Batman Begins

Batman Begins is another film that was directed by Christopher Nolan and was released on June 15th 2005. The film tells the origin story of Batman and how he came to "exist" and begins by exposing the main character Bruce Wayne (Batman's everyday character) and his initial fear of bats and the death of his parents, along with his journey to becoming Batman.

After showing Bruce Wayne's early life and his time away following the death of his parents the film returns to the present and Gotham City, the city in which Bruce lives, which is now rife with crime, poverty and corruption. with his parents death still very clear in his mind Bruce decides that the police are not effective in terms of enforcing justice in the city and adopts a second identity (as Batman)and begins his quest to rid Gotham City of crime. Bruce is forced to hide his second identity and due to his wealth and status in the community is forced to live a lifestyle of glamour and luxury whilst still trying to perform his duty as Batman.

The film Batman Begins shares several similarities with other films that Christopher Nolan has directed such as The Prestige. One key similarity that both films share is Christopher Nolan's well known technique of utilising a non-linear narrative. This characteristic adds complexity to the plot line and changes the direction of the film. Another similarity between The Prestige and Batman Begins is Christopher Nolan's choice of actors for lead roles. In both films Christopher Nolan chose to cast actors Michael Caine and Christian Bale in significant roles with Bale playing Batman in Batman Begins and Alfred Borden in The Prestige, both of which are lead roles, with Michael Caine cast as John Cutter in The Prestige and the Wayne's family butle Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins, both of which are vital to the storyline of the film. The repeated use of these actors gives both films a more unified feel as the viewers are familier with the way in which the actors play their roles.

Another Prestige Interview

Below is a link to a video interview with Christopher Nolan about his film The Prestige. In the interview Christopher Nolan talks about the process of making the film, his choice of actors and his motivation for making a film based around the subject of magic.

http://www.spike.com/video/prestige-christopher/2780047

Interview with Christopher Nolan

Below is a link to an interview with Christopher Nolan on about.com. In the interview Christopher Nolan discusses several issues that are covered in and related to his film The Prestige such as his reasoning for choosing to base a film around the subject of magic, his choice of actors for the lead roles and the tone of the film as well as issues that relate to one of his other films The Dark Knight.

http://movies.about.com/od/theprestige/a/prestigcn101606.htm

The Prestige

The Prestige is a film that was directed by Christopher Nolan and was released in 2006. The film is based around the lives of two magicians named Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) who start out as friends when they are working as assistants for another magician along with Angier's wife Julia. The film takes a turn when Angier's wife Julia is killed when a water escape trick goes wrong, Angier blames Borden for this and they go their separate ways in order to pursue their goals of becoming famous magicians. This begins a rivalry between the two men which intensifies as they become more successful, often with tragic consequences as a result of each of the men's actions. The film is characterised by Christopher Nolan's passion for incorporating non-linear narrative into films which results in the film containing a highly complex storyline as we follow the two men's intensifying rivalry and its effects on them over the course of their lives. Christopher Nolan frequently uses flashbacks to add complexity to the story and to demonstrate the lengths to which both men will go to in order to one-up each other.

Christoher Nolan - Master Illusionist

The following short video contains brief clips from all of Christopher Nolan's films with the exception of his first film entitled Following.

Some Movies

Christopher Nolan is known for his relatively unusual directorial style as many of his films feature a non-linear narrative structure and often contain and explore psychological themes that are reflective of those used by his idol Stanley Kubrick.

Christopher Nolan has stated that he believes his interest in English Literature has played a very important role in the development of his directorial style despite his relatively poor performance in the subject area whilst studying at University College in London. In an interview he is quoted as saying; "I studied English Literature. I wasn't a very good student, but one thing I did get from it, while I was making films at the same time with the college film society, was that I started thinking about the narrative freedoms that authors had enjoyed for centuries and it seemed to me that filmmakers should enjoy those freedoms as well."

Listed below are the films that Christopher Nolan has directed.

Third Batman Installment (Proposed 2012)
Inception (2010)(Currently in post-production)
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Prestige (2006)
Batman Begins (2005)
Insomnia (2002)
Memento (2000)
Following (1998)

My Director

For my director study I have chosen Christopher Nolan, a British filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who lives in and largely works from Los Angeles in the United States.

Christopher Nolan was born in London but grew up in both London and Chicago and began film-making at the age of seven with his father's Super 8 camera and his toy action figures. Many of Nolan's films are characterised by non-linear story lines that add a complex twist to many of them. Christopher Nolan he was highly influenced by Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner due to its visual complexity.