Who is Christopher Nolan?

First and foremost, we at The Christopher Nolan Chronicle pride ourselves on our merciful nature and therefore will forgive you for asking the above question.  We also understand that a simple introduction can be a wonderful place to start when beginning a new relationship.  So, allow us to introduce our muse, our role model, our father who art in cinema — Christopher Edward Nolan, CBE.

Christopher Nolan received his formal education at University College London, pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature while simultaneously acting as president of the Union’s Film Society, producing and screening 35mm films during the school year as a means to fund the production of 16mm films during the summers.

In 1998, Nolan produced his first feature-length film: Following, on a meager budget of approximately $4,000 USD.  The success of Following allowed him to create his next project, Memento, released in 2000.  After the come-from-nowhere successes of Following and Memento, fellow filmmaker Stephen Soderbergh recruited Nolan via Soderbergh’s production company, Section Eight Productions to create Insomnia.  Insomnia also received high praise, even from Erik Skjoldbjærg, the director of the original 1997 Norwegian film.

After Insomnia, Nolan got the green light to begin production on his grounded, realistic Batman origin story.  This is perhaps the most well-known era of his filmmaking career, with the Batman trilogy grossing over $2.4 Billion at the Box Office, and another blockbuster hit, Inception, being released during his stint at the helm of the Batman trilogy, itself grossing over $830 Million at the Box Office.

Since the Batman trilogy, Christopher Nolan momentarily moved away from the grounded nature of his Batman films, releasing Interstellar, an epic Science-Fiction Space Opera, in 2014.  He quickly came back down to earth, however, directing the World War II epic, Dunkirk in 2017.

Over the twenty-year span of his professional filmmaking career, Christopher Nolan’s films have been nominated for a whopping 515 awards – 186 of which he has won.  These include five Academy Award nominations, Five British Academy Film Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards.

What is The Christopher Nolan Chronicle?

As the first director-specific film blog to be established in the post-apocalyptic era known as the second half of 2020, The Christopher Nolan Chronicle has a big responsibility to bear for the cinephile community – and we take that responsibility very seriously.  In a time where freedom of the press is being threatened by the powers that be, film fans everywhere need a safe place to discuss the most pressing artistic question of our time: Was Christopher Nolan better before or after he did the Batman movies?

The Christopher Nolan Chronicle seeks to answer that question by taking a systematic approach to the filmography of one of the most revered directors of our time.  Our publication will explore the director’s evolution as a filmmaker by dividing his career into four distinct periods:

1. The Pre-Batman Period: This period covers the three feature-length films Christopher Nolan directed before the release of Batman Begins.  These films are Following (1998), Memento (2000), and Insomnia (2002).
2. The Batman Period: As can be inferred, this period covers all three films in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.  Released in 2005, 2008, and 2012, respectively, these films are Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.
3. The Peri-Batman Period: This period covers the two feature-length films Christopher Nolan directed which were released concurrently with his Batman trilogy.  These films are The Prestige (2006) and Inception (2010).
4. The Post-Batman Period: This period covers the two feature-length films Christopher Nolan directed after the Batman trilogy was complete.  These films are Interstellar (2014) and Dunkirk (2017).

Please note, the columnists here at The Christopher Nolan Chronicle very much value their safety and untainted oxygen, and thus will not be reviewing the director’s 2020 release, Tenet, unless and until it becomes available for an at-home, on-demand viewing experience.

The Previews Are Over, Let the Show Begin

Now that the formal introductions are done, we can get this show on the road.  Subscribe to The Christopher Nolan Chronicle to stay up to date on blockbuster films that you’ve probably already seen as we try to answer the question: Was Christopher Nolan better before or after he did the Batman movies?