Christopher Nolan, one of the finest directors that the world cinema has ever seen. A writer, producer, and a director, Christopher Nolan is known for some of the most acclaimed and commercially successful films of the early 21st century. As a director, Christopher Nolan has only nine films to his name, which again are a powerful example of his genius. His total nine films have grossed over $4.2 billion worldwide and has earned him a total of 26 Oscar nominations and seven awards. Christopher Nolan’s films are known for philosophical, sociological, and ethical concepts embedded in them. His movies explore the malleable nature of memory and personal identity, explore the human morality.
So here are the 5 Christopher Nolan Movies That Only Smart People Can understand.
Note: The listed movies are not in any fixed order. You can place it at any spot according to your rationale.
1. Memento
It’s a fine example of Nolan’s genius. Christopher Nolan has the talent to create magic on the screen. Memento is Nolan’s second feature film that gained him the mainstream attention. Memento earned Nolan a vast following, and it garnered him the Oscar nomination for the best screenplay. Based on the story “Memento Mori” written by his younger brother, Memento is a story about a man who creates a strange system to help him remember things. This helps him in hunting the murderer of his wife without his short-term memory loss being an obstacle. This movie was critically acclaimed and was praised by the critics for its nonlinear narrative structure and motifs of memory, perception, grief, and self-deception.
2. The Dark Knight
The only superhero movie to have 8 Oscar nominations, and have won the award for Best Sound Editing and Heath Ledger, who played the Joker won the Best Supporting Actor (Posthumously). Christopher Nolan breathed a new life into the legend of The Dark Knight. This movie is the greatest superhero movie for so many reasons; an excellent performance by Heath Ledger, the story was phenomenal, the character of Batman is examined when he’s pushed to the limits. This movie has set a new standard for all the superhero movies.
3. The Prestige
Story about two magicians who were once friends, but now bitter enemies. Obsessed with creating the best stage illusion, desperate to gain the edge in the rivalry. The magicians take drastic steps to overpower each other. This movie stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as the rival magicians. This is a must see film for everyone who’s into movies with mysteries, twists and turns. The movie received very positive reviews from the critics, and is described as “one of the most innovative, twisting, turning art films of the past decade.”
4. Inception
This movie took nearly 10 years in the making. Shortly after Insomnia (2002), Nolan wrote a 80-page film treatment about “dream stealers”. Christopher Nolan envisioned an idea of making a film on lucid dreaming, and presented the idea to the Warner Bros. Nolan then felt that he needed more time and work on the concept, and such a film will require a larger budget, so he dropped the idea. And he went on directing the Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. After acquiring sufficient experience of making large-scale films, he decided to make Inception and spent six years making the script. Inception is truly Nolan’s masterpiece, a heavy emphasis on architecture, mesmerizing visual effects, brilliant story, and strong performances by the star cast makes it a must watch. This is a kind of movie that you can keep watching again and again, and never get bored.
5. Interstellar
Interstellar is a kind of movie that deals with concepts that we are little familiar about. Concepts like Worm Holes, Higher Dimensions, Space Travel, but it was very believable. Christopher Nolan directed it with such an elegance, he made such a complex subject a very simple one. Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was the scientific consultant to the film to ensure that the depictions of Space Travel, Worm Holes is as accurate as possible. Even the famous Astrophysicists, Scientists praised the movie for its accuracy and realistic depiction. The visuals, the score, the acting, everything is simply amazing. The plot is definitely one of the most original we’ve seen in a while. At the 87th Academy Awards the film won the Best Visual Effects award and was also nominated for Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Production Design.