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| Birth Name(s) : Christopher Johnathan James Nolan |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
Emma Thomas (1997-) |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Christopher Nolan Biography
Christopher Nolan (born July 30, 1970) is an Academy Award nominated film director, writer and producer. The son of an English father and American mother, Nolan is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and United States. He is married to Emma Thomas, his longtime producer. They have three children together and reside in Los Angeles. Nolan is best known for directing the psychological thriller Memento and for resurrecting the Batman film franchise in the critically acclaimed Batman Begins.
Nolan was educated at Haileybury College, an independent school near Hertford in Hertfordshire, England, and later studied English literature at University College London while filming several short films in the college film society. His short film Tarantella was shown on Image Union, an independent film and video showcase featured on PBS, in 1989. Another short film of his, Larceny, was shown during Cambridge Film Festival in 1996. One notable short film of his was called Doodlebug starring Jeremy Theobald who later starred in Following. He married Emma Thomas in 1997.
The way extreme states of the mind can distort perception of reality and ability to function also seem to appear constantly in his work. In Memento, it was a memory disorder making the leading character lose his skill to retain knowledge. In Insomnia, lack of sleep induces the protagonist to lose concentration and energy. In Batman Begins, intense - and sometimes induced - fear constantly makes characters perceive people and things as more dangerous than they really are. In The Prestige, obsessive behavior turns two friends into rivals and sends them into a downward spiral.
Nolan directed his first feature film, Following, in 1996. The film depicts the story of a writer who becomes obsessed with following random people. Scenes are shown out of chronological order, and as such the viewer becomes disoriented, having to piece together the elements of the story in the same way as the protagonist pieces together what is going on around him.
While not a gargantuan hit but still a box office success, Memento (2000) is a critically acclaimed cult classic and was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award (Oscar) for best screenplay.
As of August 2007, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) ranks Memento at number twenty-seven in its list of the top 250 films of all time.
In 2002 Nolan directed Insomnia, an American remake of a 1997 Norwegian film of the same name (although with major changes in both the plot and the nature of the main character). The plot involves two detectives brought to Alaska to assist local authorities locate a killer. However, the search occurs during the "sunny" season in Alaska, and the film's protagonist, Al Pacino, is unable to sleep because of the constant light. His days without sleep lead to bad decisions and Nolan's characteristic confusion, for both the protagonist and the viewer. The film also stars Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank. The movie was praised by critics as a rare case of a well-done American remake of an European film, and although it wasn't a giant hit, it still had a solid box office performance.
As of October, 2007, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) ranks Batman Begins at number 97 in its list of the top 250 films of all time.
Batman Begins was a major winner at the 32nd annual Saturn Awards, considered the most important awards devoted to genre fans. The film won for Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor for Christian Bale and Best Writing for Nolan and Goyer.
In the months following the film's release, Nolan made numerous comments suggesting that he would return to direct the sequel to Batman Begins. In late July 2006, the sequel was officially confirmed as The Dark Knight with Nolan at the helm and Heath Ledger joining the cast as The Joker, Batman's arch-nemesis. The first image of Ledger as The Joker was released in a viral marketing campaign that included putting Joker cards in several comic shops and also a website with fake advertisement for Gotham's attorney Harvey Dent campaigning for District Attorney. The advertisement was "vandalized" in a different site that included a game in which people could post codes that would reveal the image one pixel at a time. Another viral campaign was made as the first teaser trailer was released, including several fans putting on Joker make-up and participating in a scavenger hunt during the 2007 San Diego Comics Convention. Actress Katie Holmes, who played the hero's romantic interest in Begins, has been replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose brother Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in 2003. Aaron Eckhart, who turned down the leading role in Memento, is going to play Harvey Dent, who in the comics becomes the villain Two-Face. Eric Roberts is going to portray Gotham mafia boss Sal Maroni, who in the comics is responsible for Harvey Dent's disfigurement by acid that makes him become Two-Face. Jonathan Nolan has written a script, based on a treatment written by Christopher and David S. Goyer. The film began production in early 2007 with a scheduled July 2008 release. |
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