The 2000 movie mistake that still haunts Christopher Nolan: “I’ve never done it since”
Proving once again that the loudest part of the internet exists in a tiny echo chamber of its own making, The Odyssey is already looking to be another resounding success for Christopher Nolan.
If we learned anything from the post-Gladiator boom that soon saw cinemas deluged with the likes of Troy, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven, The Alamo, King Arthur, and all the rest, it’s that big-budget and arse-numbing historical epics are far from guaranteed to draw in audiences and earn the big bucks.
It already seems like a foregone conclusion that Nolan’s latest will end its run as the highest-grossing swords-and-sandals movie ever made, despite the tears being shed online over the adaptation of a work of fiction failing to reflect the idealised version of it they had in their heads, which makes zero sense to begin with.
Unlike some of the director’s other works, The Odyssey is far from obtuse and almost too literal in certain respects. Tenet, Interstellar, Inception, and, to a lesser extent, The Prestige, have all been mind-benders in one way or another, and even when things are far from clear, Nolan has refused to spell it out in detail.
He’s not alone in that respect, with David Lynch famously laughing off the mere notion of daring to explain what his films were about, but the Oppenheimer mastermind might have been more open about elaborating on the minutiae if he hadn’t been called out for a faux pas at the beginning of his career.
Most people who’ve seen his breakthrough feature, Memento, can figure it out, but when the twisting psychological thriller screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2000, Nolan discovered during a post-show Q&A that it’s much better to leave it up to the audience than telling them what to think.
“We had a press conference afterwards, and somebody asked me what the objective truth about the ending is,” the two-time Academy Award winner recalled. “I said, ‘Well, that’s for the audience to decide, but what I think is…’ and then I gave my answer.” He was still fairly new to the inner workings of the industry at the time, but a stern word in his ear taught him a lesson he’d never forget.
“My brother Jonah took me aside afterward and said, ‘Nobody listened to the first half of that answer. They just want to know what the guy who made the film thinks. You can never do that again,'” Nolan reflected. “He was absolutely right, and I’ve never done it since.” Just like that, if anyone has asked the director to offer a deep dive into his narrative motivations, he’s more likely to tell them to fuck off.
As much as some viewers do enjoy having the ‘right’ way to watch a movie spoon-fed directly into their mouths, it’s always better to try to figure it out for yourself, even if you don’t have a clue what’s going on, a situation most cinemagoers have found themselves in at least once. Since Memento, Nolan has refused to elaborate, and don’t expect him to do it again.
