Christopher Nolan Essay

910 Words4 Pages

Christopher Nolan has a set style of directing which we see echoed throughout his films. The films are filled with ambiguity and unease, which are partially transmitted through journeys of identity construction and endings. We get the recurring central question of hero or antihero.The antagonist and protagonist in Nolan’s films are mostly mirror images of each other. Nolan is known to create great juxta positioning, especially in showing good vs. evil. We can see how his directing skills are used in the films of the Dark Knight Trilogy and the Dunkirk trailer. In all his movies and trailers we see Nolan’s directing skills used to create brilliant films. In the two Batman films, Nolan focused on the creation of Batman, and more importantly …show more content…

In both Batman and the Dunkirk trailer Nolan forces us to think about who is the hero of the film and if they may also be the anti-hero. By having the British and French seemed trapped in every way it immediately makes them seem innocent. The trailer shows the enemy picking them off slowly but surely making the opposing side, Germans (the anti-heroes).However, saying that there is still no definite hero for Dunkirk. It is no longer possible, in the world created by Nolan, to have traditional heroes or villains. In many of Nolan’s films, a main character starts off with redeeming qualities only to be shown later as having evil qualities. These characters can be the protagonist or someone who is at first assisting the protagonist. They often start off as heroic or seem like they have good intentions, but by the end of the film are anti-heroes. The Dark Knight creates an ambiance of unease throughout the film by constantly shifting identities and allegiances. There is no clear good guy or bad guy, with the Joker standing up to the crime lords, Dent dissolving into Two-Face, and Bruce retreating into Batman. In the final scenes of the film, the Joker and Batman ultimately refuse to kill each other, while Dent attempts to shoot a boy. To protect the ideals he shared with Dent, Batman adopts the role of anti-hero, rejecting traditional notions of good or

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