Christopher Nolan’s favourite British movies
British filmmaker Christopher Nolan is one of the most well-known voices in modern cinema, rising to prominence in the early 2000s. A dedicated cinephile, he developed an interest in the art of cinema as a child after discovering science fiction movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey.
While Nolan’s oeuvre only contains three sci-fi movies, this early form of film education paved the way for his interest in filmmaking as a whole. Enamoured by the grand scale of science fiction, Nolan has since ensured that every movie he makes is epic and visually impressive, as demonstrated by The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar.
Yet, Nolan wasn’t able to start working at such a grand scale from the get-go. His first film, Following, was a black-and-white indie flick made on a minuscule budget. He told The Seattle Times, “The difference between shooting Following with a group of friends wearing our own clothes and my mum making sandwiches to spending $4 million of somebody else’s money on Memento and having a crew of a hundred people is, to this day, by far the biggest leap I’ve ever made.”
Nolan has enjoyed incredible box-office and critical success thanks to his complex take on the blockbuster. While he thanks movies like Star Wars and Space Odyssey for inspiring him to become a filmmaker, he has also been inspired by an eclectic mix of other films. For this article, we’re going to focus on the British films that have inspired him the most, finding themselves on his list of favourite movies.
Nolan is a big fan of the movie The Hit by Stephen Frears, a road drama that has also been championed by Wes Anderson, although it remains comparatively underrated. It stars Tim Roth in an early role, as well as Terence Stamp, Laura Del Sol and John Hurt. Talking to Criterion, Nolan explained, “Few films have gambled as much on a simple portrayal of the dynamics between desperate men.”
He also loves a classic British pick, Lawrence of Arabia, by David Lean. Often regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, it features an incredible performance by Peter O’Toole, complete with breathtaking sweeping landscapes. Due to its sheer scale and ambition, it is no surprise that Nolan loves Lawrence of Arabia.
A lesser-known pick comes in the form of Street of Crocodiles, a short stop-motion inspired by Bruno Schulz’s story of the same name. Nolan explained, “As soon as you see an image from that film, you can’t take your eyes away. It has some of the most extraordinary things that have ever been photographed.”
Finally, we couldn’t mention Nolan’s favourite British films without including James Bond. His favourites include On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me, although he has a particular fondness for the former. He told Empire: “It’s a hell of a movie, it holds up very well.”
He continued, “There’s a tremendous balance of action, scale, and romanticism and tragedy and emotion. Of all the Bond films, it’s by far the most emotional.”
Discover Nolan’s complete list of favourite British movies below.
Christopher Nolan’s favourite British movies:
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Peter R. Hunt, 1969)
- Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022)
- Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, 1981)
- The Hit (Stephen Frears, 1984)
- Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (Lewis Gilbert, 1977)
- Ryan’s Daughter (David Lean, 1970)
- Street of Crocodiles (Brothers Quay, 1986)
