Is Christopher Nolan an Auteur?

Christopher Nolan is cinema's most interesting directors. His movies have wide spread love and in some cases hate but there is no doubt that his movies have a lot of intrigue.

Chris Nolan has released this millennials best films such as Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception. His filmography is different, from the Sci-Fi to comic books but they all feel 'Nolan-esqu'.

This begs the question, is Christopher Nolan an auteur?

We must first discuss what an auteur is. In essence the Auteur theory created way back in the 1940's by Andre Bazin and Roger Leenhardt states that a director is the creative force, more than a screenwriter.

The blocking, lighting, position of a camera and scene length conveys the message of the film more than the plot line. The style of the film is what defines it. An example of an Auteur is Alfred Hitchcock, his suspense and sexual taboo has made it easy for any audience member to know they are watching a Hitchcock film.

Auteur theory projects the director responsible for a movies quality and their directing must be recognizable that anyone can differentiate their work with others.

REALISM

It becomes clear in every Nolan movie that it is set in some real world reality and has become a trademark for him. His movies differ in genre but it's the sense of realism that connects them to Nolan.

It was first prevalent in Batman Begins by taking the caped crusader and shoving him into the real world where Gotham was an actual city and every person was a real character not just a comic caricature. However this has always been with Nolan since his first feature Following, a film which a man follows people around for inspiration. With a limited budget, Nolan and his actors had to shoot in and around London.

Nolan also achieves his real world feel by the use of practical effects and location shooting. For Interstellar the space craft(above picture) was a real craft built for the actors. They even built actual compartment, tables and whiteboards. It was the detail that was put into the space craft that brought us closer, there were hidden seat on the floor and laptops shoved in cupboards that provided the realism. We might have not seen every thing in the space craft but it's that detail that makes a movie special.

For Doctor Mann's world, Nolan and his team went to Iceland and filmed on beautiful glaciers, bringing us closer to the extreme weather and environments the characters had to deal with.

IMAX 

Nolan is pioneering the use of IMAX and it has become an essential tool for him. He first used the IMAX camera for The Dark Knight but only for selected scenes. However it was never wasted and made The Dark Knight feel bigger.

It has been used for every other Nolan film since except Inception for the reason IMAX would lose the films dream quality. For Interstellar, Nolan used it the most and even fitted on a rocket miniature and actually breaking the very few IMAX cameras in the world.

It has become a staple for Nolan and when watching a his movie I look forward to the IMAX scenes because I know they will be visually stunning.

THEMES

In Chris Nolan movies, it becomes clear that his movies protagonist are all about the struggle of who they are. In Memento Leonard struggles to find out who he has become and uses tattoos to keep track of himself and the others around him.

In Batman Begins, Bruce travels far away from Gotham to find out who he is and how he can adapt to the world he lives in. The Dark Knight Rises Bruce again struggles with his identity of being Batman and eventually succumbs to the fact he'll have to die as Batman before he truly can live as Bruce.

Inception has Cobb struggle with the loss of his wife and children and distorts his reality to become the man he was, before his wife's death.

Interstellar has Cooper being a farmer even though he's the world best pilot. But when the time arises he finds out his true purpose and becomes Murph's ghost.

Nolan hits on identification and where his movie protagonist belong in their world. Everyone of them starts out lost and gradually finds out where they belong in their world.

CONCLUSION

Christopher Nolan is an auteur. His movies are distinct and can be recognized by the themes and techniques.

His style is similar to David Fincher with The Dark Knight being heavily influenced by Seven but Fincher is only an inspiration. Their works are two different animals.

Nolan's use of IMAX, his themes and realism helps audiences identify with him. Being an auteur means that a director's films are recognizable and can be affiliated back to them. This is the case for Nolan. We know when we are watching his films. 

Nolan will be remembered as a pioneer in film and deserves to be called an auteur.