Love him or hate him, Christopher Nolan is a skilled director. Whether you think he is adept at what he does story wise is one thing, but you cannot argue the man has a flair for visuals. He has been inducted into the rarified company of contemporary directors whose work has been released via a Criterion Blu-ray. His first film, FOLLOWING, received that honor.
With Criterion excelling at collecting the best of world cinema, it is a nice treat that they gather filmmakers to comment and discuss those varied movies. Their website features the very cool Top 10 section where the filmmakers list their favorite movies that have been released via Criterion. Nolan’s list is quite interesting. Here are his top 5 with comments from the man himself:
1. THE HIT (Stephen Frears) – That Criterion has released this little-known Stephen Frears gem is a testament to the thoroughness of their search for obscure masterworks. Few films have gambled as much on a simple portrayal of the dynamics between desperate men . . .
2. 12 ANGRY MEN (Sidney Lumet) – . . . except perhaps this Sidney Lumet classic.
3. THE THIN RED LINE (Terrence Malick) – What better than Malick’s extraordinary vision of war to demonstrate the technical potential of a carefully mastered Blu-ray? Projecting this disc comes close to the original print quality, and it’s hard to imagine a superior consumer format coming along anytime soon.
4. THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (Fritz Lang) – Lang at his most wicked and entertaining. Essential research for anyone attempting to write a supervillain.
5. BAD TIMING (Nicolas Roeg) – Nic Roeg’s films are known for their structural innovation, but it’s great to be able to see them in a form that also shows off their photographic excellence.
A nice and varied list that should give any aspiring filmmaker who idolizes Nolan a good jumping off point to see what movies inspired THE DARK KNIGHT RISES director. For the full list click here.
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