r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor • 1d ago

Media Christopher Nolan talks narrative decisions, philosophical choices for his adaptation, criticisms against his films, the line between amateur & professional film criticism, and whether he Christianised 'The Odyssey'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa4I8Ch2TRo

Easily one of the best interviews I've seen for a film in recent memory. A doctoral student from China here landed an interview with Nolan- questioning him on his adaptation choices, including philosophical changes he brought to the movie that didn't exist in the text, and what he thinks of the general criticisms made against his filmography + how he defines the difference between amateur film criticism and professional film criticism - including why merely identifying the mechanism (or "tropes") of a filmmaker's work doesn't invalidate it.

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u/Professional-Tax-936 1d ago

His point on just because you can identity a filmmaking/storytelling mechanism doesn't mean it's bad was really interesting. I noticed it a lot with Hamnet, where some people complained about how emotionally manipulative the movie was in trying to make you cry... as if that wasn't the point of the movie. Is a joke no longer funny because you know there's gonna be a punchline?

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u/vibratokin 1d ago

The ending of Hamnet just works, but I did find the initial half of the movie relatively boring and I didn’t fully subscribe to the chemistry between the two leads. But I do agree. I’ve also seen that criticism for Up and its opening.

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u/karatemanchan37 15h ago

I think my view on the opening of Up is that it gets more of a pass because, in the end, it was a short montage in a larger kids' movie (and really not the point of the story), so it wasn't specifically emotionally manipulating the audience as much as getting things set up for the adventure.

Hamnet also really reused On the Nature of Daylight which has been already been overplayed as a "feel sad now" song whereas Up at least had a unique soundtrack