Christopher Nolan: the one director Kenneth Branagh makes an exception for
After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, filmmaker and actor Kenneth Branagh leapt into the cinema industry as one of Ireland’s most talented and prolific actors. Branagh’s career remains versatile and successful each time, ranging from on-screen appearances in William Shakespeare adaptations to sitting on the director’s chair of a Marvel adaptation.
Whether on stage at the theatre or in front of a camera, the actor utilises his toolset to create a string of visceral and emotive performances. However, he has stepped away from frequent acting roles to delve into his talent as a director, with features including Artemis Fowl, Belfast and Death on the Nile.
During an interview with The Talks, Branagh shared how working as an actor positively influenced and shaped his role as a filmmaker. “Thank God people are interested in working with me as an actor because I’ve learned a tremendous amount when I have worked with other directors,” he expressed. “It’s such a privilege.”
Branagh also addressed the directors that he has worked with throughout his career, naming 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and Alien’s Ridley Scott as key influences: “It’s amazing to kind of have that contact with these greats, as I would call them,” he said. Soon after, Branagh then mentioned that he “just needs to stop directing and allow some time for acting”.
As his “acting muscles are itching”, the Belfast director realised that he “should try and scratch them”. However, he mentions that “the commitment to directing is so much longer…the time consumption means that you are often unavailable”. That said, there is one fellow director whom Branagh cited as his one exception. According to him, this is the beloved filmmaker who is definitively responsible for getting him back behind the camera for good.
“If I were directed by Christopher Nolan for the rest of time, I would be happy,” the actor states. “I’m involved with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, that was shot in IMAX on 65mm, as was our Death on the Nile. Both of them hope to come to cinemas later on this year.”
With titles such as Interstellar, Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan is responsible for some of the most significant contemporary Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, residing as a leading and pivotal 21st-century filmmaker. His movies, from comic book adaptions blended with traditional crime films and sci-fi experiences, have grossed over $5billion worldwide.
Branagh emphasises Nolan’s visually stunning storytelling that maintains cinema’s purpose and placement in public perception and the entertainment industry. He stresses: “Those stories were made for big screen cinema, and because they involve big imaginative leaps into other kinds of places around the world. They are absolutely designed with that communal, big-screen experience in mind. But obviously, with the current health crisis, it is impossible for us to understand what the ultimate long and lasting effects of this period will be.”
Nolan is set to release the war biopic Oppenheimer, documenting the work and life of the American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy). Cited in history as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’, Oppenheimer played a crucial role in the Manhattan Project during World War II, where he developed the first nuclear weapons.
The film is scheduled for a July 21st release.
