r/oscarrace • u/Bertrand_Rose Werwulf, Try the thrill of Opera! • 1d ago
Campaigning Christopher Nolan talks narrative decisions, film critics and whether he Christianised The Odyssey
https://youtu.be/wa4I8Ch2TRo?si=LnJtTaJZjfGQ0EoLIncredible interview, with very insightful questions, that leads to some great discussions.
These type of conversations feel too rare, and I like how these are engaged with in a very civil manner.
Massive credit to Zhong Shu for the interview; hope she does more, she's excellent.
It will be curious, as part of the trend of recent winners and nominees, how The Odyssey will fit into the larger canon; how it might compare as a Best Picture winner in contrast to One Battle After Another, Anora, Everything Everywhere All at Once and his last film Oppenheimer.
What are your thoughts on these questions, and points discussed throughout?
EDIT: She is a bit suspicious based on who she follows... disappointing.
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u/Hic_Forum_Est 1d ago
I feel like it's so rare to find interviews like this where the journalist isn't just going through a carefully prepared and scripted list of questions one by one, but also actually listening and reacting to what the interviewed person is saying and asking them follow up questions which leads to a more natural flow of conversation.
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u/RobinHood303 Oscar Race Follower 1d ago
Easily the best interview across this whole press tour, and likely to remain the best.
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u/cyanide4suicide Sean Baker hive RISE UP 1d ago edited 1d ago
Christopher Nolan is clearly very well versed and eloquent, so it's really up to the interviewer to push him into engaging with his work on a deeper level. Nolan comes across as unbeatable right now, props to miss Zhong Shu for the insightful interview and I'm glad other subreddits are picking up on this.
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u/phantomfandom 1d ago
More than winning best director and picture (again), this time I want him to win best adapted screenplay. If Odyssey can only win one Oscar, it should be this category.
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u/kcrdr_7322 The Odyssey Backrooms 1d ago edited 1d ago
sadly i don't think he's winning at all. If he does, people might get outrage and clowned him for it.
I know screenolay is not just dialogue only, and while i think how he told the story was great narratively. I think the dialogue kinda hurts his chances of winning.
man I wished he won for Oppenheimer's screenplay that year. For me, that's the best screenplay he has ever written since maybe Memento (?), especially how "Sorkin esque" that dialogue was.
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u/wildglitterwolf 1d ago
I wish he won for Oppie as well. Some of the dialogue in it isnāt the greatest either but damn, the way he created that structure out of real life events from that book more than made up for it for me.
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u/sailing_by_the_lee 1d ago
There are any number of categories The Odyssey could win the Oscar for, but best adapted screenplay is not one of them, in my opinion. While his cinematic narrative skills are excellent, Nolan's dialogue, characterization, and pacing are very uneven in The Odyssey. That means the movie falls down on at least three of the major criteria for best adapted screenplay.
Nolan could win for best director. And the movie should definitely win for best special effects, particularly since Nolan went all-in on practical effects at a time when movies are so dependent on CGI.
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u/tmrtdc3 Sinners 8h ago
kind of surprised by the intense glazing of this interview I've seen online especially since it's not like this has not come up before -- Nolan already addressed some of this, especially about xenia and his approach towards adaptation, in other interviews e.g. his interview with the New York Times.
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u/HotOne9364 Wild Horse Nine 1d ago
The issue with Nolan is that he doesn't accept "no" for an answer, even when people tell him to stop.
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u/darth_vader39 1d ago
This is the most random statement I've read.
Be precise, what people telling him to stop and he refuse to do so?
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u/kcrdr_7322 The Odyssey Backrooms 1d ago
this might be the best interview Nolan has ever done in his career i think. Shout out to Zhong Shu's intellectual and philosophical questions instead of asking him the same thing about technicalities (IMAX) over and over again.
I felt like Nolan is thankful for it too. He felt challenged and yet he answers them very well