Christopher Nolan names his biggest movie influences
Among the most celebrated filmmakers working today, Christopher Nolan is regularly hailed as a true master of the cinematic spectacle. Having created modern epics such as Inception, Interstellar and The Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan’s work has mesmerised audiences all over the world and reinforced his status as a contemporary pioneer. That’s exactly why Oppenheimer became one of the most anticipated films of the year ever since its initial announcement.
Nolan, who has actively advocated for the revival of the traditional theatre experience, started one of the most significant cultural events of 2023 by competing against Barbie. Fans rushed to see both Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s latest feature, sparking social media trends revolving around the two projects. In the process, they reminded fans that the magic of watching an epic in the theatre could never be replaced.
Oppenheimer has also been cited as one of the standout films of the calendar year, featuring Cillian Murphy as the titular American physicist who changed the course of human history with the Manhattan Project. Starring other major names like Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr and Matt Damon, Nolan’s historical epic investigates the psychological conditions of the man who significantly increased the viability of mass destruction on an unimaginable scale.
During the promotional campaign of Oppenheimer, Nolan and Downey Jr sat down with WIRED to discuss some of the most asked questions related to themselves. When the director was asked about his biggest cinematic influences, he immediately said: “I always like to talk about Ridley Scott, huge fan of his. Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick, Nicolas Roeg, I mean, there are just so many greats. Too many influences to name.”
While Nolan has previously named the films of Fritz Lang and Michael Mann in his list of favourite movies, the director he can never omit from his selections is Stanley Kubrick. It was Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey that showed him the potential of the cinematic medium, inspiring him to create his own sci-fi epics such as Inception and Interstellar.
“You can’t make any film in a vacuum. We’re making a science-fiction film,” Nolan once told Empire. “You can’t pretend 2001 doesn’t exist when you’re making Interstellar. You just dive in and do what excites you. There’ll be people who’ll spot every reference along the way, there’ll be some people for whom it’ll seem new and fresh. I think the best you can hope for as a filmmaker is that you’ve been respectful towards your influences and you’ve done something fresh with the combination of things that you’ve put together.”
Watch the full interview below.
