As an informed cinephile, Christopher Nolan has regularly mentioned the films that have influenced his work, more or less directly. But what is his favorite movie? His answer should surprise you… And it’s not Science Fiction!
Since bursting into orbit in 1998 with his first film, the neo-noir thriller Following, Christopher Nolan has since made a name for himself among Hollywood’s most influential directors. Known for his distinct cinematic style and his complex conceptual narratives (too many, some would say…), he has very regularly discussed over the years the material of his inspiration, his favorite films, and, by extension, the films that influenced his work, more or less directly.
In an interview withEntertainment Weekly in 2013, for example, he explained the impact that the discovery had had on the big screen, when he was very young, of 2001, a space odyssey, and the influence of the work of Stanley Kubrick on his film Interstellar, or that of The stuff of heroes.
For his film Dunkirk, he quoted “the visual splendour, intertwining narratives and aggressively anachronistic music of chariots of fire of Hugh Hudson“ as one of the sources of influence for his war film. In 2020, he spoke of the impact of Michael Mann’s film Heat on the creation of his characters in The Dark Knight.
If Nolan venerates many works of Science-Fiction, among which Blade Runner, Alien or even Star Wars, films at the opposite end of this spectrum figure very prominently in his personal pantheon; like Lawrence of Arabia.
A badly mutilated masterpiece
But what is his favorite movie? Well it is a silent film, a masterpiece dating from 1924: Les Rapaces, signed by Erich Von Stroheim. The story ? Having become a dentist illegally, McTeague marries Trina, a young woman who was introduced to him by his friend Marcus. But the young bride turns out to be stingy, especially since she won a big lottery win…
“As Ryan’s Daughter, the spectacle offered by the geography with the narration and its theme is extraordinary and inspiring. pure cinema” commented Nolan, speaking of a “lost work of an absolute genius” about Stroheim.
In 1924, the latter signed this film on behalf of MGM, where he depicts the degradation and destruction of human relationships around a winning lottery ticket changing the destiny of a group of individuals. legendary movie, Raptors would have been that of excess, with a first cut that would have lasted 7 hours; others even mention a duration of 10 hours.
Below is a small excerpt from the film…
Almost systematically bringing with him a perfume of scandal and sulfur to portray the animality lurking in every man, Stroheim aroused the ire of the leagues of virtue, while Hollywood frantically waved the scissors of censorship over his works.
With the exception of Blind Husbands and The Merry Widow, all his films will be cut by half, two-thirds or even three-quarters, as was precisely the case for Raptors.
Tired of his nonconformity and deemed too untenable, the studios ended up chasing him in 1928, which forced Stroheim to put his career as a director on hold to make the actor. When he returned to Europe at the end of his painful experience as a director in the United States, Stroheim declared, logically bitter: “Hollywood killed me”.
Released on DVD in 2013 in an edition embellished with very interesting supplements, this one has unfortunately been out of print for a while, and is now sold at a gold price. However, it remains visible on VOD. A film to really discover. What is more, very, very warmly recommended by a filmmaker with a very sharp cinephilia.