Christopher Nolan has earned his place among the pantheon of great directors. He combines arthouse creativity with mainstream entertainment in a way few filmmakers can. His noir-inspired films are known for their unconventional narrative structures, mind-bending plots and large-scale special effects. Nolan's best work is also intellectually ambitious, often grappling with weighty themes and complex characters. His current project, the biopic Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy, is set to be released next year.

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Like most great storytellers, Nolan is a devoted film fan. Over the years, he has shared many of the movies that have inspired him. His recommendations include deep cuts and forgotten gems that provide some insight into Nolan's development as a director. Odds are, Nolan's fans will find a few of his picks enjoyable as well.

Bad Timing (1980)

bad timing

Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell and Harvey Keitel star in this psychological thriller. It documents the tempestuous relationship between Milena and Alex, two young Americans in Vienna. A detective pieces together the events following Milena's suicide attempt

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Bad Timing is directed by Nicolas Roeg, who also made the horror Don't Look Now, starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Roeg's work, particularly its jarring, impactful editing, has been cited as an influence by not just Nolan, but also directors Steven Soderbergh, Danny Boyle and Edgar Wright.

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Foreign Correspondent

In this spy thriller, an American journalist (John McCrea) in London races to expose a conspiracy in the months leading up to World War II. The story was aimed at American audiences at a time when the United Kingdom was trying to get the USA to enter the war.

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Foreign Correspondent was Alfred Hitchcock's second Hollywood film after relocating from the UK. It's one of the thriller master's less iconic works, but it's definitely worth watching. Nolan said that Dunkirk was particularly influenced by a scene in Foreign Correspondent where a plane crashes into the ocean.

Mr. Arkadin (1955)

Mr arkadin

Mr. Arkadin is one of Orson Welles's lesser known films. Like Citizen Kane, it revolves around an enigmatic tycoon, played by Welles (with epic facial hair) who blackmails an American businessman called Zouk (Akim Tamiroff). A small-time smuggler (Robert Arden) warns Zouk about a plot against him, which unfolds into a larger Cold War tale. While decidedly uneven, Nolan has said that the film contains "heartbreaking glimpses of the great man’s genius." There are various versions of Mr. Arkadin floating around, but the Criterion edit released in 2006 is probably the best.

Interesting bit of trivia: this was the film that made the parable of the scorpion and the frog famous in the English-speaking world. Prior to this, the story was known only in Russia. In the story, a scorpion asks a frog for a ride across a stream, promising not to sting him. During the journey, the scorpion stings the frog. When the frog asks why, the scorpion replies that it is in his nature.

Ryan's Daughter (1970)

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Set during WWI, Ryan's Daughter follows the romance between a married Irish woman (Sarah Miles) and a British officer (Robert Mitchum), and the community's fierce opposition to their relationship. It's a loose retelling of the classic novel Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. At over three hours long, it's a true epic.

Some have criticized the film's historical accuracy, especially the depiction of Irish nationalism, but it's worth it for the impressive performances and the directorial flair of David Lean, most famous for Doctor Zhivago. Nolan praised Ryan's Daughter for its landscape visuals, especially its shots of Irish beaches and the sea. Its opening shot, in particular, is memorable, showing a tiny figure running along a colossal cliff.

Topkapi (1964)

Topkapi

This heist film centers on a plot to steal an emerald-encrusted dagger from an old palace in Istanbul. Seemingly-ordinary woman Elizabeth (Melina Mercouri) enlists her criminal former lover Walter (Maximillian Schell) for the scam, and gets mixed up with a gang of thieves.

Topkapi is not as good as director Jules Dassin's noir classic Rififi, but it'll appeal to fans of crime capers, or someone looking for a '60s nostalgia trip. Nolan has said that he's a fan of Peter Ustinov's performance as small-time hustler Arthur Simpson, for which Ustinov won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi is an experimental documentary with no narrative, no dialogue and no narration. It simply depicts cities and landscapes in the United States, alongside a score by minimalist composer Philip Glass. It has been called a visual tone poem, and makes extensive use of time-lapse and slow motion. Its title means 'life out of balance' in the Hopi language.

The film certainly packs powerful visuals, and many critics have interpreted it as a warning about environmental disaster. Nolan praised Koyaanisqatsi for not being didactic, and instead allowing the audience to meditate on the imagery and come to their own conclusions.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

merry christmas mr lawaence

David Bowie stars in this WWII drama from director Nagisa Ōshima about a British soldier held captive in a Japanese POW camp. Ryuichi Sakamoto, also a musician, plays the camp's commander. Through the main characters, the film explores issues of culture clash and contrasting views about honor.

Ōshima was a leading figure in the Japanese New Wave, responsible for films including In the Realm of the Senses and The Ceremony. Nolan praised Ōshima for fully utilizing Bowie's charisma in this film, which inspired him to cast Bowie in The Prestige.

The Hit (1984)

The Hit

Two hit men transport a criminal (Terence Stamp) to his execution ten years after he ratted out the mob. But things do not go as planned. The Hit is a crime road film from director Stephen Frears, who made the social thriller Dirty Pretty Things and the comedy-drama Philomena starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.

Nolan praised The Hit as a story about what desperate men are capable of. John Hurt is great as hit man Braddock, as is Tim Roth as his sidekick Myron, in his film debut. The cinematography by Mike Molloy, all bleak landscapes and catastrophic interiors, adds to the intensity.

Street of Crocodiles (1986)

street of crocodiles

Street of Crocodiles is a stop-motion short film from the Brothers Quay, a pair of twin animators. It follows a puppet who is freed from his strings and sets out to explore his environment, but finds it desolate and lonely. It's a bleak tale, but boasts plenty of intriguing visuals. The filmmakers use various props, objects and toys to populate the puppet's world.

The camerawork and editing are also skillful and stylish, with lots of interesting use of focus and depth of field. The creepy visuals are held together by an evocative score, making for a dark and meditative vision. Street of Crocodiles is also a favorite of filmmaker Terry Gilliam and the band Nine Inch Nails, who reference the film in their 'Closure' music video.

For All Mankind (1989)

for all mankind

This documentary draws on original footage from the Apollo program to tell the story of the moon landing and the technology that went into it. Director Al Reinert combed through 80 hours of interviews and absurd amounts of footage. He splices together shots from various trips to appear like one journey, and succeeds in distilling the source material into an effective story.

The documentary is not even 90 minutes long, but manages to provide a great overview of one of humanity's greatest technical feats. The visuals of space and the moon are beautiful and otherworldly. It highlights the massive challenges of distance and gravity that the engineers and crew had to overcome. The imagery is complemented by the soundtrack from veteran producer Brian Eno. It's clear that the moon landing was a big inspiration on Nolan, particularly on his film Interstellar.

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