Christopher Nolan is arguably one of the greatest filmmakers of the modern era. With his flair for manipulating time and space while merging the elements of science fiction with drama, the prolific director has proved that no genre is too vast for him to explore and tackle. His eclectic repertoire of films are shining examples of his versatility as a filmmaker.
Apart from his directorial skills, Nolan is also famously known for his personal quirks namely his reluctance to own a smartphone and not having an email address for communication, among other things. While there has been a sense of intrigue surrounding these traits, the Memento filmmaker finally revealed the logic behind these actions in a recent interview.
What’s The Connection Between Christopher Nolan and The Wire?
There is always so much to unpack when Christopher Nolan speaks about cinema or anything outside of it. The prolific director who has given Hollywood many memorable films, is also known for his interesting personality traits. While many of his actors including Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. have revealed the off-beat nature of a Nolan set, The Prestige director also has a few quirky characteristics like living life off the grid.
The Oscar nominee has admitted many times to not owing a smartphone and not possessing an e-mail address – two aspects of modern life that are considered absolutely impossible to live without. Nolan went as far as implementing this policy on set as well. Now, fans of the filmmaker who have been dying to know the reasons behind this, are getting an answer right from the horse’s mouth.
In an appearance in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host asked Nolan about his aversion to smartphones and jokingly wondered if he used a burner phone instead to communicate. Nolan sportingly went on with the banter and named the popular HBO crime drama The Wire as his inspiration.
“I don’t have an email address. I’ve never used email. And I don’t have a smartphone. I will carry a pay-as-you-go dumb phone thing. I was inspired by The Wire, definitely,”
To put his words into context, burner phones played a significant role in The Wire as the main characters would keep disposing them off when they feared that they would be caught on the wrong side of the law. Jokes apart, Nolan went on to add that he was a stickler for discipline on set, and distractions like the smartphone hampered the progress of the scenes and took away the impact and mood on set that he had worked to hard to create
Why Cillian Murphy Will Be A Lifelong Fan Of Christopher Nolan
Quirks and eccentricities aside, there is no one quite like Christopher Nolan in Hollywood when it comes to getting the best out of his cast and crew. While The Dark Knight director’s maverick methods may not be palatable to everyone, his actors have vouched for his genius time and again. Cillian Murphy who gave a career-defining performance in Oppenheimer, has been a Nolan favorite over multiple films.
Playing the central lead for the first time in Oppenheimer gave Murphy a chance to further admire his director’s awe-inspiring skills as an artist. The Golden Globe winner was effusive in his praise for the film and the director, stating that it was the best script he had ever read. Speaking of Nolan’s unique approach to tackling the character and the brief that was given to him, Murphy said to Rolling Stone,
“He wanted it to be solely from Oppenheimer’s perspective. And I think the film is sensational. As a person who loves films — I’m not saying it ’cos I’m in the f*****g thing, I hate looking at myself — but as a lover of film, as a cinephile, I’m a Chris Nolan fan,”
Cillian Murphy went on to add that the Tenet director’s ability to integrate the audience into the narrative despite working with complex themes and powerful personalities, made him stand apart as an artist. True to his words, Oppenheimer made an indelible mark with viewers across the world and is expected to complete a clean sweep of the awards season at the Oscars 2024.
