Christopher Nolan is a talented man, known for a love of non-linear storytelling and the ability to deliver a thoroughly original cinematic experience.
Think Interstellar, Inception, Insomnia and of course the film that brought this gifted director to the world’s attention, Memento, starring Guy Pearce as a man with non-existent short term memory who’s attempting to enact vengeance on the people who killed his wife.
This remarkable film, which tells its main story in reverse while still packing a powerful revelatory punch, and a backstory in a normal linear direction, is a masterful piece of work which, as the ever-informative Michael Tucker from Lessons from a Screenplay beautifully explains, succeeds in engaging its audience by keeping them as much in the dark as the protagonist.
It’s a tricky, complex narrative balancing act but it works, and works brilliantly, and you need to watch Michael’s immensely interesting video essay to fully appreciate why this is such a significant achievement.
Oh, and while you’re there, think about sponsoring him on Patreon so he can continue to deliver up his info-rich, engagingly-delivered Lessons from the Screenplay.