Our Paradoxical Enjoyment of Film

Exploring This Idea With The Aid Of Christopher Nolan’s Genius

B. N. Dent

Today, the English director Christopher Nolan is most recognisable for his direction of films including The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, and of course Oppenheimer – all excellent films you should definitely watch if you haven’t already. However, whilst Nolan’s neo-noir thriller, “Memento” (2000), is regarded as his breakthrough film, it is less known by today’s viewing audience, probably due to the timing of its release which prevented it from achieving as much commercial success as his later films.

Shot from Memento

Regardless of its differing level of commercial success, there is certainly no disparity in quality in contrast to his more recent films. Through strong performances and innovative storytelling, the film is able to express the complexities of existentialism, identity, and perception that the protagonist, suffering from short-term memory loss, faces every day. The innovative storytelling involved in Memento involves two timelines that run parallel in opposite directions: a black and white subjective timeline, and a colourful objective timeline. As such, whilst brilliant, the film is often difficult to follow. Personally, I was left scratching my head at the end of the film and felt that I needed a break from the break that I was taking by watching the movie. Once my brain had recovered, I watched a video of an interview with Christopher Nolan that took place just after Memento was released where he explains how the story flows. If you could not already tell that Christopher Nolan was a genius just via his masterful ability to portray impossible concepts on screen, then watch this interview. It can be found on YouTube and the title of the video is “18-Minute Analysis By Christopher Nolan On Story & Construction Of Memento.”

Nolan Cooking

In addition to being starstruck by Nolan’s perfect visual illustration of Memento’s plotline, which he draws after stating that he “doesn’t think diagrammatically,” I also was enlightened by some very fascinating ideas surrounding how audiences and the individual perceive films. Although I only clicked on the video with the hopes of finding a solid explanation, I left with an insight which I found far more interesting. Among many, the insight that shone brightest was that: “Most movies present a quite comfortable universe where we are given an objective truth that we don’t get in everyday life. It’s one of the reasons we go to the movies.” I guess that the reason this quotation stood out to me is because I’d never really thought about movies like that. Sure, I had recognised the idea that films can offer us the ability to take a break from our reality, placing us in a completely different one. However, I had never thought about our joy in watching movies stemming from the comfort we find in an objective reality, and yet it makes complete sense. Most of the stress and chaos in our lives stems from the not knowing. Imagine if you could gain vision into all the uncertainties in your life. All of the conversations you cannot hear, all of the signs you miss, all of the tests you cannot foresee. When we watch films, we may not get to make the character’s decisions which would lead to the happy ending, but at least we can find comfort in the objective surrounding.

But where does the paradox of our viewing enjoyment come into play? I think it stems from the fact that whilst we do exhibit a tendency to find solace in objective realities, we also have a great desire for surprise and unexpectedness. Just like in all walks of life, if we find a task becoming too repetitive or predictable a feeling of boredom starts to develop, and we begin to crave for something new. Consequently, I feel that films which struggle to navigate this paradox in being unpredictable whilst still understandable are ultimately less entertaining. Nolan’s films are a testament to this statement. Amidst their chaos, they demonstrate how this paradox can be eloquently navigated and lead to a wonderful experience for the viewer. To finish, I leave you with a quote from Nolan which I think brilliantly sums up his philosophy behind filmmaking and is ultimately emblematic of his unique style: “one of the things I love about directing is the multifaceted nature of the challenge. The idea of a narrative that is a maze or a labyrinth rather than being above that maze and watching the characters make mistakes and wrong turns, you would enter the maze kind of looking over their shoulders and make the wrong turns with them and find the blind alleys with them. There is a feeling of reality, a feeling of being somewhere that matters.”