CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Christopher Edward Nolan, CBE (/ˈnoʊlən/; born 30 July 1970) is a British-American film

director, screenwriter, and producer, who is known for making personal, distinctive films within
the Hollywood mainstream. His films have grossed over US$4.7 billion worldwide and garnered a total of
34 Oscar nominations and ten wins.
Born and raised in London, Nolan developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. After studying English
literature at University College London, he made his feature debut with Following (1998). Nolan gained
international recognition with his second film, Memento (2000), for which he was nominated for the Academy
Award for Best Original Screenplay. He transitioned from independent to studio filmmaking
with Insomnia (2002), and found further critical and commercial success with The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–
2012), The Prestige (2006), and Inception (2010), which received eight Oscar nominations, including for Best
Picture and Best Original Screenplay. This was followed by Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017), which
earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Nolan has co-written several of
his films with his brother Jonathan, and runs the production company Syncopy Inc. with his wife Emma
Thomas.
 Nolan's films are typically rooted in epistemological and metaphysical themes, exploring human morality, the
construction of time, and the malleable nature of memory and personal identity. His work is permeated by
unconventional narrative structures, cross-cutting, practical special effects, experimental soundscapes, large-
format film photography, materialistic perspectives, and analogous relationships between visual language and
narrative elements.
Throughout his career, Nolan has received many awards and honours. Time magazine named Nolan one of
the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015, and in 2019, he was appointed Commander of the Order
of the British Empire for his services to film. In addition to his filmmaking, he is an advocate for film
preservation and the analog medium.

Contents

 1Life and career

o 1.11970–1997: Early life and career beginnings
o 1.21998–2004: Breakthrough
o 1.32005–2013: Mainstream success
o 1.42014–present: Large-scale epics
 2Filmmaking
 3Personal life
 4Recognition
 5Filmography and awards
 6Notes
 7References
 8Further reading
 9External links

Life and career[edit]

1970–1997: Early life and career beginnings[edit]
Nolan was born in Westminster, London, and grew up in Highgate.[1][2] His father, Brendan James Nolan, was a
British advertising executive who worked as a creative director.[3] His mother, Christina (née Jensen), was an
American flight attendant who would later work as an English teacher.[4][5][6] Nolan's childhood was split
between London and Evanston, Illinois, and he has both British and US citizenship.[7][8][9][10] He has an older
brother, Matthew Francis Nolan, a convicted criminal,[11] and a younger brother, Jonathan.[12] 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).[13][14] He began making films at age seven, borrowing his father's Super 8
camera and shooting short films with his action figures.[15][16] These films included a stop motion
animation homage to Star Wars called Space Wars. He cast his brother Jonathan and built sets from "clay,
flour, egg boxes and toilet rolls."[17] His uncle, who worked at NASA building guidance systems for
the Apollo rockets, sent him some launch footage: "I re-filmed them off the screen and cut them in, thinking
no-one would notice," Nolan later remarked.[5][18][19] From the age of eleven, he aspired to be a professional
filmmaker.[12] In his teenage years, Nolan started making films with Adrien and Roko Belic. Nolan and Roko co–
directed the surreal 8 mm Tarantella (1989), which was shown on Image Union, an independent film and
video showcase on the Public Broadcasting Service.[note 1][23]
Nolan attended University College London, and used its Flaxman Gallery for a scene in Inception (2010).[24]

Nolan was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, an independent school in Hertford
Heath, Hertfordshire, and later read English literature at University College London (UCL). Opting out of a
traditional film education, he pursued "a degree in something unrelated ... because it gives a different take on
things."[25] He chose UCL specifically for its filmmaking facilities, which comprised a Steenbeck editing
suite and 16 mm film cameras.[26] Nolan was president of the Union's Film Society,[26] and with Emma
Thomas (his girlfriend and future wife) he screened 35 mm feature films during the school year and used the
money earned to produce 16 mm films over the summers.[27]
After earning his bachelor's degree in English literature in 1993, Nolan worked as a script reader, camera
operator, and director of corporate videos and industrial films.[26][6][28] In 1995, he began work on the short
film Larceny, which was filmed over a weekend in black and white with limited equipment and a small cast and
crew.[29][30] Funded by Nolan and shot with the society's equipment, it appeared at the Cambridge Film
Festival in 1996 and is considered one of UCL's best shorts.[31] He filmed a third short, Doodlebug (1997), about
a man chasing an insect around a flat with a shoe, only to discover when killing it that it is a miniature of
himself.[32] Nolan had written the script while a student at UCL.[33] During this period in his career, Nolan had
little or no success getting his projects off the ground; he later recalled the "stack of rejection letters" that
greeted his early forays into making films, adding "there's a very limited pool of finance in the UK. To be
honest, it's a very clubby kind of place ... Never had any support whatsoever from the British film industry."[34]
1998–2004: Breakthrough[edit]
In 1998, Nolan released his first feature, Following. He wrote, directed, photographed and edited the film,
which depicts an unemployed young writer (Jeremy Theobald) who trails strangers through London, hoping
they will provide material for his first novel, but is drawn into a criminal underworld when he fails to keep his
distance. The film was inspired by Nolan's experience of living in London and having his apartment burgled:
"There is an interesting connection between a stranger going through your possessions and the concept of
following people at random through a crowd – both take you beyond the boundaries of ordinary social
relations".[35] Co-produced by Nolan with Emma Thomas and Jeremy Theobald,[36] it was funded by him and
made on a modest budget of £3,000.[37][38] Most of the cast and crew were Nolan's friends, and shooting took
place on weekends over the course of a year.[38] To conserve film stock, each scene in the film was rehearsed
extensively to ensure that the first or second take could be used in the final edit.[39][40] Following won several
awards during its festival run[41][42] and was well received by critics; The New Yorker wrote that it
"echoed Hitchcock classics", but was "leaner and meaner".[15] Janet Maslin of The New York Times was
impressed with its "spare look" and agile hand-held camerawork, saying, "As a result, the actors convincingly
carry off the before, during and after modes that the film eventually, and artfully, weaves together."[43] On
11 December 2012 it was released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of The Criterion Collection.[44]
[The] difference between shooting Following with a group of friends wearing our own clothes and my mum
making sandwiches to spending $4 million of somebody else's money on Memento and having a crew of a
hundred people is, to this day, by far the biggest leap I've ever made.
—Nolan (in 2012) on the jump from his first film to his second.[38]

Following's success led to Nolan being afforded the opportunity to make Memento (2000), which became his
breakthrough film. The synopsis came from his brother Jonathan, who pitched the idea about a man
with anterograde amnesia who uses notes and tattoos to hunt for his wife's murderer to Nolan during a road
trip. Jonathan worked the idea into a short story, "Memento Mori" (2001), while Nolan developed it into a
screenplay that told the story in reverse. Aaron Ryder, an executive for Newmarket Films, said it was "perhaps
the most innovative script I had ever seen".[45] The film was optioned and given a budget of $4.5 million,
with Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss in the starring roles.[46] Memento premiered at the Venice International
Film Festival in September 2000 to critical acclaim.[47] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote in his
review, "I can't remember when a movie has seemed so clever, strangely affecting and slyly funny at the very
same time."[48] Basil Smith, in the book The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, draws a comparison with John Locke's An
Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which argues that conscious memories constitute our identities, a
theme that Nolan explores in the film.[49] The film was a box-office success[50] and received a number of
accolades, including Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for its screenplay, Independent
Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award
nomination.[51][52] Memento was considered by numerous critics to be one of the best films of the 2000s.[53] In
2017, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[54]

Oscar-winning film director Steven Soderbergh (pictured) supported Nolan in his transition to studio

filmmaking.

Impressed by his work on Memento, Steven Soderbergh recruited Nolan to direct the psychological

thriller Insomnia (2002), starring Academy Award winners Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank.
[55]
 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).
[56]
 With a $46 million budget, it was described as "a much more conventional Hollywood film than anything
[Nolan had] done before".[55] A remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, Insomnia is about two
Los Angeles detectives sent to a northern Alaskan town to investigate the murder of a local teenager. It
received positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office, earning $113 million worldwide.[57]
[58]
 Film critic Roger Ebert praised the film for introducing new perspectives and ideas on the issues of morality
and guilt, stating that "Unlike most remakes, the Nolan Insomnia is not a pale retread, but a re-examination of
the material, like a new production of a good play."[59] Erik Skjoldbjærg, the director of the original film, was
satisfied with Nolan's version, calling it a "well crafted, smart film ... with a really good director handling it".
[60]
 Richard Schickel of Time deemed Insomnia a "worthy successor" to Memento, and "a triumph of
atmosphere over a none-too-mysterious mystery".[61]
After Insomnia, Nolan planned a Howard Hughes biographical film starring Jim Carrey. He wrote a screenplay,
which he said was "the best script I've ever written", but when he learned that Martin Scorsese was making a
Hughes biopic (2004's The Aviator), he reluctantly tabled his script and moved on to other projects.[62][63] After
turning down an offer to direct the historical epic Troy (2004),[64] Nolan worked on adapting Ruth Rendell's
crime novel The Keys to the Street into a screenplay that he planned to direct for Fox Searchlight Pictures, but
eventually left the project, citing the similarities to his previous films.[65] Nolan was also adapting a film version
of The Prisoner,[66] but later dropped out of the project. The producer Barry Mendel said a decision to continue
with the project depended on the success of the television mini-series.[67]
2005–2013: Mainstream success[edit]
In early 2003 Nolan approached Warner Bros. with the idea of making a new Batman film.[68] Fascinated by the
character and story, he wanted to make a film grounded in a "relatable" world more reminiscent of a classical
drama than a comic-book fantasy.[69] Batman Begins, the biggest project Nolan had undertaken to that point,
[69]
 premiered in June 2005 to critical acclaim and commercial success.[70] Starring Christian Bale in the title role,
along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Liam Neeson, the film revived the franchise,
heralding a trend towards darker films that rebooted (or retold) backstories.[71][72] Praised for its psychological
depth and contemporary relevance,[73] Kyle Smith of The New York Post called it "a wake-up call to the people
who keep giving us cute capers about men in tights. It wipes the smirk off the face of the superhero
movie."[74] Batman Begins was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2005 in the United States and the year's
ninth-highest-grossing film worldwide.[75] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Cinematography and three BAFTA awards.[76][77] On the film's 10th anniversary, Forbes published an article
describing its lasting influence: "Reboot became part of our modern vocabulary, and superhero origin stories
became increasingly en vogue for the genre. The phrase "dark and gritty" likewise joined the cinematic
lexicon, influencing our perception of different approaches to storytelling not only in the comic book film
genre but in all sorts of other genres as well."[78]
Before returning to the Batman franchise for a sequel, Nolan directed, co-wrote, and produced The
Prestige (2006), an adaptation of the Christopher Priest novel about two rival 19th-century magicians.[79] The
screenplay was the result of an intermittent, five-year collaboration between him and his brother Jonathan,
who had began writing it already in 2001.[80] Nolan initially intended to make the film as early as 2003, but had
postponed the project after agreeing to make Batman Begins.[81] Starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in
the lead roles, The Prestige received critical acclaim and earned over $109 million worldwide.[82][83] Roger
Ebert described it as "quite a movie – atmospheric, obsessive, almost satanic",[84] and Kenneth Turan of
the Los Angeles Times called it an "ambitious, unnerving melodrama".[85] Philip French wrote in his review
for The Guardian: "In addition to the intellectual or philosophical excitement it engenders, The Prestige is
gripping, suspenseful, mysterious, moving and often darkly funny."[86] The Prestige also received Academy
Award nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction.[87]

Nolan (left) with the cast and crew of The Dark Knight at the 2008 European premiere in London.
The cast of Inception at the premiere in July 2010.

In 2006, Nolan announced that the follow-up to Batman Begins would be called The Dark Knight.
[88]
 Approaching the sequel, Nolan wanted to expand on the noirish quality of the first film by broadening the
canvas and taking on "the dynamic of a story of the city, a large crime story ... where you're looking at the
police, the justice system, the vigilante, the poor people, the rich people, the criminals".[89] Released in July
2008 to great critical acclaim, The Dark Knight has been cited as one of the best films of the 2000s and one of
the best superhero films ever made.[53][90][91] 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."[92] Ebert expressed a similar point of view, describing it as a "haunted film that leaps beyond its origins
and becomes an engrossing tragedy."[93] The Dark Knight set a number of box-office records during its
theatrical run,[94] earning $534,858,444 in North America and $469,700,000 abroad, for a worldwide total of
$1,004,558,444.[95] At the 81st Academy Awards, the film was nominated for eight Oscars, winning two:
the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing and a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor for Heath Ledger.[96] Nolan received many awards and nominations for his work on the film.[51] In
2018, Bilge Ebiri of The Village Voice wrote, "Its politics have been discussed ad infinitum. Its stylistic influence
has become ubiquitous, then passé, then somehow aspirational ... The Dark Knight is perhaps the most
powerful exploration of guilt the modern American blockbuster has given us."[97]
After The Dark Knight's success, Warner Bros. signed Nolan to direct Inception (2010). Nolan also wrote and
co-produced the film, described as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind".
[98]
 Starring a large ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, the film became a critical and commercial success
upon its release in July 2010.[99] 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".[100] Mark Kermode named it the best film of
2010, stating "Inception is proof that people are not stupid, that cinema is not trash, and that it is possible for
blockbusters and art to be the same thing."[101][102] The film ended up grossing over $820 million
worldwide[103] 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.[104] Nolan was also nominated for BAFTA and Golden Globe awards, among other accolades.[51]
In 2012, Nolan directed his third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale reprising the
title role. 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.[105]
[106]
 The film was released in July 2012 to positive reviews; Andrew O'Hehir of Salon called it "arguably the
biggest, darkest, most thrilling and disturbing and utterly balls-out spectacle ever created for the screen",
further describing the work as "auteurist spectacle on a scale never before possible and never before
attempted".[107][108] Christy Lemire of The Associated Press wrote in her review that Nolan concluded his trilogy
in a "typically spectacular, ambitious fashion", but disliked the "overloaded" story and excessive grimness.
[109]
 Like its predecessor, the film was a box office success, becoming the thirteenth film to reach the billion-
dollar mark.[110] During a midnight showing of the film at the Century 16 cinema in Aurora, Colorado, a gunman
opened fire inside the theatre, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.[111] Nolan released a statement to the
press expressing his condolences for the victims of what he described as a senseless tragedy.[112]
Nolan at the 2013 premiere of Man of Steel in London.

During story discussions for The Dark Knight Rises in 2010, Goyer told Nolan of his idea to present Superman in
a modern context.[113] Impressed with Goyer's first contact concept, Nolan pitched the idea for Man of
Steel (2013) to Warner Bros, who hired Nolan to produce and Zack Snyder to direct.[114][113] Starring Henry
Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, and Michael Shannon, Man of Steel grossed more than
$660 million at the worldwide box office, but received a divided critical reaction.[115] Despite the mixed
reviews, Nolan was thoroughly impressed by Snyder's work, saying that the director "knocked it out of the
park", and that he believed the film would have the same potential to excite audiences as when he himself
saw the Christopher Reeve version in 1978.[116]
2014–present: Large-scale epics[edit]

Nolan's younger brother, Jonathan, co-wrote the screenplay for Interstellar.

Nolan next directed, wrote, and produced the science-fiction film Interstellar (2014). The first drafts of the
script were written by Jonathan Nolan, and it was originally to be directed by Steven Spielberg.[117] Based on
the scientific theories of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, the film follows a group of astronauts who travel
through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity.[118] Interstellar starred Matthew
McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Michael Caine, and Ellen Burstyn, and was Nolan's
first collaboration with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. Interstellar was released in November 2014 to
largely positive reviews and strong box office results, grossing over $670 million worldwide.[119][120][121] 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."[122] Documentary filmmaker Toni Myers said
of the film, "I loved it because it tackled the most difficult part of human exploration, which is that it's a multi-
generational journey. It was a real work of art."[123] Interstellar was particularly praised for its scientific
accuracy, which led to the publication of two scientific papers[124] and the American Journal of Physics calling
for it to be shown in school science lessons.[125][126] It was named one of the best films of the year by
The American Film Institute (AFI).[127] 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.[128] In 2014, Nolan and Emma Thomas also served as executive
producers on Transcendence (2014), the directorial debut of Nolan's longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister.
[129]
 The film was released to mostly unfavorable reviews and disappointing box office results.[130]
In the mid-2010s, Nolan took part in several ventures for film preservation and distribution of the films of
lesser-known filmmakers. His production company, Syncopy, formed a joint venture with Zeitgeist Films to
release Blu-ray editions of Zeitgeist's prestige titles.[131] As part of the Blu-ray release of the animation films of
the Brothers Quay, Nolan directed the documentary short Quay (2015). He also initiated a theatrical tour,
showcasing the Quays' In Absentia, The Comb, and Street of Crocodiles. The program and Nolan's short
received critical acclaim, with Indiewire writing in their review that the brothers "will undoubtedly have
hundreds, if not thousands more fans because of Nolan, and for that The Quay Brothers in 35mm will always
be one of latter's most important contributions to cinema".[132][133] 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.[134][135] Subsequent events were held at Tate Modern in
London, Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, and Tata Theatre in Mumbai.[136] In 2015, Nolan also joined the board
of directors of The Film Foundation, a US-based non-profitable organisation dedicated to film preservation,
[137]
 and was appointed, along with Martin Scorsese, by the Library of Congress to serve on the National Film
Preservation Board (NFPB) as DGA representatives.[138]
After serving as an executive producer alongside Thomas on Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), the sequels to Man of Steel,[139][140] Nolan returned to directing
with Dunkirk (2017). Based on his own original screenplay and co-produced with Thomas, the story is set
amid World War II and the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, in 1940.
Describing the film as a survival tale with a triptych structure, Nolan wanted to make a "sensory, almost
experimental movie" with minimal dialogue.[141] He said he waited to make Dunkirk until he had earned the
trust of a major studio to let him make it as a British film, but with an American budget.[142] Before filming,
Nolan sought advice from Spielberg, who later said in an interview with Variety, "knowing and respecting that
Chris [Nolan] is one of the world's most imaginative filmmakers, my advice to him was to leave his
imagination, as I did on Ryan, in second position to the research he was doing to authentically acquit this
historical drama."[143] Starring Fionn Whitehead, Jack Lowden, Aneurin Barnard, Harry Styles, Tom Hardy, Mark
Rylance, Cillian Murphy, and Kenneth Branagh,[144] Dunkirk was released in theatres in July 2017 to widespread
critical acclaim and strong box office results.[145][146][147] It grossed over $525 million worldwide, which made it
the highest-grossing World War II film of all time.[148] 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. There are movies—they are rare—that lift you out of your present circumstances and
immerse you so fully in another experience that you watch in a state of jaw-dropped awe. Dunkirk is that kind
of movie."[149] The film received many accolades, including Nolan's first Oscar nomination for Best Director.[150]

Nolan (right) with Keir Dullea, Katharina Kubrick, Ron Sanders and Jan Harlan at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
In the months following the 2017–18 Oscar season, Nolan began supervising a new 70mm print of Stanley
Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), made from the original camera negative; he presented it at the 2018
Cannes Film Festival[151][152] While in Cannes, the director also held a two-hour masterclass at the Palais des
Festivals. USA Today observed that he was greeted "like a rock star", and with a prolonged standing ovation.
[153]
 Nolan served as executive producer on The Doll's Breath (2019), an animated short directed by the Quay
brothers. The film was inspired by Felisberto Hernández's Las Hortensias, and was commissioned by Nolan "on
the condition that it was shot on 35mm film."[154]
Nolan's eleventh feature, Tenet, is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. on 17 July 2020.[155] Nolan wrote
the screenplay and is producing with Emma Thomas. The film stars John David Washington, Robert
Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dimple Kapadia, Clémence Poésy, Kenneth Branagh and
Michael Caine.[156]

Filmmaking[edit]
Main article: Cinematic style of Christopher Nolan
Nolan's films are often grounded in existential and epistemological themes, exploring the concepts of time,
memory, and identity.[157][158][159] His work is characterised by unconventional narrative structures, richly
textured imagery, and evocative use of music and sound.[5][160] Film theorist David Bordwell opined that the
director has been able to blend his "experimental impulses" with the demands of mainstream entertainment,
further describing Nolan oeuvre as, "experiments with cinematic time by means of techniques of subjective
viewpoint and crosscutting."[161] Nolan's use of practical, in-camera effects, miniatures and models, as well as
shooting on celluloid film, has been highly influential.[162] IndieWire said the director has "kept a viable
alternate model of big-budget filmmaking alive" in an era where blockbuster filmmaking has become "a largely
computer-generated art form."[162]

Personal life[edit]

Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas in January 2011

Nolan is married to Emma Thomas, whom he met at University College London when he was 19.[12][27] She has
worked as a producer on all of his films, and together they founded the production company Syncopy Inc.
[163]
 The couple have four children and reside in Los Angeles, California.[164][165] Protective of his privacy, he
rarely discusses his personal life in interviews.[166] However, he has publicly shared some of his sociopolitical
concerns for the future, such as the current conditions of nuclear weapons and environmental issues that he
says need to be addressed.[167] He has also expressed an admiration for scientific objectivity, wishing it were
applied "in every aspect of our civilization."[168] He is red-green colour blind.[169]
Nolan prefers not to use a mobile phone or an email address,[170] saying, "It's not that I'm a Luddite and don't
like technology; I've just never been interested ... When I moved to Los Angeles in 1997, nobody really had cell
phones, and I just never went down that path."[171] He also prohibits use of phones on set.[172]

Recognition[edit]
Having made some of the most influential and popular films of his time,[173][174][175] Nolan's work has been as
"intensely embraced, analyzed and debated by ordinary film fans as by critics and film academics".[166][176]
[177]
 Several of his films have been regarded by critics as among the best of their respective decades,[178][179][180]
[181]
 and according to The Wall Street Journal, his "ability to combine box-office success with artistic ambition
has given him an extraordinary amount of clout in the industry."[182] In 2016, Memento, The Dark Knight,
and Inception appeared in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century list.[183] In the following year, five of his
(then nine) films featured in Empire magazine's poll of The 100 Greatest Movies.[184] Total Film included the
four films Nolan directed in the 2010s in their list of the 100 best movies released between 2010 and 2019.
[185]
 Film scholar David Bordwell observed that Nolan is "considered one of the most accomplished living
filmmakers," citing his ability to turn genre movies into both art and event films, as well as his box office
numbers, critical acclaim, and popularity among cinemagoers.[161][186]
Geoff Andrew of the British Film Institute and Sight & Sound magazine, called Nolan "a persuasively inventive
storyteller", singling him out as one of the few contemporary filmmakers producing highly personal films
within the Hollywood mainstream. He also pointed out that Nolan's films are as notable for their "considerable
technical virtuosity and visual flair" as for their "brilliant narrative ingenuity and their unusually adult interest
in complex philosophical questions".[187][188] In 2008, film critic Philip French deemed Nolan "The first major
talent to emerge this [21st] century",[189] while Forbes called him "one of the most successful and acclaimed
filmmakers of our time" in 2015.[190] The Observer described Nolan as a "skilful, stylish storyteller, capable of
combining the spectacle of Spielberg with the intellectual intricacy of Nicolas Roeg or Alain Resnais".[191] Mark
Cousins applauded the director for embracing big ideas, "Hollywood filmmakers generally shy away from ideas
— but not Christopher Nolan".[192] Scott Foundas of Variety declared Nolan "the premier big-canvas storyteller
of his generation",[193] 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."[194]
The filmmaker has been praised by many of his contemporaries, and some have cited his work as influencing
their own.[195][196][197][198][199][200] Rupert Wyatt said in an interview that he thinks of Nolan as a "trailblazer ... he is
to be hugely admired as a master filmmaker, but also someone who has given others behind him a stick to
beat back the naysayers who never thought a modern mass audience would be willing to embrace story and
character as much as spectacle".[201] Kenneth Branagh called Nolan's approach to large-scale filmmaking
"unique in modern cinema", adding "regardless of how popular his movies become, he remains an artist and
an auteur. I think for that reason he has become a heroic figure for both the audience and the people working
behind the camera."[202] Michael Mann complimented Nolan for his "singular vision" and called him "a
complete auteur".[203] Nicolas Roeg said of Nolan, "[His] films have a magic to them ... People talk about
'commercial art' and the term is usually self-negating; Nolan works in the commercial arena and yet there's
something very poetic about his work."[203] Martin Scorsese identified Nolan as a filmmaker creating
"beautifully made films on a big scale",[204] and Luca Guadagnino called him "one of the ultimate
auteurs."[205] Damien Chazelle said of Nolan, "This is a filmmaker who has managed, time and again, to make
the most seemingly impersonal projects — superhero epics, deep-space mind-benders — feel deeply
personal".[206]
Olivier Assayas said he admired Nolan for "making movies that are really unlike anything else. The way I see it,
he has a really authentic voice."[207] Discussing the difference between art films and big studio
blockbusters, Steven Spielberg referred to Nolan's Dark Knight series as an example of both;[208] he has
described Memento and Inception as "masterworks".[209] Denis Villeneuve said of Nolan, "[He] is a very
impressive filmmaker, because he is able to keep his identity and create his own universe in that large scope ...
To bring intellectual concepts and to bring them in that scope to the screen right now — it's very rare. Every
movie that he comes out with, I have more admiration for his work."[210] Film critic Mark
Kermode complimented the director for bringing "the discipline and ethics of art-house independent
moviemaking" to Hollywood blockbusters, calling him "living proof that you don't have to appeal to the lowest
common denominator to be profitable".[211]
In 2013 a survey of seventeen film academics showed that Nolan was among the most studied directors in
Britain.[212] His work has also been recognised as an influence on video games.[213][214] Video game
designer Hideo Kojima compared Dunkirk to his own work, saying "Its approach to technology in movie making
and refusal to rely on defeating one's enemies as a portrayal of war, reminds me in many ways of my work
on Metal Gear and where I hope to see my next game go".[215] Nolan appeared in Time's 100 most influential
people in the world in 2015 and in the Forbes Celebrity 100 in 2011 and 2013.[216][217]

Filmography and awards[edit]

Main articles: Christopher Nolan filmography and awards and nominations

Nolan's hand and shoeprints in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood

Nolan was named an Honorary Fellow of UCL in 2006, and received an honorary doctorate in literature (DLit)
in 2017.[218][219] In 2012, he became the youngest director to receive a hand-and-footprint ceremony
at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.[220] Nolan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British
Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for his services to film.[221]
Directed features:

 Following (1998)
 Memento (2000)
 Insomnia (2002)
 Batman Begins (2005)
 The Prestige (2006)
 The Dark Knight (2008)
 Inception (2010)
 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
 Interstellar (2014)
 Dunkirk (2017)
 Tenet (2020)
FOLLOWING (1998) 1h 9min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A young writer who follows strangers for material meets a thief
who takes him under his wing.

STORY :
A struggling, unemployed young writer (credited as "The Young Man") takes to following strangers around
the streets of London, ostensibly to find inspiration for his first novel. Initially, he sets strict rules for
himself regarding whom he should follow and for how long, but he soon discards them as he focuses on a
well-groomed, handsome man in a dark suit. The man in the suit, having noticed he is being followed,
quickly confronts the Young Man and introduces himself as "Cobb". Cobb reveals that he is a serial burglar
and invites the Young Man (who tells Cobb his name is "Bill") to accompany him on various burglaries. The
material gains from these crimes seem to be of secondary importance to Cobb. He takes pleasure in rifling
through the personal items in his targets' flats and drinking their wine. He explains that his true passion is
using the shock of robbery and violation of property to make his victims re-examine their lives. He sums up
his attitude thus: "You take it away, and show them what they had."

The Young Man is thrilled by Cobb's lifestyle. He attempts break-ins of his own, as Cobb encourages and
guides him. At Cobb's suggestion, he alters his appearance, cutting his hair short and wearing a dark suit.
He assumes the name "Daniel Lloyd" based on the credit card Cobb gives to him and begins to pursue a
relationship with a blonde woman whose flat he and Cobb burgled. The Blonde turns out to be the
girlfriend of a small-time gangster (known only as the "Bald Guy") whom she broke up with after he
murdered a man in her flat. Soon, the Blonde confides that the Bald Guy is blackmailing her with
incriminating photographs. The Young Man breaks into the Bald Guy's safe, but is caught in the act by an
unidentified man. He then bludgeons the man with a claw hammer and flees with the Bald Guy's money
and photos. Upon returning to his flat, he finds that the photos are innocuous modeling shots.

Confronting the Blonde, the Young Man learns that she and Cobb have been working together to
manipulate him into mimicking Cobb's burglary methods. She tells him that Cobb had recently discovered a
murdered woman's body during one of his burglaries and is attempting to deflect suspicion from himself by
making it appear as though multiple burglars share his MO.

The Young Man leaves to turn himself in to the police. The Blonde reports her success to Cobb, who then
reveals that he actually works for the Bald Guy. The story about the murdered woman was part of a plot to
deceive both the Blonde and the Young Man: The Blonde has been blackmailing the Bald Guy with evidence
from the murder he committed in her flat, and he wants her murdered in such a way that it cannot be
connected to him. Cobb bludgeons the Blonde to death with the same claw hammer that the Young Man
used during the burglary of the Bald Guy's safe and leaves it at the scene. The police, checking out the
Young Man's story, find the Blonde murdered and the claw hammer with his fingerprints on it. The Young
Man is thus implicated for the murder of the blonde woman. Cobb, meanwhile, vanishes into a crowd.

SCREENPLAY :
MEMENTO (2000) 1h 53min | Mystery, Thriller
A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his
wife's murderer.

STORY :
The film starts with the Polaroid photograph of a dead man. As the sequence plays backwards, the photo
reverts to its undeveloped state, entering the camera before the man is shot in the head. The film then
continues, alternating between black and white and color sequences.

The black and white sequences begin with Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator, in a motel room
speaking to an unseen and unknown caller. Leonard has anterograde amnesia and is unable to store recent
memories, the result of an attack by two men. Leonard explains that he killed the attacker who raped and
strangled his wife, but a second clubbed him and escaped. The police did not accept that there was a
second attacker, but Leonard believes the attacker's name is John or James, with a last name starting with
G. So, Leonard conducts his own investigation using a convoluted system of notes, Polaroid photos, and
tattoos. From his occupation in the insurance industry, Leonard recalls a fellow anterograde amnesiac,
Sammy Jankis. Sammy's diabetic wife, who wasn't sure if his condition was genuine, repeatedly requested
Sammy's assistance with her insulin shots; she hoped he would remember having already given her an
injection and would stop himself from giving her another before she died of an overdose. However, Sammy
continues to administer the injections, and his wife falls into a fatal coma.

The color sequences are shown reverse-chronologically. In the story's chronology, Leonard self-directively
gets a tattoo of John G's license plate. Finding a note in his clothes, he meets Natalie, a bartender who
resents Leonard because he wears the clothes and drives the car of her boyfriend, Jimmy Grantz. After
understanding Leonard's condition, she uses it to get Leonard to drive a man named Dodd out of town and
offers to run the license plate as a favor. Meanwhile, Leonard meets with a contact, Teddy, who helps with
Dodd, but warns about Natalie. However, a photograph causes Leonard not to trust Teddy. Natalie
provides Leonard with the driver's license for a John Edward Gammell, Teddy's full name. Confirming
Leonard's information on "John G" and his warnings, Leonard drives Teddy to an abandoned building,
leading to the opening, where he shoots him.

In the final black-and-white sequence, prompted by the caller, Leonard meets with Teddy, an undercover
officer, who has found Leonard's "John G," Jimmy, and directs Leonard to the abandoned building. When
Jimmy arrives, Leonard strangles him fatally and takes a Polaroid photo of the body. As the photo develops,
the black-and-white transitions to the final color sequence. Leonard swaps clothes with Jimmy, hearing him
whisper "Sammy." As Leonard has only told Sammy's story to those he has met, he suddenly doubts
Jimmy's role. Teddy arrives and asserts that Jimmy was John G, but when Leonard is undeterred, Teddy
reveals that he helped him kill the real attacker a year ago, and he has been using Leonard ever since.
Teddy points out that since the name "John G" is common, Leonard will cyclically forget and begin again
and that even Teddy himself has a "John G" name. Further, Teddy claims that Sammy's story is Leonard's
own story, a memory Leonard has repressed to escape guilt (referencing an earlier black-and-white scene
where Sammy is replaced by Leonard for a split-second as he sits in the asylum).

After hearing Teddy's exposition, Leonard consciously burns Jimmy's photograph, and writes a message to
himself on Teddy's photograph that he should not trust Teddy, before driving off in Jimmy's car. He also
makes plans to have Teddy's license plate number tattooed on himself, deceiving himself to eventually
believe Teddy was the second attacker, leading to Teddy's eventual death.

As he stops at the tattoo parlor, he asks himself, "Now ... where was I?"

SCREENPLAY :
INSOMNIA (2002) 1h 58min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern
town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical
murder of a local teen.

STORY :
In the small fishing town of Nightmute, Alaska, 17-year-old Kay Connell is found murdered. LAPD detectives
Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart are sent to assist the local police with their investigation, at the request of
police chief Nyback, an old colleague of Dormer's. Ellie Burr, a young local detective who is also a fan of
Dormer's investigative work, picks them up when they arrive. Back in Los Angeles, Internal Affairs is
investigating one of Dormer's past cases. Flying to Alaska, Eckhart reveals that he is going to testify against
Dormer in exchange for immunity, to which Dormer responds that many criminals whom he helped to
convict using questionable evidence could go free if their cases are reopened.

Dormer attracts the murderer to the scene of the crime, but the suspect flees into the fog, shooting one of
the police officers through the leg. Dormer spots a figure in the fog and fires with his backup weapon.
Rushing to the fallen figure, Dormer picks up a .38 pistol the suspect has dropped. He then discovers that
he has shot Eckhart. Because of Eckhart's pending testimony, Dormer knows that Internal Affairs will never
believe the shooting was an accident, so he claims that Eckhart was shot by the suspect. He does not
mention he has the .38 pistol. Burr is put in charge of the shooting investigation, and her team finds the .38
caliber bullet that hit the officer. That night, Dormer walks to an alley and fires the .38 pistol into an animal
carcass, then retrieves and cleans the bullet. At the morgue, the staffer hands him the bagged bullet
retrieved from Eckhart's body, but she is unfamiliar with its type. Dormer leaves and switches the .38 bullet
for the 9 mm slug from Eckhart's body.

Over the next few days, Dormer is plagued by insomnia, brought on by his guilt over killing Eckhart and
exacerbated by the perpetual daylight. Dormer starts receiving anonymous phone calls from the killer, who
claims to have witnessed Dormer kill his partner. When the police learn that Kay was a fan of local crime
writer Walter Finch, Dormer breaks into Finch's apartment in the nearby village of Umkumiut. Finch arrives
home, realizes the police are present, and evades Dormer after a chase. Dormer returns to Finch's
apartment and plants the .38 to frame Finch.

Finch contacts Dormer and arranges a meeting on a ferry. Finch wants help in shifting suspicion to Kay's
abusive boyfriend Randy Stetz and will stay silent about the Eckhart shooting in return. Dormer gives
advice on handling police questioning. After Finch leaves Dormer on the ferry, he shows the detective a
tape recorder he used to record the conversation.

Finch calls Dormer and tells him that Kay's death was "an accident" – he beat her to death in a fit of rage
after she rejected his sexual advances. The next day, Finch gives false testimony at the police station. When
Finch claims Randy has a gun, Dormer realizes Finch has discovered his plant, and has hidden it at Randy's
home. Randy is arrested when the gun is found at his house. Finch asks Burr to come to his lake house the
next day, to collect letters indicating that Randy abused Kay.

Burr returns to the scene of Eckhart's death and finds a 9 mm shell casing, which conflicts with the bullet
type from Eckhart's body. She reads old case files from investigations Dormer was involved in and learns he
has carried a 9 mm, leading her to suspect that he shot Eckhart. Meanwhile, on his last night staying in the
hotel; Dormer confides in the hotel owner, Rachel Clement, about the Internal Affairs investigation: he
fabricated evidence to help convict a pedophile he was certain was guilty of murdering a child, and who
would've walked if Eckhart has testified.

Dormer learns that Burr has gone to Finch's. He finds Kay's letters in Finch's apartment and realizes that
Finch intends to kill Burr. He learns of Finch's lake house and rushes there. At the house, Finch knocks Burr
unconscious just as Dormer arrives. Dormer is too disoriented from lack of sleep to fight off Finch. Burr
revives and saves Dormer, while Finch escapes. Burr reveals she knows Dormer shot Eckhart, and he admits
that he is no longer certain if it was an accident. From his shed, Finch shoots at them with a shotgun, and
Burr returns fire while Dormer sneaks around to Finch's location. After a scuffle in which the men
inadvertently exchange weapons, Finch shoots Dormer with the 9 mm pistol, and Dormer shoots and kills
Finch with the shotgun. Burr rushes to the fatally wounded Dormer and comforts him by affirming that
Eckhart's shooting was accidental, then moves to throw away the 9 mm shell casing to preserve Dormer's
secret. Dormer stops Burr, however, telling her not to lose her way and asks her to let him sleep.

SCREENPLAY :
THE PRESTIGE (2006)
2h 10min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After a tragic accident, two stage magicians engage in a battle to
create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have
to outwit each other.

STARRING :
Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson

STORY :
In 1890s London, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden work as shills for a magician, under the mentorship of
John Cutter, an engineer who designs stage magic. During a water tank trick, Angier's wife Julia fails to
escape and drowns. Angier, devastated, accuses Borden of using a riskier knot, causing her death. The two
become bitter enemies.

Angier and Borden launch their own magic careers. Borden develops a trick he calls the Transported Man,
in which he appears to travel instantly between two wardrobes on opposite ends of the stage. Unable to
discern Borden's method, Angier hires a double, Gerald Root, to perform his own version of the trick. The
imitation is a greater success, but Angier is dissatisfied, as he ends the trick hidden under the stage while
Root basks in the applause.

Angier has his assistant Olivia spy on Borden to learn how he performs the Transported Man. However,
Olivia falls in love with Borden and becomes his assistant. With her help, Borden sabotages Angier's act.
Confronted by Angier, Olivia gives him a copy of Borden's encoded diary. Angier acquires the keyword to
decode it, "TESLA", by threatening to kill Borden's stage engineer, Fallon.

The diary takes Angier to America to meet scientist Nikola Tesla, who Angier believes built a machine for
Borden. Angier realizes the diary is fraudulent, created as a distraction. Tesla builds the machine for him,
but instead of teleporting objects, Tesla's machine duplicates anything placed inside it a short distance
away. Tesla is driven from Colorado Springs by agents of his rival, Thomas Alva Edison, but has the machine
delivered to Angier. He advises Angier to destroy it, saying it will bring him nothing but misery.

Borden's wife, Sarah, is driven to suicide by his contradictory personality. Borden reveals to Olivia that he
never loved Sarah and that he loves her more. Tired of Borden and Angier's feud, Olivia leaves. In London,
Angier debuts the Real Transported Man using Tesla's machine, appearing to have teleported across the
theater. Borden sneaks backstage and witnesses Angier fall through a trapdoor and drown in a tank. He is
discovered by Cutter and turned over to the police. Unable to prove his innocence, Borden is found guilty
of murder and sentenced to death.

In prison, Borden is visited by an agent of Lord Caldlow, who offers to care for Borden's daughter Jess in
exchange for Borden's tricks. Borden agrees. Caldlow reveals that he is Angier and Borden begs for his life,
but Angier leaves with Jess. When Cutter realises that Angier is still alive, he is disgusted that Angier
allowed Borden to be sentenced, but agrees to help dispose of Tesla's machine. Borden is hanged for
Angier's murder.

Angier goes back to the theater. A stranger enters and shoots Angier, revealing himself as Borden. Angier
discovers "Borden" was an identity shared by a pair of identical twins. The brothers performed the original
Transported Man together; when one was "Borden", the other was disguised as "Fallon". The surviving
twin loved Sarah while his brother had loved Olivia. While Angier uses Tesla's machine, every performance
creates a new Angier, while the original drowns in a tank beneath the stage. Angier dies and drops his
lantern, setting the theater on fire. Borden leaves and picks up Jess at Cutter's workshop. In the burning
theater, rows of tanks hold dead Angiers.
SCREENPLAY :
INCEPTION (2010)
2h 28min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-
sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea
into the mind of a C.E.O.

STORY :
Dominick "Dom" Cobb and Arthur are "extractors": they perform corporate espionage using experimental
military technology to infiltrate the subconscious of their targets and extract valuable information through
a shared dream world. Their latest target, Japanese businessman Saito, reveals that he arranged their
mission himself to test Cobb for a seemingly impossible job: implanting an idea in a person's subconscious,
or "inception". To break up the energy conglomerate of ailing competitor Maurice Fischer, Saito wants
Cobb to convince Fischer's son and heir, Robert, to dissolve his father's company. In return, Saito promises
to use his influence once the job is done to clear Cobb's apparent criminal status, which prevents him from
returning home to his children.

Though Arthur is convinced that the task is impossible, Cobb insists that it can be done. Cobb accepts the
offer and assembles his team: Eames, a conman and identity forger; Yusuf, a chemist who concocts a
powerful sedative for a stable "dream within a dream" strategy; and Ariadne, an architecture student
tasked with designing the labyrinth of the dream landscapes recruited with the help of Cobb's father-in-
law, Professor Stephen Miles. While dream-sharing with Cobb, Ariadne learns his subconscious houses an
invasive projection of his late wife Mal.

After Maurice dies in Sydney, Robert Fischer accompanies the body on a ten-hour flight back to Los
Angeles, which the team (including Saito, who wants to verify their success) uses as an opportunity to
sedate and take Robert into a shared dream. At each dream level, the person generating the dream stays
behind to set up a "kick" that will be used to awaken the other sleeping team members from the deeper
dream level; to be successful, these kicks must occur simultaneously at each dream level, a fact
complicated due to the nature of time which flows much faster in each successive level. They use Non, je
ne regrette rien as an auditory cue to help coordinate the kicks. The first level is Yusuf's dream of a rainy
Los Angeles. The team abducts Robert, but they are attacked by armed projections from his subconscious,
which has been specifically trained to defend against such intruders. The team takes Robert and a
wounded Saito to a warehouse, where Cobb reveals that while dying in the dream would normally wake
Saito up, the powerful sedatives needed to stabilize the multi-level dream will instead send a dying
dreamer into "limbo": a world of infinite subconscious from which escape is extremely difficult, if not
impossible, and in which a dreamer risks forgetting they are in a dream. Despite these setbacks, the team
continues with the mission.

Eames impersonates Robert's godfather, Peter Browning, to suggest Robert reconsider his father's will.
Yusuf drives them around in a van as the rest are sedated into the second level, a hotel dreamed by Arthur.
Cobb persuades Robert that he has been kidnapped by Browning, and that Cobb is his subconscious
protector. Cobb persuades Robert to go down another level to explore Browning's subconscious (in reality,
it is a ruse to enter Robert's subconscious). The third level is a fortified hospital on a snowy mountain
dreamed by Eames. The team has to infiltrate it and hold off the guards as Saito takes Robert into the
equivalent of his subconscious. Yusuf, under pursuit by Robert's projections in the first level, deliberately
drives off a bridge thus initiating his kick too soon. This causes an avalanche in Eames' level, and removes
the gravity of Arthur's level, thus forcing Authur to improvise a new kick synchronized with the van hitting
the water. Mal's projection emerges in Eames' level and kills Robert; Cobb kills Mal, and Saito succumbs to
his wounds. Cobb and Ariadne enter Limbo to rescue Robert and Saito, while Eames sets up a kick by
rigging the hospital with explosives.

Cobb reveals to Ariadne that he and Mal went to Limbo while experimenting with the dream-sharing
technology. Sedated for a few hours of real-time, they spent fifty years in a dream constructing a world
from their shared memories. When Mal refused to return to reality, Cobb used a rudimentary form of
inception by reactivating her totem (an object that dreamers use to distinguish their dreams from reality),
and reminding her subconscious that their world was not real. However, after waking up, the inception had
taken root and Mal still believed that she was dreaming. In an attempt to "wake up" for real, Mal
committed suicide and framed Cobb for her death to force him to do the same. Facing a murder charge,
Cobb fled the U.S., leaving his children in the care of his father-in-law.
Through his confession, Cobb makes peace with his guilt over Mal's death. Ariadne kills Mal's projection
and wakes Robert up with a kick. Revived at the fortified hospital, he enters a safe room to discover and
accept the planted idea: a projection of his dying father telling him to be his own man. While Cobb remains
in Limbo to search for Saito, the other team members ride the synchronized kicks back to reality. Cobb
eventually finds an aged Saito in Limbo and reminds him of their agreement. The dreamers all awake on
the plane and Saito makes a phone call.

Upon arrival at Los Angeles Airport, Cobb passes the U.S. immigration checkpoint and Professor Miles
accompanies him to his home. Using Mal's old totem—a spinning top that spins indefinitely in a dream
world but falls over in reality—Cobb conducts a test to prove that he is indeed in the real world, but he
does not observe its result and instead joins his children in the garden. Behind them, the totem begins to
wobble, but it is unclear whether or not it will fall.

SCREENPLAY :
INTERSTELLAR (2014)
2h 49min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an
attempt to ensure humanity's survival.

STORY :
In the mid-21st century, crop blights and dust storms threaten humanity's survival. Corn is the last viable
crop. The world has also regressed into a post-truth society where younger generations are taught ideas
such as the Apollo moon missions were faked. Widowed engineer and former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper is
now a farmer. Living with him are his father-in-law, Donald; his 15-year-old son, Tom; and 10-year-old
daughter, Murphy. After a dust storm, strange patterns made from dust inexplicably appear on Murphy's
bedroom floor, she attributes the anomaly to a ghost. Cooper eventually deduces the patterns were caused
by gravity variations and are a binary code for geographic coordinates. Cooper follows the coordinates to a
secret NASA facility headed by Professor John Brand, Cooper's former supervisor. Professor Brand says
gravitational anomalies have happened elsewhere. 48 years earlier, unknown beings positioned a
wormhole near Saturn, opening a path to a distant galaxy with twelve potentially habitable worlds located
near a black hole named Gargantua. Twelve volunteers traveled through the wormhole to individually
survey the planets. Astronauts Miller, Edmunds, and Mann reported positive results. Based on their data,
Professor Brand conceived two plans to ensure humanity's survival. Plan A involves developing a
gravitational propulsion theory to propel a mass exodus, while Plan B involves launching the Endurance
spacecraft carrying 5,000 frozen human embryos to colonize a habitable planet.

Cooper is recruited to pilot the Endurance. The crew includes scientists Dr. Amelia Brand (Professor Brand's
daughter), Dr. Romilly, Dr. Doyle, and robots TARS and CASE. Before leaving, Cooper gives a distraught
Murphy his wristwatch to compare their relative time for when he returns. After traversing the wormhole,
Romilly studies the black hole while Cooper, Doyle, and Brand descend in a landing craft to investigate
Miller's planet, an ocean world. After finding wreckage from Miller's ship, a gigantic tidal wave kills Doyle
and delays the lander's departure. Due to the proximity of the black hole, time is severely dilated. As a
result, 23 years have elapsed for Romilly on Endurance by the time Cooper and Brand return.

Edmunds' planet has slightly better telemetry, while Mann broadcasts positive data. Cooper rules to use
their remaining fuel to reach Mann's planet. On Mann's planet, the Endurance crew revive him from
cryostasis. Meanwhile, Murphy, now a scientist, has transmitted a message announcing Professor Brand
has died. She has learned that Plan A, requiring unattainable data from within a black hole, was never
viable. Plan B was always Professor Brand's only option. Murphy accuses Amelia and Cooper of knowing
those left on Earth were doomed. Mann's frozen planet is uninhabitable; he sent falsified data in order to
be rescued. Mann attempts to murder Cooper, then escapes in a lander and heads for Endurance. Romilly
is killed by Mann's booby trap and Amelia and Cooper race to the Endurance in another lander. Mann dies
during a failed manual docking operation, severely damaging Endurance. After a difficult docking
maneuver, Cooper regains control of Endurance.

Miller's planet orbiting Gargantua

With insufficient fuel to reach Edmunds' planet, they use a slingshot maneuver so close to Gargantua that
time dilation adds another 51 years. In the process, Cooper and TARS jettison themselves to shed weight
and ensure Endurance reaches Edmunds' planet. Slipping through the event horizon of Gargantua, they
eject from their respective craft and find themselves inside a massive tesseract, possibly constructed by
future humans. Across different time periods, Cooper can see through the bookcases of Murphy's old room
on Earth and weakly interact with its gravity. Cooper realizes he was Murphy's "ghost" and manipulates the
second hand of the wristwatch he gave her, using Morse Code to transmit the quantum data that TARS
collected from inside the event horizon. Cooper and TARS are ejected from the tesseract. Cooper awakens
on a space habitat orbiting Saturn, where he reunites with an elderly Murphy. Using the quantum data sent
by Cooper, the younger Murphy solved the gravitational propulsion theory for Plan A, enabling humanity's
exodus and survival. Nearing death and with her own family, Murphy urges Cooper to return to Amelia.
Cooper and TARS take a spacecraft to rejoin Amelia and CASE on Edmunds' habitable planet.

SCREENPLAY :
DUNKIRK (2017) 1h 46min | Action, Drama, History
Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire, and France are
surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce
battle in World War II.

STORY :
In 1940, during the Battle of France, Allied soldiers have retreated to Dunkirk. Tommy, a young British
private, is the sole survivor of a German ambush. At the beach, he finds thousands of troops awaiting
evacuation and meets Gibson, who is burying a body. After a German dive-bomber attack, they find a
wounded man. They rush his stretcher onto a hospital ship, hoping to get aboard, but are ordered off. The
ship is sunk by dive bombers; Tommy helps another soldier, Alex, out of the water. They leave at night on a
destroyer, but it is sunk by a U-boat. Gibson saves Tommy and Alex from the sinking ship, and they get back
to the beach. With only a single, vulnerable mole available for mooring deep-draft ships, the Royal Navy
requisitions civilian vessels in the UK that can get to the beach. In Weymouth, a civilian sailor named
Dawson, with his son Peter, sets out on his boat Moonstone, rather than let the Navy commandeer her.
Impulsively, Peter's teenage friend George joins them. At sea, they rescue a shivering shell-shocked soldier
from a wrecked ship. When he realises that Dawson is sailing for Dunkirk, the soldier demands that they
turn back and tries to wrest control of the boat; in the struggle, George falls and suffers a head injury that
renders him blind. Three Spitfires cross the English Channel, heading towards Dunkirk. After their leader is
shot down in a dogfight, one of the pilots, Farrier, assumes command, although his fuel gauge is shattered.
They save a minesweeper from a German bomber, but the other Spitfire is hit and ditches. Its pilot, Collins,
is rescued by Moonstone.

Tommy, Alex, and Gibson join some soldiers from a Highlanders regiment and hide inside a beached
trawler outside the Allied perimeter. German troops shoot at the boat, and water enters through the bullet
holes. Alex, hoping to lighten the boat, accuses Gibson, who has stayed silent, of being a German spy, and
demands that he leave. Gibson reveals he is French; he stole the identity of the dead soldier he buried,
hoping to be evacuated with the British. The group abandons the boat when it begins to sink. Gibson is
unable to get out and drowns. Alex and Tommy swim towards a nearby destroyer, but it is sunk by a
bomber. Moonstone manoeuvres to take on those in the water, including Alex and Tommy. Peter discovers
that George is dead. The shell-shocked soldier asks about him, but is made to think he is well. Farrier
shoots down the bomber before his fuel runs out. At the beach, Royal Navy Commander Bolton watches
the last British soldiers leave. He notes that nearly 300,000 have been evacuated, ten times more than
Prime Minister Winston Churchill had hoped for. He stays to oversee the evacuation of the French. Arriving
back in Weymouth, Dawson is congratulated for having saved so many men. The shell-shocked soldier sees
George's body being carried away. Peter goes to the local newspaper; a front-page article commends
George as a hero. Gliding over the beach, Farrier shoots down a dive-bomber, and then lands beyond the
perimeter. He sets fire to his plane and is taken prisoner. Tommy and Alex board a train, receiving a hero's
welcome when it arrives in Woking.

SCREENPLAY :
BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
2h 20min | Action, Adventure
After training with his mentor, Batman begins his fight to free
crime-ridden Gotham City from corruption.

STORY :
As a child in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne falls down a dry well and is attacked by a swarm of bats,
developing a fear of bats. Attending the opera with his parents, Thomas and Martha, Bruce becomes
frightened by performers masquerading as bats and asks to leave. Outside, mugger Joe Chill murders
Bruce's parents in front of him, and the orphaned Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

Fourteen years later, Chill is paroled after testifying against mafia boss Carmine Falcone. Bruce intends to
murder Chill, but one of Falcone's assassins does so first. Bruce's childhood friend Rachel Dawes berates
him for acting outside the justice system, saying that his father would be ashamed. After confronting
Falcone, who tells him that real power comes from being feared, Bruce spends the next seven years
traveling the world training in combat and immersing himself in the criminal underworld. In a Bhutan
prison, he meets Henri Ducard, who recruits him to the League of Shadows led by Ra's al Ghul. After
completing his training in ninja methods and purging his fears, Bruce learns the League intends to destroy
Gotham, believing the city beyond saving. Bruce rejects the League and its edict that killing is necessary,
burning down their temple during his escape. Ra's is killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves the
unconscious Ducard.

Returning to Gotham intent on fighting crime, Bruce takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne
Enterprises, which is being taken public by the unscrupulous William Earle. Company archivist Lucius Fox, a
friend of Bruce's father, allows Bruce access to prototype defense technologies, including a protective
bodysuit and a heavily armored vehicle, the Tumbler. Bruce poses publicly as a shallow playboy, while
setting up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor and taking up the vigilante identity of "Batman",
inspired by his childhood fear.

Intercepting a drug shipment, Batman provides Rachel with evidence against Falcone and enlists Sergeant
James Gordon, one of Gotham's few honest cops, to arrest him. In prison, Falcone meets Dr. Jonathan
Crane, a corrupt psychologist whom he has helped smuggle drugs into Gotham. Donning a scarecrow mask,
Crane sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen and has him transferred to Arkham Asylum. While
investigating "the Scarecrow", Batman is incapacitated by the hallucinogen, but is saved by Alfred and
given an antidote developed by Fox.

When Rachel, now the city's assistant district attorney, accuses Crane of corruption, he reveals he has
introduced his drug into Gotham's water supply. He drugs Rachel, but Batman subdues and interrogates
Crane, who claims to work for Ra's al Ghul. Batman evades the police to get Rachel to safety, administering
her the antidote and giving her a vial of it for Gordon and another for mass production. At Bruce's birthday
party, Ducard reappears and reveals himself to be the true Ra's al Ghul. Having stolen a powerful
microwave emitter from Wayne Enterprises, he plans to vaporize Gotham's water supply, rendering Crane's
drug airborne and causing mass hysteria that will destroy the city. He sets Wayne Manor aflame and leaves
Bruce to die, but Alfred rescues him.

Ra's loads the microwave emitter onto Gotham's monorail system to release the drug at the city's central
water source. Batman rescues Rachel from a drugged mob and indirectly reveals his identity to her.
Confronting Ra's on the monorail, as Gordon uses the Tumbler's cannons to destroy a section of the track,
Batman refuses to kill Ra's but chooses not to save him, gliding from the train as it crashes, killing Ra's.

Bruce gains Rachel's respect and love, but she decides she cannot be with him now, telling him if Gotham
should no longer need Batman, they can be together. Batman becomes a public hero and Bruce reveals he
has purchased a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, firing Earle and replacing him with Fox. Sergeant
Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant and shows Batman the Bat-Signal, mentioning a criminal who leaves
behind Joker playing cards.

SCREENPLAY :
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) 2h 32min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the
people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological
and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.

STORY :
A gang of criminals rob a Gotham City mob bank, murdering each other for a higher share of the money
until only the Joker remains, who escapes with the money. Batman, District Attorney Harvey Dent and
Lieutenant James Gordon form an alliance to rid Gotham City of organized crime. Bruce Wayne believes
that with Dent as Gotham's protector, he can retire from being Batman and lead a normal life with Rachel
Dawes – even though she and Dent are dating.

Mob bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol, and the Chechen hold a video conference with their corrupt accountant,
Lau, who has taken their funds for safekeeping and fled to Hong Kong. The Joker interrupts the meeting to
warn them that since Batman is unhindered by the law, he would find Lau, who would give up the mob's
money for a plea bargain. Joker offers to kill Batman in exchange for half of their money. The mob bosses
disagree, and Gambol places a bounty on the Joker. The Joker finds and kills Gambol, taking over his gang.
The mob decides to take the Joker up on his offer.

Batman finds Lau in Hong Kong and brings him back to Gotham to testify, allowing Dent to apprehend the
entire mob. The Joker threatens to kill people unless Batman reveals his identity, and starts by murdering
Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and the judge presiding over the mob trial. The Joker also tries to kill
Mayor Anthony Garcia, but Gordon sacrifices himself to stop the assassination. Dent kidnaps one of Joker's
henchmen and threatens him with a seemingly deadly game of heads or tails until Batman intervenes,
warning Dent that all the criminals he has convicted would be released if anyone found out. Dent learns
that Rachel is Joker's next target.

Bruce decides to reveal his secret identity to prevent more deaths. Before he can, however, Dent falsely
announces that he is Batman to lure the Joker out. Dent is taken into protective custody, but the Joker
appears and attacks the convoy. Batman comes to Dent's rescue and Gordon, who faked his death,
apprehends the Joker, securing a promotion to Commissioner. Rachel and Dent are escorted away by
detectives on Maroni's payroll; Gordon later learns that they never arrived home. Batman interrogates the
Joker, who reveals that they have been trapped in separate locations rigged with explosives and that
Batman must choose one to save. Batman races to save Rachel, while Gordon attempts to rescue Dent.
Batman arrives at the building, but realizes that the Joker has sent him to Dent's location instead. Both
buildings explode, killing Rachel and disfiguring Dent. The Joker escapes with Lau, who leads him to the
Mob's funds. The Joker burns his share of the money and kills Lau and the Chechen.

Coleman Reese, an accountant at Wayne Enterprises, deduces that Bruce is Batman and threatens to
publicize the information. Not wanting Reese's revelation to interfere with his plans, the Joker threatens to
destroy a hospital unless Reese is killed within an hour. All hospitals are evacuated and Gordon travels to
secure Reese. The Joker, disguised as a hospital nurse, discovers Dent's ward and hands him a gun,
convincing him to seek revenge for Rachel's death. The Joker destroys the hospital and escapes with a
busload of hostages. Dent goes on a killing spree, deciding the fates of people he holds responsible for
Rachel's death by flipping his lucky coin, one face of which was corroded in the explosion. Dent eventually
apprehends Gordon's family, believing Gordon's love for his family parallels his love for Rachel.

After announcing that Gotham City will be subject to his rule by nightfall, the Joker rigs two evacuating
ferries with explosives; one carrying civilians and the other prisoners. The passengers have been supplied
with a trigger to the other boat's explosives, and the Joker announces through an intercom that he will
blow both ferries if one of them has not been destroyed by midnight. Batman finds the Joker by using a
sonar device that spies on the entire city, with the reluctant help of Lucius Fox. The civilians and the
prisoners refuse to kill each other, while Batman apprehends the Joker after a fight. Before the police
arrive to take the Joker into custody, he gloats that Gotham's citizens will lose hope once Dent's rampage
becomes public knowledge.

Gordon and Batman arrive at the building where Rachel died and find Dent threatening to kill Gordon's
family. Dent again flips his coin and shoots Batman, spares himself, and aims to kill Gordon's son, claiming
that Gordon's negligence is responsible for Rachel's death. Batman, who was wearing body armor, tackles
Dent off the building to his death. Batman persuades Gordon to let him take responsibility for the killing
spree to preserve Dent's heroic image. As the police launch a manhunt for Batman, Gordon destroys the
Bat-signal, Fox watches as the sonar device self-destructs, and Alfred burns a letter from Rachel saying she
plans to marry Dent.

SCREENPLAY :
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)
2h 44min | Action, Thriller
Eight years after the Joker's reign of anarchy, Batman, with the help of the
enigmatic Catwoman, is forced from his exile to save Gotham City from the
brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane.

STORY :
In Uzbekistan, Bane, a mysterious terrorist and former member of the League of Shadows, abducts nuclear
physicist Dr. Leonid Pavel from a CIA aircraft.

Eight years after the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman has disappeared. Organized crime has
been eradicated in Gotham City thanks to the Dent Act giving expanded powers to the police.
Commissioner James Gordon has kept Dent's murderous rampage as the vigilante Two-Face a secret and
allowed blame for his crimes to fall on Batman. He has prepared a speech to read revealing the truth, but
decides not to read it. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse, and Wayne Enterprises is losing money after
Wayne discontinued his fusion reactor project when he learned that it could be weaponized.
Bane sets up his base in the city sewers, and prompts Wayne's corporate rival John Daggett to buy Wayne's
fingerprints. Cat burglar Selina Kyle obtains Wayne's prints from Wayne Manor for Daggett, but she is
double-crossed at the exchange and alerts the police. Gordon and the police arrive and pursue Bane and
Daggett's henchmen into the sewers while Kyle flees. The henchmen capture Gordon and take him to Bane.
Gordon escapes and is found by rookie officer John Blake. Blake, a fellow orphan who deduced Wayne's
secret identity, confronts him and convinces him to return as Batman.

Bane attacks the Gotham Stock Exchange by using Wayne's fingerprints in a series of transactions that
leaves Wayne bankrupt. Batman resurfaces for the first time in eight years while intercepting Bane and his
subordinates. Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, is convinced that Wayne is not strong enough to fight
Bane, and resigns in an attempt to save him. Wayne finds an ally in new Wayne Enterprises CEO Miranda
Tate, who becomes his lover. Using the stolen transactions, Bane expands his operations and kills Daggett.

Kyle agrees to take Batman to Bane but instead leads him into Bane's trap. Bane reveals that he intends to
fulfill Ra's al Ghul's mission to destroy Gotham. Batman fights Bane, but Bane breaks his back and takes
him abroad to an underground prison. The inmates tell Wayne the story of Ra's al Ghul's child, who was
born and raised in the prison before escaping — the only prisoner to have done so.

Bane lures Gotham's police into the sewers and uses explosives, trapping them and destroying bridges
surrounding the city. He kills Mayor Anthony Garcia during a football game and forces Pavel to convert the
reactor core into a decaying neutron bomb. Bane reads Gordon's speech to the crowd, and releases the
prisoners of Blackgate Penitentiary while exiling and killing Gotham's elite in kangaroo courts presided over
by Jonathan Crane.

Months later, Wayne escapes from the prison and returns to Gotham. Batman frees the police and they
clash with Bane's army in the streets; during the battle, Batman overpowers Bane. Tate intervenes and
stabs Batman, revealing herself as Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul's daughter. She activates the bomb's
detonator, but Gordon blocks her signal. Talia leaves to find the bomb while Bane prepares to kill Batman,
but Kyle arrives and kills Bane. Batman and Kyle pursue Talia, hoping to bring the bomb back to the reactor
chamber where it can be stabilized. Talia's truck crashes, but she remotely floods and destroys the reactor
chamber before dying. With no way to stop the detonation, Batman uses his aerial craft, the Bat, to haul
the bomb far over the bay, where it safely explodes. Before takeoff, Batman indirectly reveals his identity
to Gordon.

In the aftermath, Batman is presumed dead and honored as a hero. Wayne Manor becomes an orphanage
and Wayne's estate is left to Alfred. Gordon finds the Bat Signal repaired, while Lucius Fox discovers that
Wayne fixed the malfunctioning auto-pilot on the Bat. While vacationing in Florence, Alfred discovers that
Bruce is alive and in a relationship with Kyle. Blake resigns from the GCPD and receives a parcel from
Wayne leaving him the Batcave, his legal name is also revealed to be Robin.
SCREENPLAY :