Christopher Nolan names his favourite Steven Spielberg movies: “It is true movie magic”
With his most recent film, Oppenheimer, fresh out of the theatres, Christopher Nolan remains as popular and relevant a cinematic landmark as ever. Along with Barbie in the cultural phenomenon dubbed ‘Barbenheimer’, the director’s sprawling biopic detailing the “father of the atomic bomb” has helped bring in over $2billion at the box office and has genuinely been touted by economists as a contributing factor to the revival of the US economy.
For a good reason, too. The film is a staggering technical and storytelling achievement, marrying ground-breaking practical effects with astonishing central performances that draw viewers deep into the microcosmic world of quantum physics and physicist J. R. Oppenheimer’s inner psyche. That’s on the one hand – on the other, more macrocosmic side of things, we’ve been shown the historical ‘Trinity Test’ and what is, for all intents and purposes, genuine footage of an enormous nuclear detonation. In terms of sheer spectacle and emotive narrative power, Nolan seems matched by only one other filmmaker: Steven Spielberg.
The artistic sensibilities of the Jaws and Jurassic Park director have been inherited by Nolan. Both direct and produce huge-budget yet original films with fresh ideas and new characters. So, it’s unsurprising that among Nolan’s top 30 movies of all time, two Spielberg classics made the list. His love for Raiders of the Lost Ark is no secret, and in 2018, he told Empire: “It is true movie magic, true escapism,” he said. “I remember seeing it as a kid in suburban Chicago, at the Edens, which had a huge screen. It was a tremendous experience.”
However, the two titles Nolan picked are slightly closer to Nolan’s style and even some entries in his own oeuvre. The first was Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the 1977 science fiction drama about a family’s encounter with extraterrestrial forces that culminates in a national meeting with visitors from beyond. Like Oppenheimer, it balanced the personal detail of family tensions and a father’s obsession with the much grander theme of humanity making first contact.
And, like Inception, Interstellar and Tenet, it used the sci-fi genre as a vehicle to showcase mind-boggling special effects. Hungarian cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond went on to win the Oscar for ‘Best Cinematography’ for his extraordinary use of lighting that remains seminal nearly 40 years later. Nolan’s love for Spielberg did not go unrequited: in 2008, the director championed Nolan’s The Dark Knight for a ‘Best Picture’ Oscar.
Nolan’s second choice of a Spielberg film was Saving Private Ryan, the 1998 World War II movie starring Tom Hanks as a US Captain tasked with finding and bringing home Private James Ryan. From its astounding and almost unbearably brutal opening scene, which features countless soldiers being mercilessly massacred on Omaha beach, right through to its tear-jerker ending, Speilberg’s film showcased a director at the top of his game, demonstrating unbelievable command over every facet of the film’s production whilst never losing sight of the core story. It redefined what a war movie could be at a time in cinema history when people thought the genre had been redefined.
While consisting of much less dialogue, Nolan’s 2017 foray into the genre with Dunkirk proved that he’d taken some cues from Speilberg’s film. It displayed a breathtaking visual extravaganza whilst always maintaining the soldiers’ personal stories, putting the men’s sensory and visceral experiences at the forefront of the movie.
Christopher Nolan’s favourite Steven Spielberg movies:
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
