what is Christopher Nolan directing style?

[director_journey]

nolan's true fan please answer this question. if u really know about nolan, then help me provide as much information you can. i want this post to be active, all nolan's fan share what you know about his directing style...

[thenextnolan]

Im pretty sure his style is sorta of a dark, noir-type.

[director_journey]

dark, noir-type. only that. can anyone explain what is christopher nolan directing style more please. please engage in this post

[BatMotor]

He is a independent director who does what he wants 'inception' is a good example.Some scenes in his movies are a little like a noir movies,'The Prestige' looks like one big noir movie,i think thats why its my favorite nolan movie so far.His story telling has alot of twists and plots some (holes) but thats diffrent discussion.

[Z. Cobb]

He also uses a male 'protagonist' who has been effected by a psychological problem ... Lenny in memento, dormer in insomnia... Cobb in inception .... Angier's obsession in the prestige... The Young Man (Bill)... loneliness... etc etc ...

Has the camera moving in tense dialogues...

Gives a level of freedom to his actors and actresses... but not too much.

Uses multi-tiered narratives... following, memento, batman begins, insomnia, prestige, inception.

[Z. Cobb]

Well also in the opening of his films he usually has one of the main characters perform actions with a close up of their hands

He also ends his films with someone giving a philosophical monologue
displays the title before the credits.

Recently, he doesn't use any musical score during action sequences... The Dark knight... Inception...

Sometimes uses hard cuts, cross cutting between parallel scenes to build a climax

Frequently in his films the protagonists, at some crucial moment, feel let down or betrayed by their mentors

[Z. Cobb]

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=337

This might help.

[zack]

Most Nolan male characters are obsessive & delusional.The male protagonists in MEMENTO, INSOMNIA, PRESTIGE, DARK KNIGHT & INCEPTION are obsessed with control, revenge, justice, self-righteousness. And you can say they are all tunnel-vision fanatics.

Lenny in MEMENTO only trusts "facts." The way he numbers the "facts" (which really only "factual" to Lenny) like commandments make the character look like a religious fanatics: "Must find killer of dead wife now!"

Bruce Wayne in DARK KNIGHT is obsessed with complete eradication of the ills of society, what Joker refers to as "misplaced sense of self-righteousness." With his cape and grim determination, he looks like a fanatic Middle Age crusader out to drive off infidels from his clean city.

Angier in PRESTIGE is obsessed with revenge & winning over his "nemesis" with increasingly spectacular showmanship even if it means sacrificing his own body/ies & soul. SPOILER : his obsession with the drowning of his wife is replicated/re-experienced in the drowning of his clones. Talk about being drowned in constant sorrow.

Cobb in INCEPTION is seemingly a good guy who only tries to get over death of his wife & go back to his children. Or is he? Maybe in some psychotic rage he is the one who kills his own wife and that's why he is an exile during most of the movie? Maybe he actually lost the custody battle of his children to his wife's family. Maybe the whole movie is just his own self-inception that he could go back to his family & earn the trust of his children?

All tunnel-vision fanatics.

[George]

Do you mean directing style as in his shooting process? From what I know he tends to take more the "fast and loose" approach. Getting what he needs, often without complicated setups (a lot of handheld and natural lighting), and moving on to what's next.

[xWhereAmI?]

I think his directing style is dark/noir.