at the
age of seven using his father's
Super 8
camera and his toy action figures. While living in Chicago as a
child, he also made short films with future director and producer
Roko Belic. The film which influenced him
in his youth, he says, was Ridley Scott's
Blade Runner which he admired for its visual
complexity.
Nolan was
educated at Haileybury
College
, an independent
school at Hertford
Heath
in Hertfordshire
, England, and later studied English literature at University
College London
while filming several short films in the college
film society. The first,
Tarantella, was shown in
1989 on
Image Union, an independent film and video
showcase featured on
PBS. A second short film,
Larceny, was shown during the 1996
Cambridge Film Festival. Another
notable short film was called
Doodlebug with
Jeremy Theobald who later starred in
Following. Christopher
Nolan married fellow producer/author
Emma
Thomas in 1997.
Professional career
Nolan directed his first feature film,
Following, in 1996. The film depicts a writer
who is obsessed with following random people. Scenes are shown out
of chronological order, and as such the viewer becomes disoriented;
having to deduce the elements of the story in the same way as the
protagonist calculates what is going on around him. Nolan made the
film for just $6,000. He shot it on weekends, over the course of a
year, working with friends he had met at the University College
London film society. It began to receive notice after premiering at
the 1998 San Francisco Film Festival, and was eventually
distributed on a limited basis by Zeitgeist in 1999.
As a result of the film's success,
Newmarket Films optioned the script for
Nolan's next film,
Memento.
Memento (2000) is a critically acclaimed
cult classic and was nominated for both a
Golden Globe and an
Academy Award (Oscar) for best
screenplay. The movie is based on the
short story Memento Mori, written by
Christopher's brother,
Jonathan
Nolan. It follows widower Leonard Shelby (played by
English-born Australian actor
Guy Pearce)
who suffers a head injury and is unable to form new memories. What
distinguishes the film is Nolan's technique of presenting events
partially in reverse-chronological order and then in chronological
order. Using this technique, Nolan forces viewers into the
mentally-impaired protagonist's position — also encountering
disoriented events. Nolan had developed this cutting technique in
Following. The latter, however, presents a structure in
which the three acts are cut together, whereas
Memento
presents two linear timelines — the primary one running backwards,
and an entirely previous timeline running forwards — which are cut
together and which meet at the end. This crossing-over is signified
by the transition from black and white film stock to color as the
timeline transitions from forwards to backwards.
In 2002, Nolan directed
Insomnia, an American
remake of the 1997
Norwegian film of the same name
(although with major changes in both the plot and the nature of the
main character). The plot involves two detectives brought to Alaska
to assist local authorities in locating a killer. However, the
search occurs during the "sunny" season in Alaska, and the film's
protagonist, played by
Al Pacino, is
unable to sleep because of the constant daylight. His sleepless
"nights" lead to bad decisions and Nolan's characteristic
confusion, for both the protagonist and the viewer. The film also
starred
Robin Williams and
Hilary Swank. The movie was praised by critics
as a rare case of a well-done American remake of a European
film.
In 1997,
Warner Bros Pictures put its
Batman franchise on an indefinite hiatus when
the fourth installment,
Batman and Robin, was
released to negative reviews and disappointing
box office. Nolan had said that while he was
content with his directing résumé, he had always dreamed of
directing a
blockbuster.
He created his opportunity in 2003 when, together with
Blade screenwriter
David S. Goyer,
he convinced Warner Bros. to take the risk of entrusting the first
of a revived Batman film series to a relatively unknown director.
The actor selected to play the leading role,
Christian Bale, was a favorite choice among
movie fans due to his work in movies such as
American Psycho and
Equilibrium.
Batman
Begins was released on 15 June 2005 and became a box office
hit, ranking as the third biggest blockbuster of that summer. It
received a very positive critical and public reception, with many
ranking it as superior to even
Tim
Burton's classic 1989
Batman film, for instance
receiving, according to Rotten Tomatoes, an overall
85% positive review compared to
70% for Burton's film. Strengths of the movie included
its dark and intelligent storyline, strong emphasis on character,
and the predominant themes of fear and duality.
Michael Caine also stars as Bruce's trusted
butler,
Alfred Pennyworth.
Liam Neeson stars as
Ra's Al Ghul,
Gary
Oldman stars as
James Gordon and
Morgan Freeman stars as
Lucius Fox.
Cillian
Murphy also stars as the psychological villain of fear,
The Scarecrow (a.k.a.
Dr. Jonathan Crane), and
Katie Holmes portrays
Rachel Dawes, Bruce Wayne's childhood friend
and love interest.
Batman Begins was a major winner at the
32nd annual
Saturn Awards. The film
won for Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor for Christian Bale and Best
Writing for Nolan and Goyer. The film was also nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
The Prestige, released
on 20 October 2006, is an adaptation of the
Christopher Priest
novel about two rival magicians in the 19th century. It reunites
Nolan with
Batman Begins stars
Christian Bale and
Michael Caine.
Hugh
Jackman,
Scarlett Johansson,
and
David Bowie also star. The movie had
a mostly positive response from critics and made over $109 million
worldwide. The film was co-scripted by his brother,
Jonathan Nolan and co-produced with his wife,
Emma Thomas.
In the months following
The Prestige's release, Nolan made
numerous comments suggesting that he would return to direct the
sequel to
Batman Begins. In late July 2006, the sequel was
officially confirmed as
The Dark Knight with Nolan at the
helm and
Heath Ledger joining the cast
as
The Joker, Batman's arch-nemesis.
Actress
Katie Holmes, who played the
hero's romantic interest in
Begins, had been replaced by
Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose brother
Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the
role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in 2003.
Aaron
Eckhart, who turned down the leading role in
Memento,
plays
Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Nolan and his
brother Jonathan wrote a script, based on a
treatment written by himself and
David S. Goyer.
The film began production in early 2007 and was released on 16 July
2008 in Australia and 18 July 2008 in the United States, to
overwhelming critical acclaim with some critics calling it the
greatest comic-book based movie ever made. It has also had enormous
box office success, setting the record for the highest-grossing
weekend opening in the U.S. with over $158 million and becoming the
2nd highest grossing film of all time domestically, and the
fourth-highest worldwide (both unadjusted for inflation).At the
2009 Golden Globe Awards,
Christopher Nolan accepted the award for Best Supporting Actor in a
Motion Picture on behalf of the deceased
Heath Ledger. Nolan is nominated for the
Directors Guild of
America Award for Best Director for
The Dark Knight.
While the movie did not receive any nominations for the five major
categories at the
81st Academy
Awards, it was nominated for a total of eight Oscars, and won
two, the
Academy
Award for Best Sound Editing, and a posthumous
Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor for Ledger, the only film based on a comic
book to ever win a major Academy Award.
Upcoming projects
After the release of Nolan's 2008 film
The Dark Knight,
Warner Bros. contracted the director in a seven-figure deal to film
a science fiction film called
Inception. The film is based on a
script written by Nolan and is described as being "a contemporary
sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind". Filming
began in summer 2009, and
Inception is scheduled to be
released in summer 2010.
Gary Oldman and
Michael Caine have both stated that a third
Batman film will start shooting in 2010 with a 2011/2012 release
date likely but nothing has officially been announced by
Warner Brothers. It is currently unconfirmed
if Nolan is attached to the project.
Filmography
Film |
Year |
Studio |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
Gross |
Credit(s) |
Following |
1998 |
Momentum Pictures |
80% |
$48,482 |
Director
Writer
Producer
Cinematographer
Editor
|
Memento |
2000 |
Newmarket Films |
93% |
$39,723,096 |
Director
Writer
|
Insomnia |
2002 |
Warner Bros. |
92% |
$113,714,830 |
Director |
Batman Begins |
2005 |
Warner Bros. |
85% |
$372,710,015 |
Director
Writer
|
The Prestige |
2006 |
Touchstone Pictures
Warner Bros.
|
75% |
$109,676,311 |
Director
Writer
Producer
|
The Dark
Knight |
2008 |
Warner Bros. |
94% |
$1,001,921,826 |
Director
Writer
Producer
|
Inception |
2010 |
Warner Bros. |
N/A |
N/A |
Director
Writer
Producer
|
|
Short films
- Tarantella (1989) (Also writer/producer)
- Larceny (1996) (Also writer/producer)
- Doodlebug (1997) (Also writer/producer)
Publications
- Articles
See also
References
- The Prestige (2006)
-
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/24/gary-oldman-claims-next-batman-movie-starts-shooting-in-2010/
-
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/04/03/michael-caine-says-we-probably-wont-see-a-dark-knight-sequel-until-2012/
External links