Chris Nolan Auteur Essay

Auteur theory could be applied to Christopher Nolan as his films feature recurring elements, the theory its self, derives from an â€Å"influential group of French film critics and film makers during the 1950’s† (Nykki Montano film 110). Auteur theory examines the individual creative vision and personal perspective of the director, an auteur will feature recurring themes in their films, from using the same actors as the protagonist for their films to even using the same cinematographer and composer for the soundtrack. The unique qualities that make Christopher Nolan an auteur are that, for most of his movies Nolan plays on the fragility of memory, for example giving his characters split personality’s or memory loss. This can be seen in Nolan’s 2000 film Memento. The Film Memento isn’t the type of film that has a definite answer. The movie is actually just one big interpretive question. The basic question on everyone’s mind being â€Å"what is actually going on in this movie?† Since the story is told backwards and is about a man, Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce) who suffers from a memory disorder. Nolan and Guy’s character state, â€Å"It’s not amnesia.† This makes the movie even more questionable, because the audience is given another factor of confusion that is, can this character be trusted. The way Nolan portrays the joker in the dark night is also typical of the director, as the joker is given no identity, much like Leonard Shelby in Memento Another trait of is that he frequently uses hard cuts when transitioning to the next scene. This is noticeable in his films from ‘Batman Begins’ onward, especially in The Dark Knight, as in some instances, the hard cuts he uses will go so far as to nearly cut off character’s lines in order to quickly and efficiently get to the next scene.