The Quentin Tarantino movie Christopher Nolan said captured “the history of cinema”
Whilst some edgy film students may hate his work, there’s no doubt that Christopher Nolan is one of the most influential auteurs of the modern era. Not only is this status fuelled by his evident talent and deep understanding of the medium, but the award-winning director has been remarkably consistent across his career.
Since 1998, Nolan has released 12 feature-length films that have seen him try his hand at many genres. However, they have almost always been tied together by his refined and often high-paced style, complete with nearly flawless aesthetic value. Opening his account with the gritty neo-noir thriller Following, which tells the story of a young man drawn into London’s criminal underworld after following strangers around, Nolan would affirm his refreshing approach to cinema two years later with the psychological thriller Memento in 2000.
Starring Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby, a man suffering from anterograde amnesia and trying to solve the murder of his wife, the non-linear narrative and alternation between monochrome and colour sequences proved to be a compelling display of Nolan’s innovation. It set him up for a career that would see him produce a variety of blockbusters.
Since then, Nolan has produced the hit Dark Knight Trilogy, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet and most recently, Oppenheimer, one of the highlights of 2023 cinema. As with every significant auteur, Nolan has been able to hit such heights and explore different areas to consequential effect by being a fan of all of great cinema, from niche art house efforts to era-defining successes.
One man whose work has tremendously impacted Nolan in the contemporary era is Quentin Tarantino, the mind behind Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Nolan has effused about his American peer numerous times, and in 2015, he was particularly impressed with his western-mystery hybrid, The Hateful Eight.
He was so enamoured with Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell-starring flick that he offered to host the awards screening for the Directors Guild of America. During the chat following the film, Nolan asserted that The Hateful Eight was so inspiring that he commented that it captured “the history of cinema”.
“Well, that’s a hell of a movie, isn’t it? What an incredible thing and an incredible way to bring back the atmosphere and the beauty of seeing a film in a theatre,” the Memento director opined after the screening. “Watching this film, it felt like it had an increased level of formalism. There is a real calm and thought for where the camera is always. It’s also in the music. There is a great sense of the history of cinema in it.”
Watch The Hateful Eight trailer below.
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