He has directed some of the most popular movies known to the American public/around the world in the last decade; so what is it about his directing style that keeps raking in audiences by the millions?
Nolan's pretty strong on auteur theory, good choice! – m-cubed7 years ago
I think a key feature of his films is that he tends to focus on the psychology of the human mind; what are its extents and limitations, why and how it thinks certain ways. And to audiences, I think that many find it unique and refreshing that he is creating major Hollywood films that deal with something so cerebral ( which is not as common amongst the majority of big budget Hollywood pictures)
That could be an angle to take – Yanni7 years ago
JulieCMiliay, Hello again. As you pointed out, Christopher Nolan is without a doubt one of the most financially successful directors working today, and in my opinion, he deserves the praise. While this is a bit of a cheap way to make suggestions, I think it's best to simply write some pros and cons about him in order to be fair in critiquing his work while also appreciating it. First the negative: 1. He isn't all that original. While many say that his movies are different and break off from most movies, the bulk of his work isn't actually original material. He's made 10 movies thus far (I'm counting Dunkirk though it hasn't been released), and only 4 of them are original (Following, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk). The others are as follows: Memento is an adaptation of his brother's short story Memento Mori; Insomnia is a remake of an Icelandic movie of the same name; The Dark Knight trilogy is, obviously, an adaptation of the Batman comics; and The Prestige is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Christopher Priest. While he is definitely an exciting director, his material usually comes from someone else.
2. Sometimes he isn't much of a craftsman, especially when it comes to editing. I'd recommend watching some videos on Nolan's editing and see for yourself how it can get a bit confusing to tell what's going on, especially during action scenes. And that's about all I can think of, really. Now the positive: 1. He's a classy director. His movies don't rely on swearing, graphic depictions of sex or violence, or controversial subjects in order to get an audience.
2. He's a spectacular director. His movies are often grand in scope and, more importantly, they rarely involve CGI. The majority of the effects in his movies are practical and as such make the scenery all the more vivid.
3. His movies are, as Yanni said, interested in making the audience think. More often than not (at least in my case), I find myself thinking about his movies long after I've seen them because of the ideas presented and because of how they were presented. I hope these observations help. Thanks for your time,
August – August Merz7 years ago
It would be good to see 'Dunkirk' also included in this analysis. – Vishnu Unnithan7 years ago
They once asked Plautus how he so perfectly knew the culture and as an immigrant to Rome from southern Italay, read Jewish and Italian, how he has so many hits to a roman audience. Make Sure that the theatergoer is the same person at the epilogue as he is at the ovation, especially when writing for the upper crust, and He said 'Know thy audience'. a Latin line reechoed in Groucho at that machers funeral, give the people what they want. – Antonius8657 years ago