The Trademark of Christopher Nolan Films

Known as one of the most successful directors of our time, Christopher Nolan marked a huge imprint in the film industry. Almost all the films he directed have now achieved "blockbuster" status, and some of them even received prestigious awards from respected film circles. As a filmmaker, he used unconventional ways of storytelling that established his identity and made his films unique. A recurring theme runs through each of his works, solidifying their place as "Nolan" films.

Born on July 30, 1970 in London, England. He started making his own film when he was about seven years old using his father's camera. He never attended film school; instead, most of his knowledge about filmmaking came from studying the works of cinematic legends like Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Orson Welles, and Michael Mann.

Behind this passion for filmmaking, the University College of London had an on-campus film society started by Nolan with his college friend but now producing partner and wife, Emma Thomas. Together, they made and produced short films every year where a committee of the cinema society had the final word on whether the two eager young filmmakers had worked on a particular short film. Christopher Nolan acquired this (all of his successful works in the film industry) proficiency through the years he spent in the film society where freedom of experimental techniques or whatsoever crazy ideas are recognized as long as it's a film worth watching.

Nolan made his directorial debut with the black-and-white noir film, Following (1998). But it was his masterpiece, Memento, that introduced Nolan to the blockbuster realm. Following his breakthrough with solid entries into the Hollywood industry, he had spectacular films lined up one after the other. He gained popularity with the masses with his Batman trilogy.

What's so amazing about his films is not just the directing itself but the structure of the narratives. With his degree in English Literature, Nolan mastered the craft of writing complex stories that defy conventional expectations and turn them into mind-bending films.

Every film created by Christopher Nolan touches upon a general theme in his storytelling. His works usually explore psychological themes wrapped up in a complex, non-linear narrative. 

Early works such as Following, Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, and Inception, question the nature of personhood, evident in the "suspicious relation between subjective reality and the idea of an objective reality" Nolan has constantly employed in his films.

In the Following, Nolan suggests that something shouldn't concede the possibility of defining a person through one's features and belongings. He used Cobb (the well-dressed thief) and Billy (who follows and observes Cobb from afar in his novel) to elucidate one of his philosophical ideas by showing how both of them define and self-created the image of individuals.

As Jared, the host of Wisecrack, said to introduce Nolan's next hit works, "How can we trust something we read if the source itself is questionable?" In Memento, the nature of personhood is still employed through the constant variance of Leonard's subjective reality to the idea of objective truth. This suspicious relationship is shown by way of Leonard's belief in his unreliable notes about the traumatic death of his wife, which drives him to create his own false memories.

In contrast to Memento, Nolan gives a definite vagueness towards what is the so-called "truth." Will was lost in self-doubt after mistakenly causing the death of his partner in a foggy setting. This incident provoked Will's mental well-being causing him an extreme psychological disorder, Insomnia. Nolan employs a more complicated idea of questioning the unquestionable reality itself, culminating in a poignant message to end the objective and subjective idealism of Christopher Nolan: "Perhaps we can't ever be sure of the world around us."

No discussion of Nolan's films would be complete without mentioning The Prestige, the greatest tricky film he ever pulled. With magic, Nolan employs a "suspicious relation between subjective reality and the idea of objective truth" again. The Audience lives under the illusion of Robert's stunning trick: reappearing on the right end of the theatre after suddenly disappearing in front of the stage. The mystery of how he supposedly kills his double in a water tank remains shrouded in illusion, leaving room for endless speculation.

The theme of subjective versus objective reality Nolan pulled into his films rises, granting the highlight for Inception. And Inception means the world we live in might be the created imaginary world of, of course, Christopher Nolan. Suspicion is only present in Inception, where after all of what Cobb has done to see his children, only the spinning but slightly wavering totem can tell if he's living the real reality over the dream reality. Every single thing shows beyond doubt that truth is not the truth, and reality questions reality itself.

Memento Film Analysis 

Christopher Nolan touched on the nature of memory in his second full-length film, Memento. The film follows Leonard Shelby, an amnesiac, in the search for the killer who strangled and raped his wife. He has anterograde amnesia, which means he cannot make new memories. The amnesia made him forgetful while still remembering who he was. The only memory that he can retain is the tragedy of his wife. He wakes up every morning, relieving the memory that his wife died. He goes by through his daily life with different mementoes telling him what to do.

The whole film is told in reverse chronology, it is as if we are remembering the events the same way Leonard does. In Memento, the nature of personhood is still employed through constant variation of Leonard's subjective reality to the idea of objective truth. This suspicious relationship is shown by way of Leonard's belief in his unreliable notes about the traumatic death of his wife which drives him to create his own false memories. The film itself is a testament to self-deception. Memory is deceitful, and what we remember to be true might not be really true.

The film has two parts when it comes to editing. The first is the coloured scenes wherein the timeline is reversed; The second is the monochrome scenes wherein the story is told forward. The coloured scenes provide exposition and action that moves the story forward while the monochrome scenes give the background story of Leonard using flashbacks. The final scene juxtaposes the two parts with a fade of monochrome into colour, the same way a polaroid is being developed.

The unconventional storytelling made Memento a Nolan classic. It cemented the theme of making your own reality through the use of tattoos and notes as mise-en-scene. The tattoos and notes shaped Leonard's reality however unreliable the source of the tattoos and notes is. The Memento begs the question, is what you remember about who you are, real? How can you be so sure?

Discussions were always present when Nolan released a new film like his critically acclaimed Oppenheimer, which tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist who helped make the atomic bomb. As Nolan’s trademark, Oppenheimer is not just a simple history lesson—it asks important questions about ethics, creativity, and how scientific discoveries affect the world. 

Nolan is currently working on his upcoming film Homer’s Odyssey. Different online platforms are already up for discussion, curious about how he will tell this epic classic story. Will he stick to a traditional version, or will he put his own unconventional twist on it?

Nolan's narrative trademark makes him a standout in modern cinema, and beyond the anticipation of each new release, his legacy is undeniable. Directors like Denis Villeneuve, Jordan Peele, and others look for inspiration from Nolan's approach—his use of non-linear narrative, and psychological themes, proving that blockbuster films don’t have to be simple or straightforward; they can be thought-provoking and challenging, making us not just sit back and watch but think about it long after we leave the cinema. 

With that, his work will undoubtedly remain strong, inspiring the direction of cinema for years to come.