Auteur Director Theory - Christopher Nolan

‘Auteur’ theory came about in late 1940s France when French film critics, such as Andre Bazin, criticized Hollywood cinema for being not creative enough, whereas European cinema was meant to change the way people view films. The auteur theory was given to directors who oversee all the creative aspects of their films such as lighting, audio and cinematography. Directors who didn’t were known as ‘Metteur-en Scene’. Now, there are many modern auteur directors in Hollywood who have their own unique style. The most notable ones being Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright. From the very start of his career, Chrisopher Nolan can be described as an auteur director as he has developed an interesting and exciting style of filmmaking. From a young age, Nolan has been influenced by George Lucas’ ‘original Star Wars trilogy’ and the immersive dystopian films of Sir Ridley Scott. Nolan has worked with his brother, Jonathan Nolan, where they have written the script together for many of his films, allowing Nolan to have creative aspect both for the visuals and the story. This essay will cover the creative style of Nolan and how he is described as an auteur director. 

When it comes to storytelling, Nolan uses a non-linear structure for a lot of his films as he loves playing with the concept of time. The most notable one being Memento (2000). Nolan describes the plot of Memento as a ‘hair pin’. The top of the hair pin is the scenes in colour which is told backwards, and the bottom of the hair pin is the scenes in black and white which is told chronologically. The end of the hair pin, where the two timelines meet, is the end of the film. Whereas for Inception (2010), the story is told with a linear format, but the concept of time is different compared to Memento. Inception tells the story of thieves who are hired to steal corporate secrets through the use of dream sharing technology. As it involves characters going into dreams within dreams, the amount of timelines add up throughout the film. When asked in an interview why Nolan loves including time in his films, he stated “well I’ve always lived in it. And it sounds glib, but it’s the truth," he said "It’s the most fundamental part of our human experience, it’s how we perceive the world is defined by time. Cinema is uniquely suited to dealing with it." Comparing the two types of time concepts, Memento jumps back and forth between the different timelines while using colour and black and white to tell them apart. This shows Nolan being an auteur director as he has creative control over the visual of the film. On the other hand, Inception layers multiple linear storylines together, almost like a staircase structure. Again, this shows Nolan as being an auteur director as he plans and writes his own storylines having complete control over visuals and plot. Overall, Nolan wants the audience not to understand it, but to feel it. He quoted “You don’t want to understand the entire story right from the beginning. Otherwise, there’s nothing to unfold... the job of the filmmaker is to try to be a little bit ahead of the audience, not too far ahead, not too far behind. “ 

Nolan goes above and beyond with his films, especially when it comes to his sets as he is eager to use practical effects, rather than CGI. His love for practical effects came from Stanley Kubrick who relied on tremendous practical effects in many of his films. Kubrick's 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, used large, detailed models of spaceships and giant rotating sets to establish the film’s environment. As Nolan is a modern-day director, he likes to blend old-fashioned techniques (practical effects) with futuristic and mind-numbing stories. The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the greatest trilogies of all time and was the first Batman adaptation that felt ‘real’. A lot of the scenes in the trilogy were practical effects which is why many critics stated it as realistic. The Truck Scene from The Dark Knight (2008) where the Joker is driving, and Batman makes it flip was all done by practical effects. Chris Corbould, the special effects supervisor, and his team worked together to figure out a way they could flip it. They also worked with Jim Wilkey, a talented and experienced stunt driver, who was able to pull the stunt off. They placed a large piston on the bed of the 18-wheeler truck, which gave the truck enough momentum to flip fully. They filmed the stunt from multiple angles as they could only do the stunt once. The multiple angles gave the editor a lot to work with to bring this scene to life. Interstellar (2014) is a sci-fi epic which includes spaceships and different planets which all ended up being practical effects. The spaceships were built in a massive studio, which made it feel real for the actors. The sets were connected to gimbles and hydraulics which allowed the sets to move in any direction. The ‘ice’ and ‘water’ planet were both filmed in Iceland. Mann’s planet (ice) was filmed in Svínafellsjökull which is an outlet glacier and was perfect for the film. Miller’s planet (water) was filmed in Orrustuhóll which is covered in lava fields, but it is also surrounded by water, making it the perfect spot to shoot the scene. There are obviously some negatives when it comes to doing practical effects such as safety. When it came to filming in Orrustuhóll, Anne Hathaway's suit, which was meant to keep her warm, malfunctioned causing her to almost get hypothermia due to the cold and harsh conditions in Iceland. As Nolan is keen on using IMAX cameras, trying to capture everything on camera is a must. His films are built to be watched in IMAX so using practical effects in his films makes the audience feel like they are there with the characters and within the world he is created.  

Overall, Nolan is an auteur director as all his films are about bringing the audience into the world of the film and letting them ponder and feel what is happening on screen. This magical way of storytelling is something that Nolan has used from the start of his career. It is included in his early work such as Doodlebug (1997-Short) and Memento (2000), right up to his newest work such as Tenet (2020) and Oppenheimer (2023). Nolan’s filmography is still growing and is one of the best filmographies of the past 20 years, inspiring many young filmmakers of today.