Christopher Nolan is an English-American screen writer,
producer, and director. In 2000, he received serious attention from critics and
audience with the release of Memento.
Nolan is also notable for writing and directing the Batman film trilogy, which includes Batman Begins (2005), The
Dark Knight(2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Nolan also directed Inception (2010), which received four
Academy Awards and a nomination for Best Picture.
On July 25, KCRW released the interview with Christopher
Nolan. Most of the show consisted Elvis Mitchell and Christopher Nolan
discussing Nolan’s newest movie, The Dark
Knight Rises. Mitchell and Nolan also discussed some of Nolan’s previous
works and the influence of other films on his work. One of the most interesting
things that I learned in this interview was the influence film noir has had on
Nolan’s work. Nolan is a big fan of the stylish crime drama’s of the 1940s and
50s, and he incorporated many aspects of the genre into his own movies. For
example, many of his movies involve the dark settings and plots associated with
film noir. His characters, even the heroes, are often put in positions of moral
ambiguity. These influences played a significant role in the style of Nolan’s
movies.
“One of the great uses
of time is the ticking clock, the tension…They knew that if they started from
zero and counted up, the audience wouldn’t know when it would end, so they went
backwards down to zero…It really speaks to the issue of time.”
In the beginning of the interview, Mitchell and Nolan
discuss Nolan’s use of time in his works and in the world of cinema in general.
One of the interesting things that I learned from this quote was how the use of
the “ticking clock” influenced tension in a movie. Although at times it may
seem subtle to the audience, the use of a clock to highlight tension seemed
genius to me once Nolan explained it. Nolan uses the concept of the ticking
clock in his own movies as well. In Inception,
the climax revolves around the concept of a ticking clock signifying that the
characters are running out of time. In The
Dark Knight Rises, there is a scene in which Harvey Dent and Rachel are
strapped to bombs, and there is a clock ticking down to their doom. The clock
creates an enormous amount of tension in the film, and rightfully so- it
culminates in a death of a protagonist, and the scene indirectly leads to the transformation
of Harvey Dent into the infamous Two-Face.
“I think that one of
the things I’m going to miss about not working with these characters is that
when you take on these grandeur, larger than life characters that the audience
has a preexisting relationship with, these icons, you’re allowed to indulge in
a kind of grand scale emotional storytelling that you couldn’t do with other
stories.”
In regards to working on the Batman trilogy, Nolan enjoyed the amount of grandeur we was able to
work with in his movie. I believe that this quote not only applies to the
trilogy, but superhero movies in general. I’ve always enjoyed the operatic and
dramatic portrayal of superhero movies. However, this interview did give me
some insight as to how these movies are able to be played out so dramatically
and emotionally. Superhero movies, if one truly thinks about it, often have
rather outlandish or fantastical plots and characters. Yet, because there is
already a pre-established context for these characters and stories, we do not accept
these movies as silly or ridiculous. Because of this pre-established context,
superhero movies can use a level of grandeur that other movies cannot really
do. I believe that this is something that really makes them special.
I think if they’re
encountering an antagonist who is different, who doesn’t get them at all,
essentially, that shares none of their values, and is from a different planet,
really, he isn’t as threatening. I really enjoy telling a story with a
protagonist that is undermined by a villain that’s really getting under his
skin because they share something. They share knowledge in some point of view
or bizarre way. The more bizarre way you can find that kind of relationship,
you have more fun.
In this quote, Christopher Nolan discusses the relationship
between Batman and some of his adversaries in the Batman trilogy, including Bane from The Dark Knight Rises. In the Batman film series, Nolan establishes
the evil of the antagonists by juxtaposing characteristics of the antagonist
against Batman’s own characteristics. Yet at the same time, Nolan also makes
sure to point out the characteristics that Batman and the villains share
because it “gets under his (Batman’s) skin.” I thought that this point was
really interesting, as it really did seem to make the villains seem more
threatening. Nolan later stated in the interview that Bane, like Batman, sees
himself as a hero and savior. Yet at the same time, he and Batman are doing
completely different things over the course of the movie. I think that this was
a very interesting insight in the way in which Nolan developed the villains of
his movies.
Overall, Nolan’s interview on The Treatment was very intriguing. I felt that I had gained new
insight into the development and the ideas behind Nolan’s films. I think that
Nolan has contributed a great deal to the world of film in revitalizing a
treasured franchise and the use of film noir in modern cinema.
