Nolan's films are very much male driven in story, tone and marketing and I thought it would be interesting to discuss the roles that women play within his films. How do they factor in? Are they strong characters or are the underused?
His films are far more male-oriented which is understandable considering he's a male. But, I admire his use of female characters not as sex objects but as relevant characters who heavily influence the male characters. In his more recent films he's used female characters more as a reflection of a "normal life" which the characters would like to have but don't succeed in achieving. I'd like him to possibly give his female characters larger, or perhaps stronger roles in the future.
Eternalist wrote:His films are far more male-oriented which is understandable considering he's a male. But, I admire his use of female characters not as sex objects but as relevant characters who heavily influence the male characters. In his more recent films he's used female characters more as a reflection of a "normal life" which the characters would like to have but don't succeed in achieving. I'd like him to possibly give his female characters larger, or perhaps stronger roles in the future.
The most important female role in any of his films thus far has been Sarah Borden in The Prestige (Nolan's first real foray into meaty female characters). Not only has it been the strongest performance of any female lead in his films, but I think it has also been the most affecting and pivotal role. She creates a serious central conflict and a lot of the emotional impact of the film rests on her shoulders.
Rachel Dawes is really, when you come down to it, a throwaway character (more so in Begins than TDK). She is a strong female character but definitely flimsy in terms of overall structure. In Batman Begins she is more of a pawn, a damsel in distress that needs to be rescued by Batman. In The Dark Knight, she becomes a central character in the conflict driving not only Dent's rage fueled revenge but also Wayne/Batman's inner turmoil.
The female characters in Following, Memento and Insomnia are, again, very collateral characters. Existing to just drive the plot.
Rachel in Batman Begins was largely a throwaway character, but she was a very important character in The Dark Knight and, in my opinion, the strongest-written female love interest in a comic book film because of what she represents.
I think Natalie also played an excellent femme fatale-type character in Memento.
All his films follow the noir convention that characters are slaves to their circumstances. The female characters indicate a world away from this , but it is largely unattainable.
But, I admire his use of female characters not as sex objects but as relevant characters who heavily influence the male characters.
That's what I love about Nolan's female characters as well and feel his wife might be the inspiration there, given she produces his films.
Although I would love to see him come out of his comfort zone a bit and write a female driven story, I imagine it would be very interesting and different!
The Keys to the Street was mostly female driven, although the screenplay sucked. But yea, it would be interesting for him to make a female-driven film.
And I agree with everyone above, especially the point that the women aren't sex objects.
The Blonde (Lucy Russell) in Following is pure femme fatale.
Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) at first appears to be a pure femme fatale in Memento, but I think there's more there to be found on subsequent viewings. Considering that she went through and helped Leonard (I don't think she knew Teddy, the guy she knew went to meet Jimmy, was the same cop that came into her bar named John G) I think she did care for Leonard by the end (or, well, the beginning of the film). She does manipulate the whole Leonard and Dodd situation, but we find out this is because Leonard himself put her in a position to be worried about Dodd. Leonard killed her husband and walks up to her in her husband's clothing and in his car. I see her as a victim. She does have a conflict to deal with in the film and she has some emotional depth that's evident in some of her early scenes.
Ellie (Hilary Swank) in Insomnia is almost completely a plot pawn, which was a little disappointing. There's clearly a small attempt made with the fact that Dormer is her personal hero and thus she feels some conflict, but I felt Swank wasn't given enough to do in the role.
Rachel (Katie Holmes) in Batman Begins mostly acts as the damsel in distress. Bruce needs to save her on three different occasions in the film. She is at least in a "strong" female role as the assistant DA who stands up for herself.
The Prestige has the most interesting mix of female roles. Julia (Piper Perabo) was basically character motivation for Angier and for kicking off the rivalry plot. Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) is a femme fatale of sorts. The problem I have with calling her a femme fatale is that she doesn't initially want to harm Angier in any way. Only after he wants to send her off as a pawn does she developed her hatred for him. And I would agree that Sarah (Rebecca Hall) was the most developed female character. A female character dealing with conflict and given a good amount of emotional depth.
Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) in The Dark Knight was less a damsel in distress (although still needed saving on two occasions). A stronger female character, but still not given too much to do. She really was used as character motivation for Harvey and Bruce in the second half of the film. There was also Monique Gabriela Curnen (in what I hoped would be a larger role than what it ended up being) as Anna Ramirez, and Melinda McGraw as Barbara Gordon. Both were very small roles, but were useful female presence considering Rachel wouldn't be appearing in the final hour.
Nolan's films get some criticism for having weak female characters. And while i'd agree that they don't get nearly as much depth as their male counterparts, they also aren't the static housewives or girlfriends or sexual objects that other films utilize them as.
I think it just stems from the fact that female characters haven't yet been leads in any of Nolan's films. Although it does look like Ellen Page (and possibly to a lesser extent Marion Cotillard) may just be that in Inception if the production photos give any indication.
George wrote:
Although it does look like Ellen Page (and possibly to a lesser extent Marion Cotillard) may just be that in Inception if the production photos give any indication.
I agree. Ellen's character in Inception looks like a far more predominant female character than his past films.
