Christopher Nolan doesn’t plan to make small films, but he loves watching them

The Oppenheimer director cites Aftersun and Past Lives as his 2023 cinema favorites.

24 years after the release of Mementohis first film which revealed him at the Sundance festival, Christopher Nolan was questioned by the Time on the evolution of his cinema. After filming multi-hundred-million-dollar blockbusters, such asInceptionthe trilogy Dark Knight Or Interstellardoes he intend to return to more modest shoots?

The answer is no, even if he admits to loving “little films” as a spectator. Asked about his favorites of the year, he replied that he was won over by Aftersun “a very beautiful film” about a young girl’s vacation memories with her father, by Charlotte Wells, and Past Lives, “a work of magnificent subtlety” designed by Celine Song.

“Personally, I am attracted to large-scale films because I know that the opportunity to obtain such resources is fragile. I realize that there are many directors in the world who would give an eye or their teeth to obtain the budgets that I have to manage, and I feel a certain responsibility to use this money in the most productive and interesting way possible”, he answers.

Oppenheimer: Christopher Nolan’s film could be the last of its kind

The question of the budget is obviously not trivial, at a time when Oppenheimer was entitled to an exceptional production, then broke box office records. Remember that Universal invested $100 million in this biopic of the scientist behind the atomic bomb – not to mention its substantial promotion. The studio trusted the filmmaker to assemble a five-star cast and then attract audiences to the cinema. Despite the very serious subject of his film, Nolan had carte blanche on this ambitious project and was thus able to recreate Fort Alamo “Hard” and limiting digital special effects, even for the key nuclear test scene. All his efforts paid off: favoring an IMAX broadcast and taking advantage of the phenomenon “Barbenheimer”the film earned more than $300 million worldwide, and is now the favorite for the 2024 Oscars.

We don’t yet know what Christopher Nolan’s next film will be, but his response in the Time suggests that it will once again be a blockbuster. Still financed by Universal? Or will he be back at Warner Bros. ? For the moment, nothing concrete has been announced.

Christopher Nolan will receive an honorary César this year