Nolan - Taking super hero genre to another level
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Azad (New Delhi, India)
Email :
azad.ksingh [at] gmail.com
Nolan - Taking super hero genre to another level
I have never been a fan of super heroes’ movies. They all look the same, and it looks a like a franchise rather than a movie. I have always believed that super heroes are needed to fight super villains and not petty thieves and criminals. Agreed that most of super heroes’ movies have a super villain, but they don’t look convincing enough. A society infiltrated by super villains cannot be just grim, it should resemble hell. And almost all the movies falter on this front. They are simply not dark enough for it to be called a super hero film. My whole perception changed after I watched Batman Begins.
The reason that I had gone to watch this movie in the first place itself, was Christopher Nolan, the director of gems like Memento, Insomnia and later he went to direct The Prestige. I am yet to watch Insomnia, but Memento is a movie which left me completely spell bounded. The juxtaposition of the forward and the reverse narrative is thrilling enough and forces the audience to keep on the guessing till the very end. In fact, even after the movie had ended, I was little confused and had to google to clear off most of doubts related to the film.
Batman begins is not a usual super hero movie, it’s one the most logical super hero movie ever. I have always believed in the quotes of Ayn Rand in Fountainhead “A war can never be selfless”. No matter how much you feel for others, you need to have a personal and selfish reason to fight an enemy. Ditto the same for super heroes. Super heroes fighting for humanity, without having suffered enough, doesn’t seem logical to me. Super heroes are not made in a day nor are they born by chance. Ordinary people, like you and me rise up to the occasion to become super heroes, to fight against the evil.
Batman Begins is the story of one such ordinary boy (Bruce Wayne), born in a family of extra ordinary parents, who have helped America fight against the great depression. After having lost his parents at an early age, Bruce is filled with vengeance against the man responsible for his parents’ death. After being despised by his childhood girl friend for his blind vengeance without any sense of justice, he decides to travel the world to understand justice and
learn means to fight against injustice. He returns to Gotham after seven long years only to find the city nurtured by his parents in tatters. The rest of the movie deals with the circumstances which inspires Bruce to become Batman and save his city from dreaded villains.
In my opinion, this is a clear deviation from a usual super hero movie, where the focus is more on the characterization of the super hero than on the sci-fi effects. Even the fight sequences look very personal and you do get to notice the passion, pain and anguish of Batman during those fight sequences. Nolan has clearly taken the super hero genre to a next level, where in it will no longer be termed a
kids’ only movie any more.
Ditto was the case with the Prestige, where in he added a new dimension to obsessive rivalry. Prestige is a story of friendship, passion and ultimately rivalry of two magicians born in the same time zone, whose obsession to outsmart each other results in the destruction of the two. To say that the whole mood of the movie is dark would be an understatement. The fractured narrative and flashbacks within flashbacks keeps the audience guessing till the very
end. The layering of screenplay is such that it forces you to switch loyalties between the two protagonists every now and then. In this tale of obsessive rivalry, no one is morally correct. The difference between good and evil is so blurred that the audience feels sorry for both of them in the end. Also to watch for in this movie is the reference to the rivalry between Tesla and Edison. So seamlessly are they injected into the screenplay that they become one of the characters of the movie. Though the ending seems a bit unbelievable, it still catches you upfront.
Nolan is almost ready with his next batman movie, The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight is scheduled to release in the summer of 2008. This is his first attempt at a sequel. In my opinion, most of sequels try to tell the same story rather than taking the story forward, and esp. in the case of super hero flicks. Hoping that Nolan will shatter this prejudice of my mine and will take sequels to another level as well.
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good piece..hail nolan..!
Insomnia and Batman Begins not seen but have seen Memento and The Prestige…brilliant piece of work by Nolan…and his brother..probably his power lies in his screenplay which is tight as ever.One of the best directors to come from Britain in present day..^:)^^:)^^:)^
I’ve seen Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige and of course, Batman Begins. While Insomnia may not be a film I’d watch repeatedly, it is definitely a very very classy thriller, worth watching for, among other things, great performances by Robin Williams and Al Pacino.
I’ve been a reader of superhero comics since long, and was a regular buyer of Gotham Comics’ reasonably priced Indian editions. Batman’s always been my favourite, but none of the 4 previous movies did him justice. In fact, Batman & Robin is universally hailed as one of the biggest pieces of crap of all time.
So I was really, really, glad when I heard that Chris Nolan would be helming Batman and giving it a new beginning. It was a long wait till I could finally watch the film, and boy did it meet, and even surpass my expectations.
Nolan is the ONLY director who’s seen Batman for the noirish character that he is, and not just another guy in tights and cape cracking bad one liners as he fights. Even the animated Batman series was dark and atmospheric. Joel Schumacher really, really ruined it with Batman & Robin. My thanks to Nolan.
Furthermore, although George Clooney looked the part best, Christian Bale is the ONLY guy who’s understood the essence of Bruce Wayne’s character.
And Azad, you were totally right about it being a logical superhero movie, and also about the focus being more on the characters than bloody SFX. My only gripe was that the fights were filmed too choppily. Maybe it was intentional, but it would have added immense amounts of adrenaline if we’d been shown how exactly Batman takes on dozens of guys.
Hope I get to do an Indian superhero film some day :d
Nolan proved his intentions in “FOLLOWING”. This is still the best Nolan movie, in my opinion. 3 twists in an hour and 10 min? Wow. Perhaps Don (2006)’ s new ending is a close call on character study with Following’s main character. The bad guy always has plans for himself.
Reverse chronology in Memento is not a gimmick but the only way to put the viewer in the same position as Guy Pearce. Viewer is as dumbfounded about the events in the past as Lenny.
Insomnia was below average, for the reason Christopher Nolan did not write it.
Batman begins is memorable for the line “Embrace your worst fear, so you become fearless”. One single statement by the superhero unlocks the mystery of his “bat-suit”.
Ofcourse last but not the least, The Prestige. The ending of the movie should not be questionable for the possibility of “replication” but to prove the point that even if you have a “real magic” trick you still have to present as an “illusion” and if you are the viewer of this movie and find the “real” transported man unbelievable then that itself proves that real magic is unbelievable because “EVERY (real or illusionary) magic trick consists of three parts: pledge, turn and prestige. Nolan understands magic trick like nobody.
I too was blown away by “Following” - for a “zero-budget” film made by a debutant, the script is simply brilliant. That 70 min film just about encapsulates all the Nolan trademarks: good writing, non-linearity, noir subjects, unreliable narratives etc. For that matter, also try to watch his 3 min short “Doodlebug” (can be found online).
The Nolans have been clever enough in their writing not to spoil too much their “magical” plots - for the explanation of a magic trick is often its worst enemy, for it turns out to be elaborate and contrived and sadly mundane. So far, they’ve been brilliant at this.
I was blown away by The Prestige too, but I know some people who had reservations with the Ending.
A super hero cum animation, Hanuman Returns, is going to arrive in dec in india. Lets see how it turns out to be.
This quote is there in fountainhead, though I am not sure of the exact situation.
Yes i definetely think theres a lot more good shit to expect from nolan
i loved batman begins,he along with bale have brought out a whole new angle to batman
i even think the friendship between bale and katie holmes makes the movie much more intrestinmg
i would say hail bale hail nolan