nolan (Christopher Nolan biography and filmography)

Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityFaculty of Computational Mathematics and CyberneticsDepartment of System ProgrammingChristopher Nolan biography and filmographyAsiryan Alexander Kamoevich428 groupMoscow, 2015ContentsSynopsis31 Early life42 Career2.1 1990s . . .2.2 2000s . . .2.3 2010s . . .2.4 Influences................................................3 Awards and Future work............................................................................556811122SynopsisChristopher Jonathan James Nolan(born 30 July 1970) is an EnglishAmerican film director, screenwriter,and producer. His nine films havegrossed over US $4.2 billion worldwideand garnered a total of 26 Oscar nominations and seven awards.Having made his directorial debutwith Following (1998), Nolan gainedconsiderable attention for his secondfeature, Memento (2000).

The acclaimof these independent films gave Nolanthe opportunity to make the big-budgetthriller Insomnia (2002), and the mystery drama The Prestige (2006). Hefound further popular and critical success with the The Dark Knight TrilogyChristopher Nolan(2005–2012), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014). Nolan has co-writtenseveral of his films with his brother, Jonathan Nolan, and runs the productioncompany Syncopy Inc. with his wife Emma Thomas.Nolan’s films are rooted in philosophical, sociological and ethical concepts,exploring human morality, the construction of time, and the malleable natureof memory and personal identity.

His body of work is permeated by metafictive elements, temporal shifts, solipsistic perspectives, nonlinear storytelling andanalogous relationships between visual language and narrative elements. Nolan isdescribed as "one of the most innovative storytellers and image makers at workin movies today", and he is often admired by critics for integrating elements ofart film into the blockbuster format.3Chapter 1Early lifeNolan was born in London.

His English father, Brendan James Nolan, was anadvertising executive, and his American mother, Christina (née Jensen), workedas a flight attendant and English teacher. His childhood was split between Londonand Chicago, and he has both British and American citizenship. He has an olderbrother, Matthew, and a younger brother, Jonathan.He began making films at age seven, borrowing his father’s Super 8 cameraand shooting short films with his action figures. Growing up, Nolan was a greatadmirer of Star Wars (1977), and around the age of eight he made a stop motionanimation homage called Space Wars. His uncle who worked at NASA, buildingguidance systems for the Apollo rockets, sent him some launch footage. "I refilmed them off the screen and cut them in, thinking no-one would notice," Nolanlater remarked.

From the age of 11, he aspired to be a professional filmmaker.Nolan was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, an independent school in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, and later read English literature atUniversity College London (UCL). He chose UCL specifically for its filmmakingfacilities, which comprised a Steenbeck editing suite and 16 mm film cameras.Nolan was president of the Union’s Film Society, and with Emma Thomas (hisgirlfriend and future producer) he screened 35 mm feature films during the schoolyear and used the money earned to produce 16 mm films over the summers.During his college years, Nolan made two short films.

The first was the surreal8 mm Tarantella (1989), which was shown on Image Union (an independent filmand video showcase on the Public Broadcasting Service). The second was Larceny(1995), filmed over a weekend in black and white with a limited cast, crew, andequipment. Funded by Nolan and shot with the society’s equipment, it appearedat the Cambridge Film Festival in 1996 and is considered one of UCL’s best shorts.4Chapter 2Career2.11990sAfter graduation, Nolan directed corporate videos and industrial films.

Healso made a third short, Doodlebug (1997), about a man chasing an insect arounda flat with a shoe, only to discover when killing it that it is a miniature of himself.During this period of his career, Nolan had little or no success getting his projectsoff the ground; he later recalled the "stack of rejection letters" that greeted hisearly forays into making films, adding "there’s a very limited pool of finance inthe UK. To be honest, it’s a very clubby kind of place ...

Never had any supportwhatsoever from the British film industry."In 1998 Nolan directed his first feature, which he personally funded and filmedwith friends. Following depicts an unemployed young writer (Jeremy Theobald)who trails strangers through London, hoping they will provide material for his firstnovel, 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 hisflat burgled: "There is an interesting connection between a stranger going throughyour possessions and the concept of following people at random through a crowd –both take you beyond the boundaries of ordinary social relations". Following wasmade on a modest budget of £3,000, and was shot on weekends over the course ofa year. To conserve film stock, each scene in the film was rehearsed extensively toensure that the first or second take could be used in the final edit.

Co-producedwith Emma Thomas and Jeremy Theobald, Nolan wrote, photographed and editedthe film himself. Following won several awards during its festival run and was wellreceived by critics; The New Yorker wrote that it "echoed Hitchcock classics", butwas "leaner and meaner". On 11 December 2012, it was released on DVD andBlu-ray as part of the Criterion Collection.52.22000sAs a result of Following’s success,Nolan was afforded the opportunity tomake his breakthrough hit Memento(2000).During a road trip fromChicago to Los Angeles, his brotherJonathan pitched the idea for "Memento Mori", about a man with anterograde amnesia who uses notes andtattoos to hunt for his wife’s murderer.Nolan developed a screenplay that toldthe story in reverse; Aaron Ryder, anexecutive for Newmarket Films, saidit was "perhaps the most innovativescript I had ever seen".

The film wasChris with Guy Pearce on the set ofoptioned and given a budget of $4.5"Memento" (2000)million. Memento, starring Guy Pearceand Carrie-Anne Moss, premiered inSeptember 2000 at the Venice International Film Festival to critical acclaim. JoeMorgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote in his review, "I can’t rememberwhen a movie has seemed so clever, strangely affecting and slyly funny at the verysame time." Basil Smith, in the book The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, draws a comparison with John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding whichargues that conscious memories constitute our identities, a theme which Nolanexplores in the film. The film was a box-office success and received a numberof accolades, including Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominationsfor its screenplay, Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nomination.

Memento wasconsidered by numerous critics to be one of the best films of the 2000s.Impressed by his work on Memento, Steven Soderbergh recruited Nolan to direct the psychological thriller Insomnia (2002), starring Academy Award winnersAl Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank. Warner Bros. initially wanted amore seasoned director, but Soderbergh and his Section Eight Productions foughtfor Nolan, as well as his choice of cinematographer (Wally Pfister) and editor(Dody Dorn). With a $46 million budget, it was described as "a much more conventional Hollywood film than anything the director has done before".

A remakeof the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, Insomnia is about two Los Angelesdetectives sent to a northern Alaskan town to investigate the methodical murder of a local teenager. It received positive reviews from critics and performedwell at the box office, earning $113 million worldwide. Film critic Roger Ebert6praised the film for introducing new perspectives and ideas on the issues of morality and guilt. "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." ErikSkjoldbjærg, 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".Richard Schickel of Time deemed Insomnia a "worthy successor" to Memento,and "a triumph of atmosphere over a none-too-mysterious mystery."After Insomnia, Nolan planned a Howard Hughes biographical film starringJim Carrey.