File 3 - Christopher Nolan

1 audio cassette tape, 2 WAV files (653.6 MB and 150 MB)

Audio recording of an interview with film director Christopher Nolan in front of a live audience as part of the Guardian sponsored National Film Theatre Guardian interview series.

The recording begins with host Geoff Andrew of the National Film Theatre introducing the event and a screeing of Nolan’s most recent film Insomnia. Andrew then introduces a selection of other film clips showcasing Nolan’s work before proceeding to put questions to Nolan. The recording takes the form of a question and answer session with members of the audience from 46.06 on track 1.

A summary of key topics is included below.

Track 1:
00.00 Introductions and film clips
03:55 Where he developed his unusual approach to narrative
07:20 Advantages of returning to a linear structure with Insomnia; a comparison with Memento
11:49 The comparative emotional depths of Insomnia and Memento
12:51 Guy Pearce’s performance in Memento and Pacino’s performance in Insomnia
14:06 Psychological film genre; the fear of not being in control
16:07 Moral questions in Insomnia
19:14 Approach to ‘genre’ filmmaking
21:13 Making Insomnia
28:12 Hallucinatory effects of fatigue and sound in Insomnia
30:30 Insomnia script; working with Hillary Seitz
32:56 Working with intelligent actors
36:18 Insomnia; working on different scale
38:12 Worries about ‘getting’ Memento
39:52 Writing Memento
42:38 The attraction of filmmaking
47:45 Where ‘genre’ filmmaking is going now
49:10 The process of working with different actors: Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank
52:58 Does a producers’ power influence his filming decisions?
54:40 Editing his films; working with Dody Dorn
57:47 Moving to the US; landscape of the films
1:00:40 Characterisation in Insomnia

Track 2:
00:00 Characterisation in thrillers; influenced by Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (cont.)
03:07 Current and future projects; the Howard Hughes project
03:48 Memento DVD that can be played chronologically
05:54 Interest of proposed Howard Hughes project
06:39 Directing and writing
08:24 Morality in Insomnia; motivation in Memento and Insomnia
11:40 Using film storyboards.

Films mentioned in the course of the interview include: Following; Memento; Insomnia and Strangers on a Train.

Creator: British Film Institute (BFI), 1933-

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd, 1967

Access to recording via GNM Digital Repository