"He's trying to be a modern Kubrick and I think he would be better off being a modern Hitchcock." - Christopher Priest
During
Utopiales, the annual international science fiction festival held in Nantes, France, the French entertainment website,
Skript, chatted with the author of
The Prestige, Christopher Priest. During the conversation, Priest explains how Nolan ended up as the director that would adapt his 1995 Victorian era novel about dueling magicians. In 2001, the film rights to
The Prestige became available, and Priest's agent received three offers. One was from director
Sam Mendes, who was garnering a lot of attention at that time for
American Beauty, which would go on to win the
Academy Award for Best Picture that year. Another offer was from Newmarket Films, a studio affiliated with Warner Bros.. They were trying to acquire the rights for
Christopher Nolan, who had read the novel a year before. Priest was keen on Mendes, and when word got back to Nolan's team they rushed a courier to Priest's home with a copy of Nolan's 1998 film,
Following. After watching it, Priest selected Nolan over Mendes. He says that he did so because he has always believed in "
supporting young talent." It then took Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, five years to finish the script. Their hard work certainly paid off, as Priest says it is one of Nolan's "best" films.
And that is where the compliments end. Priest then goes on to say that Nolan's following films have been "
shallow and poorly written." Ouch! He says his kids find Nolan's
Batman films to be "
boring and pretentious." He doesn't believe Nolan should have brought "
psychological realism" to his superhero films. "There is no psychological realism. He's a bodybuilder that jumps off buildings," Priest jokes. He thinks superhero films should be fun like The Avengers and Iron Man.
Priest tries to backup his opinion by pointing out that the children at the theater where he saw Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were restless throughout both films. He says many of the kids chatted with each other, texted on their phones and continuously left to use the restroom. The only time their attention was fixated on the screen was when a thrilling action sequence occurred.
The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector's Edition
Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.
The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
The Dark Knight Rises: It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.