I honestly really wanted to make a video on Hans Zimmer but I couldn't really find much to talk about. I mean he is a great composer but I am finding it hard to get enough to talk about to warrant a video essay on him :/
Guys, please don't start calling him a "fanboy" and start bringing up Kubrick, Spielberg, Tarantino, etc and start saying "Nolan sucks" or shit like that. He thinks Christopher Nolan is the best director and he has made some valid points in the video. He has expressed his opinion in a civilized manner. Let him like Nolan and don't shove your opinion down others' throat cause they're going spit it out anyways if they don't like it. If you do want to express your opinion, do it in civilized manner.
His point is indeed strong, that Nolan is consistent. I'm not going to smash his opinion, because he did make it quite well. However, I will disagree with him (to the point where Nolan wouldn't even make my Top 25) because I can't really consider a director great when he hasn't shown much diversity. All of Nolan's films are remarkably similar. If he ever truly branches off and trying new styles, I will reevaluate my opinion of him. But anyway, I'm not going to insult Henry here, because we're obviously judging by completely different criteria.
I disagree about The Dark Knight Rises. Dark Knight Rises (in my opinion) is the most artistic in the trilogy. It's truly a character film about Bruce Wayne trying to learn to live again. He had been emotionally shattered when his parents were brutally killed in front of him and he had forgotten how to live. When he became Batman, he learned how to live again. However, when Gotham turned on him, he again forgot how to live. The Dark Knight Rises is him learning who he is again and how to live on without being the batman. Nolan does this using a classic literary theme known as katabosis. For those of you unfamiliar, katabosis is a literary device used by many writers through the years. It is when the author has a character go down and discover himself. The character both physically goes down and also emotionally goes down to a place of vulnerability or a place of lower social status and this demonstrates the character being brought "down to Earth" to discover who he is. In the same way Hamlet went down into the grave, contemplated the famous words "to be or not to be," and discovered who he was, Bruce Wayne went into the pit and discovered who he was and how to live again.
I know this is late, but I have to disagree. The main problem is how it, the Dark Knight Rises, lost it's realism and immersion in the ending. It's not the only problem but it's the one everyone recognizes. In the scene where Batman cannot stop the timer from counting down with two minutes left, is impossible to take it outside the city. Let alone he spends a good thirty seconds kissing the girl and saying his goodbyes. There is no time and here it shows he's spending his last moments saying goodbye instead of even trying to save them. And even if he were to start leaving, he wouldnt be able to make it. It's too much of a superhero, happy moment that breaks all the realism that the movie, even the trilogy has built up. Which is the reason why people don't praise it as much because it chose action over artistic, which in this movie, was realism.
@Elijah Ken the story is good,not great (considering how exceptional Nolan's stories are). The direction is great for sure. The dialogues are brilliant. Acting was great and especially joker's was phenomenal. The overall trilogy for me is somewhere between good and great. But the rest of Nolan's movies are on another level. Compared to other Nolan's movies,TDK trilogy definitely ranks least. That's just my opinion tho. I feel like there is nothing phenomenal in these 3 movies that puts them above other Nolan's movies
@Elijah Ken i don't really understand when people say the dark knight is the best movie of Nolan. I mean it's not even close to how brilliant and outstanding the movies like interstellar, inception, the prestige.... are
After watching Dunkirk recently, I myself realized why Nolan is my favorite director. Whenever I finish a film of his for the first time, the movie ends and the credits start, my first thought is always "I need to watch that again." And I inevitably do so. His movies are ones that I am always happy to revisit, and I'm not one much for rewatching, rereading, etc most forms of entertainment.
Man, awesome video! Christopher Nolan is also my favorite director, and this video perfectly sums up why! But don't directors like Fincher, Tarantino and Wright (which I also love) also balance art with entertainment?
orfeas One of his points was on the consistency of Nolan's films. Unlike Spielberg, who makes a BFG or War of the Worlds every so often, He believes that Nolan is consistent in his art, making every one of his movies well crafted. Personally, I think Spielberg, Wright, and Tarantino are better, since their high points are higher, but I thought I'd explain what his point was.
orfeas spielberg has made like 60 movies(EXAGGERATING) and out of them, 6 are BRILLIANT...25 are mediocre and rest are shit...The more movies you make the higher the chance of success...Nolans made 10 movies and all of them are BRILLIANT
I feel like Tarantino is not for everyone. Some people don't understand the purpose of his dialogues, for example. Both directors produce high-quality films, but I believe Nolan reaches a broader audience.
Well I believe that it was the main point of this video, that he makes brilliantly artistic movies accessible for broader audience. I don't know if you guys play videogames at all, but there the exact example would be studio Naughty Dog. Their games sell incredibly well by simultaneously being the best the industry has to offer.
I just can't get over the dialog. So much clunky exposition. His movies are all slick and entertaining, but I can't call any of them masterpieces because of that one glaring problem.
@Kam W The hero goes inside the black hole and as black holes create singularities melting time and space, he is able to find the exact moment where he gives the coordinates of the secret base to his daughter with the bookshelf. Basically the movie is saying "love transcend time and space". It's dumb and hackneyed.
What themes and devices did it make use of? In the dark knight we had a number of themes around is a sweet truth better than a bitter lie. Are we incorruptable? You could argue that the joker and batman were not fighting over the soul of gotham but rather the human spirit. The joker arguing everyone is evil at heart and the batman arguing that everyone has the potential for good. Also an outstanding hero/villain dynamic which was half the reason the film was so iconic. I made a video essay called "how to great a great villain" if you want to see me delve a lot deeper into that.
It completed the trilogy's chiastic structure. That's pretty artistic. You should look into the chiasmus story structure, it's fascinating! The entire Dark Knight trilogy, How to train your Dragon, and the Captain America trilogy to a lesser extent are all examples of a chiasm.
Using the Dark Knight to highlight Rises shortfalls is a bit flawed. Dark Knight was almost pure cinema genius on fundamentally every level. Its folly to try and hold anything in comparison to it. I could go into a huge thing about Occupy or Tale of Two Cities or the idea that Batman ultimately cant save people from themselves and their need to 'conform' because fear or under power from a bigger fish. I love Rises in spite of its flaws, but are its shortcomings actually as bad as some make out? is it because Dark Knight is just so thematically sound nothing can reach its heights. It is not just a great Batman movie, it is a great film that just happened to have Batman in it.
In terms of themes and devices you should take a look at the films colour palette. There's a lot of conflicting/complimenting tones in there underlining the themes of the film - or particular scene. Your 'How to make a great villain' was great by the way
I am surprised you did not mention Nolan's other films: "Memento" (2000), "Insomnia" (2002) and "The Prestige" (2006). What are your opinions of those movies?
Here are Nolan's greatest movies in my opinion: 9. "The Prestige" (2006) 8. "Insomnia" (2002) 7. "Tenet" (2020) 6. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) 5. "Batman Begins" (2005) 4. "Interstellar" (2014) 3. "Memento" (2000) 2. "Inception" (2010) 1. "The Dark Knight" (2008) The list's number one movie is one of my favorite films.
I think "Tenet" (2020) is a brilliant film. The movie, however, had mixed reactions. What do you think of "Tenet"? If your opinion is different then mine, I won't take any personal offense.
I've always thought of Nolan this way, an art house director with a big budget. New directors usually have to put for girth into their screenplays and themes etc so that people will enjoy them with a smaller budget whereas well established directors can make garbage and people will still go to see it because of the name and entertainment value. Nolan, as you say, has found a perfect balance of intelligent storytelling and being a massive blockbuster without comprising either aspect.
Christopher Nolan and David Fincher are the two directors I praise. Their movies always have such amazing suspence, cinimatogtaphy, and dark plots. They always leave me speechless.
if Hanz Zimmer doesn't get the oscar for best composition or whatever i will dedicate my life to winning an oscar in his name. Such an amazing and captivating soundtrack.
I absolutely love these videos. They've inspired me to really take the time to understand why people like aspects of film and so I can make insanely interesting films
what about Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni, Charlie Kaufman, Ingar Bergman, Stanely Kubrick, Abbas Kiarostami, Claire Denis, Alfred Hitchcock etc. to name a few. It's fine to like Fincher and Villeneuve, but there's a lot of great directors out there when you look just slightly beneath the surface.
Personally, Rises is my favorite film of the trilogy, due to the way the story comes full circle and how the story of Bruce Wayne began with the League of Shadows and ended with the League of Shadows. The characters we've seen in the first two, get closure as the film ends. How after being tested with his mind with Scarecrow and The Joker and with his body when fighting on the train with Ras al Ghul, he's tested with both mind and body with Bane. Though The Joker is the better villain, Bane is a force to be reckoned with and I liked this approach that was taken, rather than that of The Riddler, who would've been good to see, but in retrospect would've been a bit predictable considering how previous villains operated. I also like how Rises ends with the closing of one chapter of Bruce Wayne as Batman, and the beginning of another with Blake being the next Batman, and while some may have some questions as to what Blake will do, perhaps Bruce will come back and help him train under his new identity, maybe sporting a beard or something, since around the world people may know Bruce Wayne's name but not face, but with Gotham he might have to change his appearance in some way. Or maybe come back when everyone thinks he’s dead like he did in Batman Begins and give a reason why he left if he wanted to come back to train Blake. Seems by the time Rises came out, while Nolan still had themes in the film he hadn't explored before, he wanted to make this film one like an Epic type film, like say Lawrence of Arabia. His first two Batman films are Epic, but the scale wasn't quite like this one. I think he wanted to do something different spectacle wise, while staying in the realm of the story he created already with the previous two films, and I quite admire him for this. Doing something a bit more different, and perhaps bold, in a way that is of a more Epic approach, I don't blame him for doing so. He's trying new things instead of resorting to old tropes he's done before, which could've helped in the Epic visions of Interstellar and Dunkirk. But that's just my two cents. Great essay as always man.
This is the most spot-on video essay I've seen in a while. Nolan is my favorite filmmaker for these exact reasons! Great video btw (and not just because you confirmed my opinion lol)
YES! You really nailed it home for me. I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan as well, he is definately my favourite director. I've always said this to my friends: He makes an entertaining blockbuster movie, while making a film that has many layers and is intelligent. That's just the perfect combination for me. His use of music (thank god for Hans Zimmer, saw him live in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago, fucking amazing), story structure (almost always non-chronologically), cinomatography, editing and character development is truly something to behold, and I really fucking love it. Call me a fanboy all you want, I think he is just brilliant.
I think Denis vileneuve is personally my favourite director. In the past 5 years, he has produced some of my favourite movies(prisoners, enemy, sicario, arrival and blade runner 2049)
For all of you guys hating on Nolan think about this. If Nolan was directing 30 years ago and was retired today you all would be calling him a God. If someone like Stanley Kubrick was directing today you would be hating on him like you are now with Nolan even though Kubrick directed master pieces you would still hate and say stuff like "how dare you compare Kubrick with Nolan". I am not taking anything away from great directors in past as they deserve all great things being said about them. But some of you haters need to appreciate the great directors of today without mentioning the directors of the past. I guarantee you in 20 years time you Nolan haters will be kissing his ass and hating on the next young top director of that generation.
Fever Illis The thing is Nolan is consistent with making great movies. Before TDK was released he made movies that received high ratings (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins and The Prestige). The Dark Knight was the catalyst of making him a household name which came with many fanboys. But you cannot discredit what he has done before TDK or even what he has done after as I think TDKR was a solid movie, Inception was amazing and interstellar was great. Have yet to see Dunkirk. You have to give him credit for being consistent with his films as many other directors would have an amazing film, but then an average film, then a film that is awful etc.
startrekpug That is true, I love Kubrick's films and I agree with what you have said. But the thing is why did it take years for Kubrick's films to be appreciated and won't Nolan be appreciated more in 30 years?
Matheus Villela That is true, I am not saying Nolan is the best director out there, but there are only a select few directors working today that release films that are high quality and at the same consistency as Nolan. All I am trying to get is that why do many hate Nolan? It seems that it is cool to hate on him because he is very successful and is still working today (people hate on successful people). But you are right as there are many directors out there that do not get the same amount of praise as Nolan but that doesn't mean Nolan shouldn't be getting the praise at all.
Stephen Even you guys are just looking through nostalgia goggles at Hitchcock and Kubrick. Let it go and be objective because Nolan’s great too and compares to them definitely, maybe if not better imo.
I passed by Christopher Nolan walking down Hollywood Blvd one time and at first I just wanted to let him go about his business. He's a regular person like everyone else and probably doesn't want to be chased down. But damn, looking back, I wish I did go try to talk to him
David Fincher is someone who I was thinking of throughout this video who blends the two and is the type of director you know will deliver a great film when it's announced. Personally, I think I prefer Fincher more because he is very consistent with his style but has also made mistakes in the past (Alien 3, even if that was because of the studio) and because of those mistakes, I think he is more human/likeable than Nolan (for me at least). I mean I think it's great that Nolan can make always great films that do well in the box office and are slightly artistic, but Fincher to me is more real and personal of a director of movies and not a creator of specifically what the audience wants with a little bit of art
I don't think Alien 3 is really fair to pin on Fincher considering he had next to no control whatsoever on the movie. I think Fincher does get the more personal side to movie making a little better than Nolan, but that's just me
I know Michael Bay isn't the best director but I'd like to watch a video about his directing technique and how his movies, despite being critically bad, sells a lot and watched by many.
That's not what I meant. I wanted to know why you think catching on to the obvious repetitiveness of such franchise movies is only an american thing rather than being something people do all around the world.
While that might be true Age Of Extinction was set and filmed in China, starring Chinese actors while using Chinese resources and pushing chinese products. Since the communistic government in China can pretty much decide which movies do well in China and which don't they're the ones to blame and not the movie taste of the Chinese nation.
I think you forgot to mention that it not just Nolan, who made his film so good. For his best Films, his brother Jonathan Nolan wrote the script. He also had a lot of influence to the outcome of the film, because if he works poorly, the story will also suffer from that and the film would not be half as good as it actually is. Jonathan is a genius as well when you look at a series like Westworld or Person of Interest. You could make a video on how important it is to have a good script and what happens if you don't have one.
His brother has done the most complete piece of film I've ever seen, IMO. The Westworld TV series was perfection, for me. The Nolans are immensely talented.
Wahid Choudhury Scorsese’s “flops” were because of his movies not appealing to the new age fast and furious transformers audience, even his flops are still HIGHLY critically acclaimed, he can still make amazing movies but modern cinema audiences dont wanna go to the movies and watch something as deep as scorsese, look at joker, half of the people who watch the movie dont even like it even though the movie is genius.
Wahid Choudhury ye. So it’s not accurate. Black Panther for example got an average of 8.6 but showed up at 97%. And why do people listen to rotten tomatoes anyway. It’s opinion not fact.
@Wahid Choudhury RT is and always has been incredibly flawed in the way it operates. Metacrtitc is the much better aggregate site and the source that should be used a lot more.
As an absolute movie buff, I'm very surprised to hear Dunkirk get praise from movie critics I respect. I can't put my finger on it yet but I thought it was quite weak in multiple departments.
Great video! I literally wrote my senior thesis in college (ten years ago) on this exact sentiment: that Christopher Nolan perfectly balances entertainment with artistic prowess.
Like: Akira Kurosawa John Carpenter John Ford Alfred Hitchcock Sergio Leone Orson Wells (Touch of Evil) John Woo Sam Peckinpah Mario Bava Quentin Tarantino Coen Bros Monty Python And many other directors. Don't get me wrong, I like Nolan, but it's not like this is his prerogative. I hope your thesis was interesting, as a cinephile it is always a pleasure to see thesis made on films.
I agree. Can't think of anyone with the quality of work and who inspires people to come out in droves to see his films. Even Memento and Insomnia were excellent films. Also, he always has excellent casts. Either he has great casting directors or he just knows who to pick and get the most out of them. I mean, we all laughed in 2006/2007 when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker. No one questions that now. Same thing with Tom Hardy as Bane or Robin Williams in Insomnia.
Don't forget his brother Jonathan in all these. The reason I see why the Nolan brothers are so good, is because they have stories to tell rather than stories to sell.
after watching quite a few of your videos i've come to the conclusion you love to hear your self talk and you have a highly elevated view of your own opinion. These aren't bad things.. just observations i've made. also.. keep up the good work.
He has competition now with Villeneuve and of course the classics like Kubrick, Hitchcock etc. But god damn I will always love Nolan so so much. TDK, Interstellar and Inception will always be among the top of my favourite films
as someone who's a huge fan of Hitchcock, he's got a lot of bad/mediocre movies mostly just due to the length of his career. Even Hitch himself said his first like 18 movies he made were kinda just him figuring out how to make a movie and that The Man Who Knew Too Much (the 1934 version) was like the real "start" of his career
Yes. I've heard of Satyajeet. I've watched couple of his movies and i really didn't liked them. His movies wasn't very appealing. Maybe because of the generation gap. But I don't think so. You're mentioning him because you're an Indian and there are bursts of patriotism in you guys.
@@sekushinaongaku2172 Well, probably that, and a director will often make movies that appeal more to his own culture, intentionally or otherwise. Kind of like how Americans find foreign films weird because of cultural dissonance and differing expectations.
I understand why you brought up his name. That's because Ray is another consistent director. Interstellar and TDKR were "arguably" bad films. And Nolan has finally broken his consistent track record with Tenet. On the other hand, Ray has been far more consistent than Nolan. He made around 36 films (short & full-feature). And almost each one of them is a masterpiece. Even his short films like "Two" were mind-blowing. And besides, Nolan's entire filmography will not stand a second against Agantuk. Which is just one work Ray.
Nolan's entire filmography will not stand a second against _The Conversation._ Which is just one work of Francis Ford Coppola. 1 Coppola film >>>>>>> 11 Nolan films And Coppola's best were Godfather I & II and Apocalypse Now.
And stop speaking bullshits, 15 year old fanboy. He only said he has been consistently *good* films. Your comment is an exaggerated argument. Anyways, this video doesn't hold upto today, since Nolan has already broken his track record with Tenet.
Why don't you make a series of videos (or just a video, who am I to say anything?) on each director considered good, and analyse how they achieved their status, e.g. what style they used, what kind of themes they touch on. Or, you could also make videos on actor(s)'s (or actress(es)'s) careers and what the films they're in have in common (or not at all) Or to fall back on the safe bet, why film X is most [adjective] of its genre, possibly due to [director's influence], [casting/actor/actress style], [producer shenanigans]
I love that he shoots celluloid, finishes his films photo-chemically and not with a Digital Intermediate(DI) and that he minimizes the amount of CGI in his film....and when he uses it he mandates that it is rendered at very high resolutions(Often at 6K to 8K compared to industry defaults of 2K) When can argue all day over how necessary or not that all of that is....BUT the fact of the matter is that Nolan strives to maintain and preserve the highest quality(meaning, literal image quality) of his films that he possibly can. That is commendable.
PERSONALLY, I like the fact that Tarantino tries to make his films as artistic as possible. He shows great passion in them and I am always entertained by his films.
Having two extremely talented creators will probably fail. There is only one leader in a project, one of them will have to take the lead, the other will be the second-in-command. Plus, they will always have even the tiniest difference in vision.
Mach Speed Great directors dont work like that, its not like you put two great bball players and make a duo. Being a director is creating a movie out of your vision, Wright and Nolan wont and cant compromise like that, theyre styles are too different; great in their own ways and on their own
Because edgar Wright is much better and wouldn't collab with a mediocre director... Edgar Wright has produced cults... Chris has made good but not memorable movies
Wow, yeah thats really scummy of them. Thanks for telling me. That is essentially censorship. I'll counter their claim and hopefully they wont be dicks again :/
personally my favourite is dark knight rises, I know it's not as iconic as the dark knight with the joker and all, but I prefer the story a lot more and the conclusion
Its not just that he appeals to both “artistic” and “entertainment” viewers, its that he knows how to combine these naturally. The spectacle and plot are intimately tied to the themes in a way that regardless of whether you prefer the artistic or entertainment aspects of movies, you are forced to engage with both sides.
The reason Dark Knight Rises is Nolan's worst film is Heath Ledger. Joker was supposed to be the villain in the 2 films. But since Heath Ledger died and Nolan wanting to maintain his quality, did not get another actor to play Joker because he knew people would feel awkward. Instead, he entirely changed the Script in a short span of time and then found the cast, location and did the entire pre production once again.
Nolan is one of the best of his generation, and certainly a stand out director for me. His eye for visuals, his penchant for as many practical effects as possible, and his unique storytelling sensibility are second to none. He really is one of the few auteurs working in cinema today. I’m glad he’s still out here working and making amazing films for us. Here’s to his health and longevity! Thank you Chris Nolan! 🍻
I can't believe this, I checked you channel, and you made so much subs in such a short amount of time. Too be honest I can't blam them you make such a interesting videos, but I mean holy shit.
Thanks man, I have no plans of stopping. I've already made a video on star wars that will come out next week and after that I've written the script for another on logan. Hope you like them when they come out :)
He definitely has my trust! As I watch the Dark Knight now compared to when I was younger, I continually am amazed and the nuance I continue to discover.
I respect your opinion and you gave some pretty valid points. however, i disagree, because nolan lacks something very important to filmmaking, and thats good character development. most of his films the characters are developed to the bare minimum, or not at all, in dunkirk i didnt kno a single thing about any of the characters other than they were scared and wanted to GTFO of Dunkirk. I love the movie inception, but the biggest problem with that movie was the fact that the characters were so minimally developed (except for Cobb) that any actor could have been interchangeable. imagine joseph gordon levitt as cobb, or even tom hardy, it would have been the same type of character played exactly the same way. none of the actors brought anything special to any of their characters, that may be because Nolan didnt work with them enough on the character development or didnt push them hard enough on set.. interstellar was similar, you sort of get an idea of who Cooper is, but everyone esle is pretty 2 dimensional. visually nolan is a genius, u cant fault him on the technical aspects of his movies, for each one is a visual masterpiece, but i think the perfect director needs to make movies with thoroughly developed characters, as well as making them look visually stunning.
I feel the exact same way. Nolan is great but his characters aren't memorable. At least in my opinion. They don't stay in my thoughts weeks after i watched the movie the way other filmmakers' do. Though I think it works in dunkirk compared to his other movies, because the movie isn't supposed to follow a unique character and their journey. Almost all of the men on that beach share the same story so you don't have to get to know the main character and his backstory. Been a while since i watched it though!
I agree with you that Nolan's characters are not memorable, but WHY SHOULD THEY BE when the ideas and subplots are the IMPORTANT parts of his films???? For example, Tarantino focuses more on characters and dialogue and there are NO mind-bending ideas or complex stories in any of his films. So, does that make him any less of a director? NO. So, I don't see the point of looking at certain things as "weaknesses" of directors when they are able to present what they want to present in such an entertaining and captivating way.
I kinda agree. But I would have to say that The Dark Knight Trilogy has pretty good character development. Also maybe The Prestige and Insomnia are others I would mention. Memento doesn’t have character development and it makes absolutely sense, his character at the end of the film is in the exact same situation as he was in the beginning, but it makes perfect sense because of his condition.
Not all the cinema is the same, there are different directors like musicians and different genres. art is not about who is the best is about understanding the human expression of life. there are so many great directors from all over the world. just with different perceptions of life. Cinema is life, is not a contest.
A Clockwork Orange is both entertaining and artistic. I was laughing my ass off at parts, but also contemplating themes of government and social structures while watching.
I'm really sorry but this sounds like a 12 year old's critic... Nolan is good because he makes movies that are entertaining and artistic? Not one film would qualify as good to me if it does not do both and I can't even start listing director that do that in most of their films...
I agree. Saying "there are arts and entertainment films" is definitely wrong when approaching films, there are hundreds of directors doing what in this video is described as "a Nolan hallmark".
I am a huge fan of Nolan but I in no way consider him an artist, and that's one of the things that makes me a little upset about him. He doesn't have a bad film in my opinion, but I consider him more of a story teller more than anything. When comparing him to directors like Scorsese, Hitchcock or Godard (who are my faves of all time) Nolan's artistic ability doesn't even come close. I also think our definitions of "artistic" are different. You attribute having a movie filled with thought provoking themes and concepts as artistic but I don't, I just attribute those things to great story telling, which is why I think Nolan is so great. But in terms of how he SHOWS his films to us I think he is far from an artist. The true artists of cinema are the ones that after you watch a film you just sit back and say "god damn that's just art". You know, filmmakers that maximize everything that goes into the definition of the Auteur Theory. films like (which are amongst my favs) Vertigo, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Pierrot Le Fou, Contempt, Birdman, The Revenant and Mirror are all artistic masterpieces in every sense of the word. Being able to combine all the creative elements like shot composition, objects, color, music, editing, camera movement, blocking, mise-en-scene etc. is something all the films I listed embody, which is why I consider them masterpieces and some of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Nolan in my opinion has yet to make a film even remotely close to the standard I just explained, which is why part of me feels like he has more potential, because like I said, his storytelling is amazing to me, his knack to think of fresh plot structures to tell a story that can be super original are some of the main reasons why I admire him so damn much. Inception is my favorite film of all time and in my opinion the greatest story ever created due to the originality and depth to it. But due to the way he presented that movie to us i consider it far from an artistic masterpiece, take the same story and give it to someone like Scorsese or Kubrick and you might have the objective greatest film ever created. Nolan was my first favorite director and the one that got me into movies, but when I discovered the other greats I saw the difference. I just wish he could show his compelling stories the way someone like Godard or Tarkovsky would shoot a film. If you are still having trouble understanding my conception of true art in cinematic form, I would say that Tarkovsky's Mirror IS the embodiment and Golden standard for that title, THE most beautiful film man has ever created. If Nolan's films are on earth then Mirror has already left the fucking universe. And it hurts me to say all of this because once again I love Nolan's stories so damn much. The hate he gets is ridiculous in my opinion. He is a great director and top current in the industry right now, but unfortunately he is far from an artist compared to the legends in my opinion.
Mr.Wavy24 You couldn't be more wrong. Just because Nolan is a blockbuster director doesn't mean he is not artistic. Dunkirk proves again and again that he is one of the most artistic directors out there, and practically every director in Hollywoods agreed with that fact. Spielberg is a great storyteller, but I don't look at his films in awe of anything really, except perhaps scenes in Saving Private Ryan, Jaws and Schindler's List. Nolan is the very definition of an artistic director, shame you can't realise that just because he has made many blockbusters. I'm thinking "God damn that's just art" every other 10 minutes watching a Nolan film.
He can write a great story, but not a great script. He's a better director than a writer, his screenplays have heavy exposition and non-linear storytelling is basically a gimmick to Nolan. He can do better, but he's too stubborn for someone else to write him a screenplay.
"Inception is my favorite film of all time and in my opinion the greatest story ever created due to the originality and depth to it." I disagree with it being original, it was heavily inspired by Paprika that took the artistic route. Nolan took Paprika and just made it more streamlined and entertaining. He did a good job but it was just that, not very original or artistic. I agree with your other points.
I kind of wished you had gone into more detail. If you were to revisit this topic, I think it would be cool to analyze a specific scene or break down the plot to explain WHY and HOW he's able to win over both audience and critics. All this video does is tells us that he's able to please audience and critics. If I were to tell you that "System of a Down", my favorite band, is amazing because they are loved by critics and general fans of the genres they tackle, you might be left wondering how or why that is. That's kind of the spot I'm in. I really like the way you put these videos together and am sort of binging out of enjoyment and also to learn from your style, but this is just something I think could make this type of video better.
Nolan is a story based filmmaker. The way he always manage to bring out a emotional feel in a movie is just amazing. Unlike most director where the action scenes is the main highlight of the movie, the action scene only plays a supporting role in Nolan's movies. The main highlight of Nolan's movies is the story of the movie how he portray the movie, no matter how complex it is.
I'm sorry but I don't get why the director is credited with the movie. Isn't it just the writers and the actors? Shouldn't the writers be credited with a good story?
You should write a book on how to write a book. And there should be sequels like how to write fantasy, how to write superheros, how to write movies, etc I'd buy all of them
I feel like what you admire in Christopher Nolan should be attributed to his writing, as his direction choices very rarely differ from mainstream cinema. The sequence of camera angles in a scene typically resembles a film school exercise. The camera shows, instead of expressing ideas which makes it artistically quite poor. It is probably by design, but although it does not work against his films, it does not bring anything more to them. I enjoy his films, but I would love to see what a script of his could do in the hands of a more visually daring director.
True. It's a shame that The Closer Look never talks about cinematic technique, which is one of the fundamental things when it comes to films and the most fundamental thing when it comes to directors.
Robert Bresson, Michael Haneke, Bela Tarr, Tarkovsky, Tsai Ming Liang, Edward Yang, and Kurosawa are all significantly better than Nolan. I feel like people who really think Nolan is the greatest director alive (or of all time) really have a small knowledge of film and seriously need to watch more.
CometCourse to me i'd rather say Yang, Haneke & Nolan r in the same league but Yang is best while him & Haneke probably at same level along with Kurosawa, perhaps he's very very slightly lower than the others but still great, his films r well made while i'm not sure ab the other 4, but basically it is up to anyone to favour their own director like me Nolan is my current favourite one, plus even if Nolan isn't the best, he is actually on his way to be in that class
He is a director probably becoming 1 of the best if not the best, he is still fresh if you compare him with Spielberg then you need to make 20+ more movies of high standards.
I agree with this, he needs to release more movies to be compared to someone like Spielberg, but the thing is Spielberg has released some below average movies and has been cruising since Saving private Ryan.
I think you should do a video about how Nolan seems to have a theme of spinning in his films (gravity changes more specificaly). Like when the joker was hanging upside down. Or in the Inception hallway scene. Or like in Interstellar, when Cooper was trying to save the ship (No Time for Caution). Just a thought that occurred to me a few weeks back
The difference between Nolan, and Scott is that Nolan writes the story, and the script, while Scott doesn't write a single thing. His stories are often the point of contention when his bad movies come up.
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Why Hans Zimmer is the best composer for movies
Morricone
I honestly really wanted to make a video on Hans Zimmer but I couldn't really find much to talk about. I mean he is a great composer but I am finding it hard to get enough to talk about to warrant a video essay on him :/
John Williams > Zimmer > James horner
No one can beat Jerry goldsmith or James Horner as Hans Zimmer is great too.
He isnt. He is boring as fuck.
Guys, please don't start calling him a "fanboy" and start bringing up Kubrick, Spielberg, Tarantino, etc and start saying "Nolan sucks" or shit like that. He thinks Christopher Nolan is the best director and he has made some valid points in the video. He has expressed his opinion in a civilized manner. Let him like Nolan and don't shove your opinion down others' throat cause they're going spit it out anyways if they don't like it. If you do want to express your opinion, do it in civilized manner.
Forgotten Potato thank you for that
Forgotten Potato love it man! Let's hope all behave well here
Akira Kurosawa and Kubrick
His point is indeed strong, that Nolan is consistent. I'm not going to smash his opinion, because he did make it quite well. However, I will disagree with him (to the point where Nolan wouldn't even make my Top 25) because I can't really consider a director great when he hasn't shown much diversity. All of Nolan's films are remarkably similar. If he ever truly branches off and trying new styles, I will reevaluate my opinion of him. But anyway, I'm not going to insult Henry here, because we're obviously judging by completely different criteria.
I'd say Denis Villeneuve is consistent and has shown diversity. I don't have a favorite director but this name just came to my mind
I disagree about The Dark Knight Rises. Dark Knight Rises (in my opinion) is the most artistic in the trilogy. It's truly a character film about Bruce Wayne trying to learn to live again. He had been emotionally shattered when his parents were brutally killed in front of him and he had forgotten how to live. When he became Batman, he learned how to live again. However, when Gotham turned on him, he again forgot how to live. The Dark Knight Rises is him learning who he is again and how to live on without being the batman. Nolan does this using a classic literary theme known as katabosis. For those of you unfamiliar, katabosis is a literary device used by many writers through the years. It is when the author has a character go down and discover himself. The character both physically goes down and also emotionally goes down to a place of vulnerability or a place of lower social status and this demonstrates the character being brought "down to Earth" to discover who he is. In the same way Hamlet went down into the grave, contemplated the famous words "to be or not to be," and discovered who he was, Bruce Wayne went into the pit and discovered who he was and how to live again.
William Skipworth You. I like you.
I know this is late, but I have to disagree. The main problem is how it, the Dark Knight Rises, lost it's realism and immersion in the ending. It's not the only problem but it's the one everyone recognizes. In the scene where Batman cannot stop the timer from counting down with two minutes left, is impossible to take it outside the city. Let alone he spends a good thirty seconds kissing the girl and saying his goodbyes. There is no time and here it shows he's spending his last moments saying goodbye instead of even trying to save them. And even if he were to start leaving, he wouldnt be able to make it. It's too much of a superhero, happy moment that breaks all the realism that the movie, even the trilogy has built up. Which is the reason why people don't praise it as much because it chose action over artistic, which in this movie, was realism.
Taylor Lor agreed, The dark knight rises is of course a great movie, but it’s less ‘Nolanistic’ compared to his other movies.
Its also most inspiring movie in the trilogy
Taylor Lor you've seen matpat's video haven't you
Why he's the best director- *plays the dark knight*
*_Plays the dark knight_*
*_Gets goosebumps_*
TDK trilogy is my least favorite of Nolan movies. It's overrated
@Elijah Ken the story is good,not great (considering how exceptional Nolan's stories are). The direction is great for sure. The dialogues are brilliant. Acting was great and especially joker's was phenomenal. The overall trilogy for me is somewhere between good and great. But the rest of Nolan's movies are on another level. Compared to other Nolan's movies,TDK trilogy definitely ranks least. That's just my opinion tho. I feel like there is nothing phenomenal in these 3 movies that puts them above other Nolan's movies
@Elijah Ken i don't really understand when people say the dark knight is the best movie of Nolan. I mean it's not even close to how brilliant and outstanding the movies like interstellar, inception, the prestige.... are
Yeah and i nust watched prestige
After watching Dunkirk recently, I myself realized why Nolan is my favorite director. Whenever I finish a film of his for the first time, the movie ends and the credits start, my first thought is always "I need to watch that again." And I inevitably do so. His movies are ones that I am always happy to revisit, and I'm not one much for rewatching, rereading, etc most forms of entertainment.
Man, awesome video! Christopher Nolan is also my favorite director, and this video perfectly sums up why! But don't directors like Fincher, Tarantino and Wright (which I also love) also balance art with entertainment?
orfeas I totally agree with you man
orfeas One of his points was on the consistency of Nolan's films. Unlike Spielberg, who makes a BFG or War of the Worlds every so often, He believes that Nolan is consistent in his art, making every one of his movies well crafted. Personally, I think Spielberg, Wright, and Tarantino are better, since their high points are higher, but I thought I'd explain what his point was.
SkyOut same
orfeas spielberg has made like 60 movies(EXAGGERATING) and out of them, 6 are BRILLIANT...25 are mediocre and rest are shit...The more movies you make the higher the chance of success...Nolans made 10 movies and all of them are BRILLIANT
bruce wayne that's true
Excuse me while I go rewatch all of Christopher Nolan' s films again
Good idea i will too
I'm down
I believe Tarantino is quite similar inn the consistency. But his movies feel to me like extremely high-quality entertaining films.
Cyril J. O. Šaroch Yeah for me, Tarantino takes the cake when it comes to highly artistic/high entertaining movies. Nolan is a close second though.
I feel like Tarantino is not for everyone. Some people don't understand the purpose of his dialogues, for example. Both directors produce high-quality films, but I believe Nolan reaches a broader audience.
Well...all? of Tarantino's movies are rated R...so yeah Nolan reaches more people.
When art connoisseurs think shit is art.
Well I believe that it was the main point of this video, that he makes brilliantly artistic movies accessible for broader audience. I don't know if you guys play videogames at all, but there the exact example would be studio Naughty Dog. Their games sell incredibly well by simultaneously being the best the industry has to offer.
Interstellar is a masterpiece
Why is it a masterpiece ?
I just can't get over the dialog. So much clunky exposition. His movies are all slick and entertaining, but I can't call any of them masterpieces because of that one glaring problem.
@@jameshitt3263 His movies have no subtelty.
@@jameshitt3263 What do you expect then? If there's no exposition, we wouldn't understand a thing about the movie. How is that a negative point?
@Kam W The hero goes inside the black hole and as black holes create singularities melting time and space, he is able to find the exact moment where he gives the coordinates of the secret base to his daughter with the bookshelf. Basically the movie is saying "love transcend time and space". It's dumb and hackneyed.
The Dark Knight Rises is way more artistic than you think
What themes and devices did it make use of? In the dark knight we had a number of themes around is a sweet truth better than a bitter lie. Are we incorruptable? You could argue that the joker and batman were not fighting over the soul of gotham but rather the human spirit. The joker arguing everyone is evil at heart and the batman arguing that everyone has the potential for good. Also an outstanding hero/villain dynamic which was half the reason the film was so iconic. I made a video essay called "how to great a great villain" if you want to see me delve a lot deeper into that.
It completed the trilogy's chiastic structure. That's pretty artistic.
You should look into the chiasmus story structure, it's fascinating! The entire Dark Knight trilogy, How to train your Dragon, and the Captain America trilogy to a lesser extent are all examples of a chiasm.
Using the Dark Knight to highlight Rises shortfalls is a bit flawed. Dark Knight was almost pure cinema genius on fundamentally every level. Its folly to try and hold anything in comparison to it. I could go into a huge thing about Occupy or Tale of Two Cities or the idea that Batman ultimately cant save people from themselves and their need to 'conform' because fear or under power from a bigger fish. I love Rises in spite of its flaws, but are its shortcomings actually as bad as some make out? is it because Dark Knight is just so thematically sound nothing can reach its heights. It is not just a great Batman movie, it is a great film that just happened to have Batman in it.
In terms of themes and devices you should take a look at the films colour palette. There's a lot of conflicting/complimenting tones in there underlining the themes of the film - or particular scene. Your 'How to make a great villain' was great by the way
it uses a lot of themes and even have homages to A Tale of Two Cities
I am surprised you did not mention Nolan's other films: "Memento" (2000), "Insomnia" (2002) and "The Prestige" (2006). What are your opinions of those movies?
Actually his 2 best movies lol
Memento and The Prestige
Maybe
Here are Nolan's greatest movies in my opinion:
9. "The Prestige" (2006)
8. "Insomnia" (2002)
7. "Tenet" (2020)
6. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)
5. "Batman Begins" (2005)
4. "Interstellar" (2014)
3. "Memento" (2000)
2. "Inception" (2010)
1. "The Dark Knight" (2008)
The list's number one movie is one of my favorite films.
@@smit4459 my top 3 is Dark Knight, Inception, Memento so the same
My 4th is The Prestige and after maybe Interstellar
I think "Tenet" (2020) is a brilliant film. The movie, however, had mixed reactions. What do you think of "Tenet"? If your opinion is different then mine, I won't take any personal offense.
@@smit4459 Tenet is masterful and genius. But if you say that online, people who aren’t smart enough to understand it will bash you.
I totally agree with you, and that's why Christopher Nolan is my favourite director.
I've always thought of Nolan this way, an art house director with a big budget. New directors usually have to put for girth into their screenplays and themes etc so that people will enjoy them with a smaller budget whereas well established directors can make garbage and people will still go to see it because of the name and entertainment value. Nolan, as you say, has found a perfect balance of intelligent storytelling and being a massive blockbuster without comprising either aspect.
Christopher Nolan and David Fincher are the two directors I praise. Their movies always have such amazing suspence, cinimatogtaphy, and dark plots. They always leave me speechless.
if Hanz Zimmer doesn't get the oscar for best composition or whatever i will dedicate my life to winning an oscar in his name. Such an amazing and captivating soundtrack.
Sean. He has an Oscar for Lion King. Though he should have more Oscars.
I absolutely love these videos. They've inspired me to really take the time to understand why people like aspects of film and so I can make insanely interesting films
Great to hear, thats exactly why I make these videos. To help people think and become better at their craft :D
The other two directors who in my opinion fulfill that role of never disappointing are David Fincher and, of course, Denis Villeneuve. Such geniuses
what about Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni, Charlie Kaufman, Ingar Bergman, Stanely Kubrick, Abbas Kiarostami, Claire Denis, Alfred Hitchcock etc. to name a few.
It's fine to like Fincher and Villeneuve, but there's a lot of great directors out there when you look just slightly beneath the surface.
@@spunkyjoe5910 How was this in ANY way my point back then? Right, it was not.
@@TheDavan619 which Tarkovsky or Bergman movie is more disappointing than the dark knight rises?
@@spunkyjoe5910 u r obsessed bro ^^ bye
@@TheDavan619 ok
Personally, I find Citizen Kane both artistic and entertaining.
Aidan McAlevy me too but i guess he means the general idea of entertainment. Which is action and spectacle.
Still, on a technical level that movie was pretty spetacular for the time it was released, and still looks pretty impressive.
Majority of people find it boring. I feel the same way about A clockwork Orange, i think it is exceptionally entertaining.
But citizen Kane was all based on the hugest plot hole in a movie...
I feel the same way about Clockwork Orange. It's actually my favorite film.
Personally, Rises is my favorite film of the trilogy, due to the way the story comes full circle and how the story of Bruce Wayne began with the League of Shadows and ended with the League of Shadows. The characters we've seen in the first two, get closure as the film ends. How after being tested with his mind with Scarecrow and The Joker and with his body when fighting on the train with Ras al Ghul, he's tested with both mind and body with Bane. Though The Joker is the better villain, Bane is a force to be reckoned with and I liked this approach that was taken, rather than that of The Riddler, who would've been good to see, but in retrospect would've been a bit predictable considering how previous villains operated.
I also like how Rises ends with the closing of one chapter of Bruce Wayne as Batman, and the beginning of another with Blake being the next Batman, and while some may have some questions as to what Blake will do, perhaps Bruce will come back and help him train under his new identity, maybe sporting a beard or something, since around the world people may know Bruce Wayne's name but not face, but with Gotham he might have to change his appearance in some way. Or maybe come back when everyone thinks he’s dead like he did in Batman Begins and give a reason why he left if he wanted to come back to train Blake. Seems by the time Rises came out, while Nolan still had themes in the film he hadn't explored before, he wanted to make this film one like an Epic type film, like say Lawrence of Arabia.
His first two Batman films are Epic, but the scale wasn't quite like this one. I think he wanted to do something different spectacle wise, while staying in the realm of the story he created already with the previous two films, and I quite admire him for this. Doing something a bit more different, and perhaps bold, in a way that is of a more Epic approach, I don't blame him for doing so. He's trying new things instead of resorting to old tropes he's done before, which could've helped in the Epic visions of Interstellar and Dunkirk. But that's just my two cents. Great essay as always man.
This is the most spot-on video essay I've seen in a while. Nolan is my favorite filmmaker for these exact reasons! Great video btw (and not just because you confirmed my opinion lol)
YES! You really nailed it home for me. I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan as well, he is definately my favourite director. I've always said this to my friends: He makes an entertaining blockbuster movie, while making a film that has many layers and is intelligent. That's just the perfect combination for me. His use of music (thank god for Hans Zimmer, saw him live in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago, fucking amazing), story structure (almost always non-chronologically), cinomatography, editing and character development is truly something to behold, and I really fucking love it. Call me a fanboy all you want, I think he is just brilliant.
I think Denis vileneuve is personally my favourite director. In the past 5 years, he has produced some of my favourite movies(prisoners, enemy, sicario, arrival and blade runner 2049)
Nolan is great
Vilenuave > Nolan
@@cathalbyrne5235 in your FUCKING ass
@@shishirakumarnayak9318 their both great!
@@cathalbyrne5235 their both great!
Tarantino is my favorite director. Pulp fiction is a masterpiece
For all of you guys hating on Nolan think about this. If Nolan was directing 30 years ago and was retired today you all would be calling him a God. If someone like Stanley Kubrick was directing today you would be hating on him like you are now with Nolan even though Kubrick directed master pieces you would still hate and say stuff like "how dare you compare Kubrick with Nolan". I am not taking anything away from great directors in past as they deserve all great things being said about them. But some of you haters need to appreciate the great directors of today without mentioning the directors of the past. I guarantee you in 20 years time you Nolan haters will be kissing his ass and hating on the next young top director of that generation.
That's bullshit. Plenty of great directors from this generation that are much better than Nolan, and a lot of them are underappreciated.
Exactly.
Fever Illis The thing is Nolan is consistent with making great movies. Before TDK was released he made movies that received high ratings (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins and The Prestige). The Dark Knight was the catalyst of making him a household name which came with many fanboys. But you cannot discredit what he has done before TDK or even what he has done after as I think TDKR was a solid movie, Inception was amazing and interstellar was great. Have yet to see Dunkirk. You have to give him credit for being consistent with his films as many other directors would have an amazing film, but then an average film, then a film that is awful etc.
startrekpug That is true, I love Kubrick's films and I agree with what you have said. But the thing is why did it take years for Kubrick's films to be appreciated and won't Nolan be appreciated more in 30 years?
Matheus Villela That is true, I am not saying Nolan is the best director out there, but there are only a select few directors working today that release films that are high quality and at the same consistency as Nolan. All I am trying to get is that why do many hate Nolan? It seems that it is cool to hate on him because he is very successful and is still working today (people hate on successful people). But you are right as there are many directors out there that do not get the same amount of praise as Nolan but that doesn't mean Nolan shouldn't be getting the praise at all.
He is a great director that's it
Tech Triangle nah the best
Not great Best dude
If he is the best, there is a lot of poor judgement around. He is great, not the best
Stephen Even you guys are just looking through nostalgia goggles at Hitchcock and Kubrick. Let it go and be objective because Nolan’s great too and compares to them definitely, maybe if not better imo.
@@glidingfalcon4370 Burton? Seriously?
"Last night I was having a think."
I love that sentence so much.
Nolan Dark Knight Rises was planned with Heath Ledger and due to his unfortunate death, dark knight rises plan was screwed up
I passed by Christopher Nolan walking down Hollywood Blvd one time and at first I just wanted to let him go about his business. He's a regular person like everyone else and probably doesn't want to be chased down. But damn, looking back, I wish I did go try to talk to him
David Fincher is someone who I was thinking of throughout this video who blends the two and is the type of director you know will deliver a great film when it's announced. Personally, I think I prefer Fincher more because he is very consistent with his style but has also made mistakes in the past (Alien 3, even if that was because of the studio) and because of those mistakes, I think he is more human/likeable than Nolan (for me at least). I mean I think it's great that Nolan can make always great films that do well in the box office and are slightly artistic, but Fincher to me is more real and personal of a director of movies and not a creator of specifically what the audience wants with a little bit of art
I don't think Alien 3 is really fair to pin on Fincher considering he had next to no control whatsoever on the movie. I think Fincher does get the more personal side to movie making a little better than Nolan, but that's just me
I love how you played The Joker's Theme at the start
I know Michael Bay isn't the best director but I'd like to watch a video about his directing technique and how his movies, despite being critically bad, sells a lot and watched by many.
Kevin Wu he did do one good movie (in my opinion) and that's 13 hours.
but that's pretty much it...
@CJ Phoenix What does being american or not have to do with liking Michael Bay's movies?
That's not what I meant. I wanted to know why you think catching on to the obvious repetitiveness of such franchise movies is only an american thing rather than being something people do all around the world.
While that might be true Age Of Extinction was set and filmed in China, starring Chinese actors while using Chinese resources and pushing chinese products. Since the communistic government in China can pretty much decide which movies do well in China and which don't they're the ones to blame and not the movie taste of the Chinese nation.
Michael Bay is the McDonalds of movies, cheap, efficient, makes a shit tonne of money and contributes to nothing to society except overratedness.
I think you forgot to mention that it not just Nolan, who made his film so good. For his best Films, his brother Jonathan Nolan wrote the script. He also had a lot of influence to the outcome of the film, because if he works poorly, the story will also suffer from that and the film would not be half as good as it actually is.
Jonathan is a genius as well when you look at a series like Westworld or Person of Interest.
You could make a video on how important it is to have a good script and what happens if you don't have one.
His brother has done the most complete piece of film I've ever seen, IMO. The Westworld TV series was perfection, for me. The Nolans are immensely talented.
Martin Scorsese has been consistently making films of the highest quality for the last 50 years!
Wahid Choudhury Scorsese’s “flops” were because of his movies not appealing to the new age fast and furious transformers audience, even his flops are still HIGHLY critically acclaimed, he can still make amazing movies but modern cinema audiences dont wanna go to the movies and watch something as deep as scorsese, look at joker, half of the people who watch the movie dont even like it even though the movie is genius.
Wahid Choudhury that’s not how rotten tomatoes work
Wahid Choudhury ye. So it’s not accurate. Black Panther for example got an average of 8.6 but showed up at 97%. And why do people listen to rotten tomatoes anyway. It’s opinion not fact.
Scorsese is eons above what Nolan does, not that Nolan is bad.
@Wahid Choudhury RT is and always has been incredibly flawed in the way it operates. Metacrtitc is the much better aggregate site and the source that should be used a lot more.
As an absolute movie buff, I'm very surprised to hear Dunkirk get praise from movie critics I respect.
I can't put my finger on it yet but I thought it was quite weak in multiple departments.
As always, wonderful video Henry!
I would love a break down of the director style of Tarantino in this way !
Great video! I literally wrote my senior thesis in college (ten years ago) on this exact sentiment: that Christopher Nolan perfectly balances entertainment with artistic prowess.
Like:
Akira Kurosawa
John Carpenter
John Ford
Alfred Hitchcock
Sergio Leone
Orson Wells (Touch of Evil)
John Woo
Sam Peckinpah
Mario Bava
Quentin Tarantino
Coen Bros
Monty Python
And many other directors. Don't get me wrong, I like Nolan, but it's not like this is his prerogative.
I hope your thesis was interesting, as a cinephile it is always a pleasure to see thesis made on films.
I know some actors who should work with this man:
-Brendan Fraser
-Tobey Maguire
-Eva Mendes
-Eric Stoltz
-Patrick Schwarzenegger
-Ayako Fujitani (Steven Seagal's daughter)
-Adam Sandler
-Kevin James
-Ashton Kutcher
-Julia Stiles
-Billy Zane
-Some former sitcom actors
-James Marsters
-Jay Leno
-Rowan Atkinson
-Alicia Silverstone
-Taylor Momsen
-Justin Chatwin
-Kellie Marie Tran
-Oscar Isaac
-Daisy Ridley
-Taylor Kitsch
-Sam Worthington
-Walton Goggins
-Molly Ringwald
-Judd Nelson
-Ralph Maccio
-Steven Seagal (first he needs to take acting classes)
-Ethan Peck (Gregory Peck's grandson)
-Demi Moore
-Val Kilmer
-Jean Claude Van Damme
-Burt Ward
-Mark Hammill
-Christian Slater
-Cliff Curtis
-Oona Chaplin
-Charles Dance
-Aasif Mandvi
-Jai Courtney
-Timothy Olyphant
-Seth MacFarland
the fact that you used the Joker's theme hooked me up right away, great video btw
I would highly appreciate a video on David Fincher .
I agree. Can't think of anyone with the quality of work and who inspires people to come out in droves to see his films. Even Memento and Insomnia were excellent films. Also, he always has excellent casts. Either he has great casting directors or he just knows who to pick and get the most out of them. I mean, we all laughed in 2006/2007 when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker. No one questions that now. Same thing with Tom Hardy as Bane or Robin Williams in Insomnia.
Don't forget his brother Jonathan in all these. The reason I see why the Nolan brothers are so good, is because they have stories to tell rather than stories to sell.
Christopher Nolan without his brother Jonathan Nolan is basically another Michael Bay.
after watching quite a few of your videos i've come to the conclusion you love to hear your self talk and you have a highly elevated view of your own opinion. These aren't bad things.. just observations i've made.
also.. keep up the good work.
He has competition now with Villeneuve and of course the classics like Kubrick, Hitchcock etc.
But god damn I will always love Nolan so so much. TDK, Interstellar and Inception will always be among the top of my favourite films
as someone who's a huge fan of Hitchcock, he's got a lot of bad/mediocre movies mostly just due to the length of his career. Even Hitch himself said his first like 18 movies he made were kinda just him figuring out how to make a movie and that The Man Who Knew Too Much (the 1934 version) was like the real "start" of his career
0:55 Thanks for providing a list of stuff I would enjoy.
no offense but ever heard of "Satyajeet Ray"?
Yes. I've heard of Satyajeet. I've watched couple of his movies and i really didn't liked them. His movies wasn't very appealing. Maybe because of the generation gap. But I don't think so. You're mentioning him because you're an Indian and there are bursts of patriotism in you guys.
@@sekushinaongaku2172 Well, probably that, and a director will often make movies that appeal more to his own culture, intentionally or otherwise. Kind of like how Americans find foreign films weird because of cultural dissonance and differing expectations.
I understand why you brought up his name. That's because Ray is another consistent director.
Interstellar and TDKR were "arguably" bad films. And Nolan has finally broken his consistent track record with Tenet. On the other hand, Ray has been far more consistent than Nolan. He made around 36 films (short & full-feature). And almost each one of them is a masterpiece. Even his short films like "Two" were mind-blowing.
And besides, Nolan's entire filmography will not stand a second against Agantuk. Which is just one work Ray.
Great work bro!💪
Its so true: everything he makes is a masterpiece
Wrong
@@jessebrucepinkman9834 no
Nolan's entire filmography will not stand a second against _The Conversation._ Which is just one work of Francis Ford Coppola.
1 Coppola film >>>>>>> 11 Nolan films
And Coppola's best were Godfather I & II and Apocalypse Now.
And stop speaking bullshits, 15 year old fanboy. He only said he has been consistently *good* films. Your comment is an exaggerated argument.
Anyways, this video doesn't hold upto today, since Nolan has already broken his track record with Tenet.
Wheeeee, the commercial versus literary debate strikes again!
Why don't you make a series of videos (or just a video, who am I to say anything?) on each director considered good, and analyse how they achieved their status, e.g. what style they used, what kind of themes they touch on.
Or, you could also make videos on actor(s)'s (or actress(es)'s) careers and what the films they're in have in common (or not at all)
Or to fall back on the safe bet, why film X is most [adjective] of its genre, possibly due to [director's influence], [casting/actor/actress style], [producer shenanigans]
I love that he shoots celluloid, finishes his films photo-chemically and not with a Digital Intermediate(DI) and that he minimizes the amount of CGI in his film....and when he uses it he mandates that it is rendered at very high resolutions(Often at 6K to 8K compared to industry defaults of 2K)
When can argue all day over how necessary or not that all of that is....BUT the fact of the matter is that Nolan strives to maintain and preserve the highest quality(meaning, literal image quality) of his films that he possibly can. That is commendable.
There is only one reason. You haven't watched enough films outside the contemporary hollywood.
PERSONALLY, I like the fact that Tarantino tries to make his films as artistic as possible. He shows great passion in them and I am always entertained by his films.
Why can't we have a film made from Edgar Wright and Christopher Nolan
Because both of the directors styles probably don't mash together well.
Having two extremely talented creators will probably fail. There is only one leader in a project, one of them will have to take the lead, the other will be the second-in-command. Plus, they will always have even the tiniest difference in vision.
Mach Speed Great directors dont work like that, its not like you put two great bball players and make a duo. Being a director is creating a movie out of your vision, Wright and Nolan wont and cant compromise like that, theyre styles are too different; great in their own ways and on their own
A movie written by Tarantino and directed by Wright would be much better. They both understand each other's style and can balance much more
Because edgar Wright is much better and wouldn't collab with a mediocre director... Edgar Wright has produced cults... Chris has made good but not memorable movies
Very Good video! Well made
Hơ about David fincher? I think his film balance entertainment and artistic really well, some movies are more artistic
I was LITERALLY in the middle of watching your Ridley Scott video when Fox took it down due to copyright notice.
Wow, yeah thats really scummy of them. Thanks for telling me. That is essentially censorship. I'll counter their claim and hopefully they wont be dicks again :/
personally my favourite is dark knight rises, I know it's not as iconic as the dark knight with the joker and all, but I prefer the story a lot more and the conclusion
Its not just that he appeals to both “artistic” and “entertainment” viewers, its that he knows how to combine these naturally. The spectacle and plot are intimately tied to the themes in a way that regardless of whether you prefer the artistic or entertainment aspects of movies, you are forced to engage with both sides.
The reason Dark Knight Rises is Nolan's worst film is Heath Ledger. Joker was supposed to be the villain in the 2 films. But since Heath Ledger died and Nolan wanting to maintain his quality, did not get another actor to play Joker because he knew people would feel awkward. Instead, he entirely changed the Script in a short span of time and then found the cast, location and did the entire pre production once again.
No.
Nolan is one of the best of his generation, and certainly a stand out director for me. His eye for visuals, his penchant for as many practical effects as possible, and his unique storytelling sensibility are second to none. He really is one of the few auteurs working in cinema today. I’m glad he’s still out here working and making amazing films for us. Here’s to his health and longevity! Thank you Chris Nolan! 🍻
Great video. However how can you speak of Nolan without mentionning his greatest Masterpiece: Memento.
I can't believe this, I checked you channel, and you made so much subs in such a short amount of time. Too be honest I can't blam them you make such a interesting videos, but I mean holy shit.
Blame*
Thanks man, I have no plans of stopping. I've already made a video on star wars that will come out next week and after that I've written the script for another on logan. Hope you like them when they come out :)
Maybe you could tittle it “Christopher Nolan - my favorite direction” not “Why Christopher Nolan is the BEST director”?
May be he is "best" for them? We all have our own "best" and "most favorite" lists?
He definitely has my trust! As I watch the Dark Knight now compared to when I was younger, I continually am amazed and the nuance I continue to discover.
I respect your opinion and you gave some pretty valid points. however, i disagree, because nolan lacks something very important to filmmaking, and thats good character development. most of his films the characters are developed to the bare minimum, or not at all, in dunkirk i didnt kno a single thing about any of the characters other than they were scared and wanted to GTFO of Dunkirk. I love the movie inception, but the biggest problem with that movie was the fact that the characters were so minimally developed (except for Cobb) that any actor could have been interchangeable. imagine joseph gordon levitt as cobb, or even tom hardy, it would have been the same type of character played exactly the same way. none of the actors brought anything special to any of their characters, that may be because Nolan didnt work with them enough on the character development or didnt push them hard enough on set.. interstellar was similar, you sort of get an idea of who Cooper is, but everyone esle is pretty 2 dimensional. visually nolan is a genius, u cant fault him on the technical aspects of his movies, for each one is a visual masterpiece, but i think the perfect director needs to make movies with thoroughly developed characters, as well as making them look visually stunning.
I feel the exact same way. Nolan is great but his characters aren't memorable. At least in my opinion. They don't stay in my thoughts weeks after i watched the movie the way other filmmakers' do. Though I think it works in dunkirk compared to his other movies, because the movie isn't supposed to follow a unique character and their journey. Almost all of the men on that beach share the same story so you don't have to get to know the main character and his backstory. Been a while since i watched it though!
I agree with you that Nolan's characters are not memorable, but WHY SHOULD THEY BE when the ideas and subplots are the IMPORTANT parts of his films????
For example, Tarantino focuses more on characters and dialogue and there are NO mind-bending ideas or complex stories in any of his films. So, does that make him any less of a director? NO.
So, I don't see the point of looking at certain things as "weaknesses" of directors when they are able to present what they want to present in such an entertaining and captivating way.
I kinda agree. But I would have to say that The Dark Knight Trilogy has pretty good character development. Also maybe The Prestige and Insomnia are others I would mention. Memento doesn’t have character development and it makes absolutely sense, his character at the end of the film is in the exact same situation as he was in the beginning, but it makes perfect sense because of his condition.
@@preethamvarma2937 Personally I don’t think I ever cared about any Tarantino character, nor do I think they have any development.
How do you not have more subs, tremendous
The dark knight rises takes a many more viewing s to realize how great the themes are
You go and watch Bollywood, kid.
Not all the cinema is the same, there are different directors like musicians and different genres. art is not about who is the best is about understanding the human expression of life. there are so many great directors from all over the world. just with different perceptions of life. Cinema is life, is not a contest.
“When I go to a Christopher Nolan Movie I already know it’s gonna be good”
Tenet: “¿taht tuoba erus uoy era”
Christopher Nolan without his brother Jonathan Nolan is basically another Michael Bay.
A Clockwork Orange is both entertaining and artistic. I was laughing my ass off at parts, but also contemplating themes of government and social structures while watching.
I'm really sorry but this sounds like a 12 year old's critic... Nolan is good because he makes movies that are entertaining and artistic? Not one film would qualify as good to me if it does not do both and I can't even start listing director that do that in most of their films...
I agree. Saying "there are arts and entertainment films" is definitely wrong when approaching films, there are hundreds of directors doing what in this video is described as "a Nolan hallmark".
I really enjoy how he plays with ‘time’. I love watching films that make me use my brain. Great director
I am a huge fan of Nolan but I in no way consider him an artist, and that's one of the things that makes me a little upset about him.
He doesn't have a bad film in my opinion, but I consider him more of a story teller more than anything. When comparing him to directors like Scorsese, Hitchcock or Godard (who are my faves of all time) Nolan's artistic ability doesn't even come close. I also think our definitions of "artistic" are different. You attribute having a movie filled with thought provoking themes and concepts as artistic but I don't, I just attribute those things to great story telling, which is why I think Nolan is so great. But in terms of how he SHOWS his films to us I think he is far from an artist.
The true artists of cinema are the ones that after you watch a film you just sit back and say "god damn that's just art". You know, filmmakers that maximize everything that goes into the definition of the Auteur Theory. films like (which are amongst my favs) Vertigo, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Pierrot Le Fou, Contempt, Birdman, The Revenant and Mirror are all artistic masterpieces in every sense of the word. Being able to combine all the creative elements like shot composition, objects, color, music, editing, camera movement, blocking, mise-en-scene etc. is something all the films I listed embody, which is why I consider them masterpieces and some of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.
Nolan in my opinion has yet to make a film even remotely close to the standard I just explained, which is why part of me feels like he has more potential, because like I said, his storytelling is amazing to me, his knack to think of fresh plot structures to tell a story that can be super original are some of the main reasons why I admire him so damn much. Inception is my favorite film of all time and in my opinion the greatest story ever created due to the originality and depth to it. But due to the way he presented that movie to us i consider it far from an artistic masterpiece, take the same story and give it to someone like Scorsese or Kubrick and you might have the objective greatest film ever created.
Nolan was my first favorite director and the one that got me into movies, but when I discovered the other greats I saw the difference. I just wish he could show his compelling stories the way someone like Godard or Tarkovsky would shoot a film. If you are still having trouble understanding my conception of true art in cinematic form, I would say that Tarkovsky's Mirror IS the embodiment and Golden standard for that title, THE most beautiful film man has ever created. If Nolan's films are on earth then Mirror has already left the fucking universe. And it hurts me to say all of this because once again I love Nolan's stories so damn much. The hate he gets is ridiculous in my opinion. He is a great director and top current in the industry right now, but unfortunately he is far from an artist compared to the legends in my opinion.
Mr.Wavy24 You couldn't be more wrong. Just because Nolan is a blockbuster director doesn't mean he is not artistic. Dunkirk proves again and again that he is one of the most artistic directors out there, and practically every director in Hollywoods agreed with that fact. Spielberg is a great storyteller, but I don't look at his films in awe of anything really, except perhaps scenes in Saving Private Ryan, Jaws and Schindler's List. Nolan is the very definition of an artistic director, shame you can't realise that just because he has made many blockbusters. I'm thinking "God damn that's just art" every other 10 minutes watching a Nolan film.
He can write a great story, but not a great script. He's a better director than a writer, his screenplays have heavy exposition and non-linear storytelling is basically a gimmick to Nolan. He can do better, but he's too stubborn for someone else to write him a screenplay.
"Inception is my favorite film of all time and in my opinion the greatest story ever created due to the originality and depth to it." I disagree with it being original, it was heavily inspired by Paprika that took the artistic route. Nolan took Paprika and just made it more streamlined and entertaining. He did a good job but it was just that, not very original or artistic. I agree with your other points.
Mr.Wavy24 yes
Lol pathetic haters with nostalgic depression
I kind of wished you had gone into more detail. If you were to revisit this topic, I think it would be cool to analyze a specific scene or break down the plot to explain WHY and HOW he's able to win over both audience and critics. All this video does is tells us that he's able to please audience and critics. If I were to tell you that "System of a Down", my favorite band, is amazing because they are loved by critics and general fans of the genres they tackle, you might be left wondering how or why that is. That's kind of the spot I'm in. I really like the way you put these videos together and am sort of binging out of enjoyment and also to learn from your style, but this is just something I think could make this type of video better.
Christopher Nolan is the best for two reasons,
1. He’s a genius visionary.
2. He’s British.
Nolan is a story based filmmaker. The way he always manage to bring out a emotional feel in a movie is just amazing. Unlike most director where the action scenes is the main highlight of the movie, the action scene only plays a supporting role in Nolan's movies. The main highlight of Nolan's movies is the story of the movie how he portray the movie, no matter how complex it is.
I'm sorry but I don't get why the director is credited with the movie. Isn't it just the writers and the actors? Shouldn't the writers be credited with a good story?
Nolan writes all of his films along with his brother. Although you are right, writers get way less credit than they deserve :)
The Closer Look so he writes and directs? Just found your channel by the way and it is amazing
Mandalorian crusader yep
Hoyt Volker I congratulate the book
@@TheCloserLook Chris Nolan can't write worth a lick. All his films were written by brother.
He delivers again in dunkirk, The movie is a spectacle through out whilst having some occasional thought provoking ideas here and there.
What about Stanley kubrick
Hey I just found this channel! Awesome content. Subscribed.
As much as I love Nolan, you come off as bit of a fanboy in this video. Nolan is great, easily one of the best but he is not "the best".
You should write a book on how to write a book. And there should be sequels like how to write fantasy, how to write superheros, how to write movies, etc
I'd buy all of them
I do plan on writing a book on creative writing but I don't think I'm quite ready. Maybe when I have a few novels under my belt :)
The liberal comments sums it all up "agree with me or else" , "it's wrong I think (insert director name) is better."
Goosebumps
Videos that didn’t age well
Exactly. And that's the reason why channels like Filmento have more views than these Nolan devotees.
I feel like what you admire in Christopher Nolan should be attributed to his writing, as his direction choices very rarely differ from mainstream cinema. The sequence of camera angles in a scene typically resembles a film school exercise. The camera shows, instead of expressing ideas which makes it artistically quite poor. It is probably by design, but although it does not work against his films, it does not bring anything more to them. I enjoy his films, but I would love to see what a script of his could do in the hands of a more visually daring director.
True. It's a shame that The Closer Look never talks about cinematic technique, which is one of the fundamental things when it comes to films and the most fundamental thing when it comes to directors.
Robert Bresson, Michael Haneke, Bela Tarr, Tarkovsky, Tsai Ming Liang, Edward Yang, and Kurosawa are all significantly better than Nolan. I feel like people who really think Nolan is the greatest director alive (or of all time) really have a small knowledge of film and seriously need to watch more.
CometCourse to me i'd rather say Yang, Haneke & Nolan r in the same league but Yang is best while him & Haneke probably at same level along with Kurosawa, perhaps he's very very slightly lower than the others but still great, his films r well made while i'm not sure ab the other 4, but basically it is up to anyone to favour their own director like me Nolan is my current favourite one, plus even if Nolan isn't the best, he is actually on his way to be in that class
CometCourse I totally agree
Weeb
汽Jelmo when the majority of those listed arent asian...
汽Jelmo and only 1 of them is Japanese
Awesome video. Christopher Nolan is also my favorite director. Can you do a video essay on the Cornetto Trilogy? Just a suggestion.
Yeah I loved hot fuzz and Shaun of the dead. I might at some point :)
He is a director probably becoming 1 of the best if not the best, he is still fresh if you compare him with Spielberg then you need to make 20+ more movies of high standards.
I agree with this, he needs to release more movies to be compared to someone like Spielberg, but the thing is Spielberg has released some below average movies and has been cruising since Saving private Ryan.
Munich and Minority Report are cruising? Any other director (Nolan included) and those would be frequently listed as their masterpieces.
I could also say War of the Worlds, The terminal, The BFG and Kingdom of the crystal skull. Big budget movies that were below average.
I'd offer to help you move those goalposts but it looks like you're doing a fine job on your own.
M B war of the worlds is great.
This has probably been requested a lot but how about making a video about Dunkirk's use of converging timeframes.
Edgar Wright is best waifu
After watching Memento that film stayed with me for weeks. So many different elements at play that had me questioning how I felt about the characters.
And what about Francis Ford Coppola??
The Godfather parts 1 and 2??
Apocalypse Now???
Dulana Jayasinghe His consistency isn't on par with Nolan. He created this b horror movie called "Twixt" which was total dog shit.
watch the video
orfeas I watched
The blur between the line of genius and mad I’m not saying his every movie is great (ex:- Jack is very bad)
But most are artistic and entertaining
I love Coppola, but I think a casual moviegoer will find his films boring.
I think you should do a video about how Nolan seems to have a theme of spinning in his films (gravity changes more specificaly). Like when the joker was hanging upside down. Or in the Inception hallway scene. Or like in Interstellar, when Cooper was trying to save the ship (No Time for Caution). Just a thought that occurred to me a few weeks back
When your weakest film (The Dark Knight Rises) is still a good film, it shows how amazing you are as a director and filmmaker.
Tenet is way worse
The difference between Nolan, and Scott is that Nolan writes the story, and the script, while Scott doesn't write a single thing. His stories are often the point of contention when his bad movies come up.
Your opinion is wrong. Uwe Boll is the greatest director of all time.
Spoontoast I agree 200%
Sorry, I forgot about him. All hail lord Boll.
i dont know that director so...
Luciano Ivani he's considered one of the worst directors if not the worst lol
Spoontoast oh hell no LoL
You(who made this video) are brilliant too. Love this video