Christopher Nolan Describes a ‘Real Problem’ In Amateur Film Criticism

Hot off the success of The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan was interviewed by Chinese podcast host Zhong Shu, during which he discussed a variety of topics, including what he considers “A real problem in Amateur film criticism.”

According to Nolan, the problem is that there is a “very accessible modern language of storytelling” that amateur critics don’t seem to see as essential to filmmaking. As Nolan explains:

“The criticism that’s often leveled at movies in general is, ‘Oh, the character has to be made sympathetic, so the character is manipulated in different ways or changed in different ways.’ And that’s a fundamental flaw of film criticism in a way, or storytelling criticism. Because to be able to identify the mechanism does not invalidate the mechanism. And that’s a real problem in criticism today.”

Nolan continued in his explanation, saying:

“Because people have this idea that, ‘Because I can understand why the story affects me the way it is, therefore, it didn’t work.’ That’s not how storytelling works. So, when we create a heroic figure in a story, as storytellers, we have to be mindful of the energy that the audience brings to that story and the interaction between our intention and the way the audience receives that. And the fact that that mechanism is identifiable to people doesn’t invalidate it.”

Nolan also explained his storytelling philosophy, saying:

“So, you’re looking at a lingua franca of storytelling created by Hollywood for the last hundred years that is effectively universal. And so, it is its own language, and that language is understood by people all over the world, which is what’s incredible about it. And it is a very, very accessible modern language of storytelling, and it has certain rules, it has conventions. You can break those conventions. You can bend them. You can move them. But you have to be aware of them the whole time.”

Finally, Nolan sums up his thoughts by saying:

“I’m thinking more of amateur criticism, because they feel they’ve identified the mechanism; they feel that it invalidates it. That can be true of certain elements, and film grammar, film language evolves with that. So when a trope becomes too familiar to an audience, then it has to be changed. But we do, as filmmakers, avail ourselves of that common language. We build on that understanding. Our audience has seen many films, and they understand that language.”