Intrigued by the way architecture shapes the world, Sir Christopher Nolan, when asked about the underlying influences of the subject in a WIRED interview from 2010, discusses his interest in architecture elaborately. In a very fascinated tone, he mentions, “I’m very interested in the similarities or analogies between how we experience a three–dimensional space that an architect has created and how an audience experiences a cinematic narrative that constructs a three–dimensional -reality from a two-dimensional medium—assembled shot by shot.”
This mingling subconscious elaboration of his speech expresses his attentiveness and concerns about the subject and his way of attending to these complications and creating new ideologies, such that they simplify these concepts to be put forth in front of an audience over the screen of a theatre. In movies that he infamously directed, such as Inception or Interstellar, or even The Batman Trilogy, he never failed to create a sense of reality whilst also inducing multiple conceptual layers of fiction. Although the credit is honoured to his sense of direction, a part of it still belongs to the architecture that the camera confines within. The characterisation of every individual in a neutral colour scheme and the considerate fabrication of an almost indefinite sense of anticipation has earned him the worthy title of an auteur. His earnest depiction of every detail playing along with every line of the script, makes him unique.
Amongst the better quality of direction that there is out to consume, Sir Christopher Nolan’s version of The Batman created a new genre in the film industry that emphasised creating these fictional worlds with a tint of his realistic touch. He did not only deal with the precedent of over-emphasizing the comical portrayal of Batman but also revolutionised its theatrical performance into a form that exposed its reality. The city of Gotham, presumably depicted as dark and hostile over the script, now took over as the metropolitan model of Chicago. The Batcave, which was to be presented as dim-lit and ill-maintained exploratory, was given a more civilised form as the most technologically advanced basement. And the manor, which was at times covered with gore, was portrayed as immaculate as it could’ve been.
Similarly, by the end of the movie Interstellar, the portrayal of a planetary civilisation and the illustration of a black hole led to much exploratory research and was honoured with multiple well-deserved awards. Such sculptural creations over the screen as steel and glass or brick and mortar bring a different life to the characters’ existence. They are responsible for creating an atmosphere that forces and shapes a character to progress with its growth.
In another film, Inception, which could’ve been just another heist movie, if Sir Christopher Nolan hadn’t forced the intricate and well-paved depiction of architecture, none of it would’ve been any bit successful as it was. As important as it was meant to be, and the way it was described in the movie, if, in any dream, the architecture that confined the person needed to have been more sensitive, it wouldn’t have been possible to create many such changes. From creating the initial plan to hijack someone’s cloud of thought till the end of planting this idea deep inside their head, if a singular cadence had even missed the creator of the mind space, the catastrophic changes it would create for the person would be immeasurable. Therefore a considerable amount of screen time was given to the characters in charge to find the right person who could create these imaginative worlds that could shape the person’s thinking and, in turn, the whole of reality.
Even in the movie Tenet, when Sir Christopher Nolan experimented with the concept of time moving back and forth, an exquisite amount of detail was observed with every moving sequence of frames. In a segment where a bullet was to be reclaimed back to its barrel, it wasn’t just the shell of a bullet that loaded back to it, but also a similar motion was observed from the first particles of dust and concrete that surrounded it, which were left initially when the bullet was shot. This intricate detail, to even incorporate dust particles and make them create a considerable and to-the-point impact in the storyline, is beyond admirable.
Having such a high standard of direction from Sir Christopher Nolan deserves applause. Putting in such admirable amounts of energy and time to create these masterpieces is beyond commendable and deserves the utmost respect. His movies typically question a character’s existence in the outlook of reality. The explorable path that the character follows, all of its hardships, all of its emotions, and the way that the person grows throughout the film make Christopher Nolan one of the greatest and best directors of all time.
References
Videos:
WIRED (2010). Q&A: Christopher Nolan on Dreams, Architecture, and Ambiguity. [online]. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2010/11/pl-inception-nolan/ [Accessed: 04 December 2022].
Movies:
The Dark Knight Rises. (2012). [Film]. Directed by Sir Christopher Nolan. U.K: Warner Bros. Pictures/ Legendary Pictures/ DC Entertainment/ Syncopy Inc.
Inception. (2010). [Film]. Directed by Sir Christopher Nolan. U.K: Warner Bros. Pictures/ Legendary Pictures/ Syncopy
Interstellar. (2014). [Film]. Directed by Sir Christopher Nolan. U.K: Warner Bros. Pictures/ Legendary Pictures/ Paramount Pictures
Tenet. (2020). [Film]. Directed by Sir Christopher Nolan. U.K: Syncopy
