Films that hit great feats for cinema are what writer, producer and director Christopher Nolan has become known for. Since his breakout recreating the well-known and loved Batman from DC Comics, Nolan has catapulted into the brave form of filmmaking that many love him for. Things remain the same with his upcoming film, The Odyssey.
A film adaptation of one of the oldest recorded tales in history, The Odyssey, will be much more than its origin story. Recently speaking with The New York Times, Nolan reiterated his belief that the film industry will be saved with new ideas. The fresh takes and different views are what we need to progress and gain our traction back.
We all know the industry has been in decline for years now. Nolan’s beliefs in independent and new ideas have long been known. Speaking with the paper, he references the overall health of the industry once more. Discussing his ideas and standpoint that the bigger studios should take more risks with blockbusters. Audiences are smarter than we believe; they are easy to dismiss those who play it safe, instead of giving us something worthwhile:
“If you’re really interested in movies and the history of movies, the one thing you see absolutely is that you have to take risks to succeed. The biggest risk of all is to play it safe. That’s what, consistently in mainstream movies, doesn’t work. The audience is looking for something new.
The risk is in the intermediaries — the financiers, the studio. If you can get to the audience — I mean, I’m not making any predictions for [THE ODYSSEY], but in the past we’ve been well rewarded for having faith in the audience.”
The big and epic, Nolan is also known for his twists through time and narrative. He explained to The New York Times that when he was pitching his 2000 classic Memento, his wife and producing partner, Emma Thomas, was worried about the narrative structure of the film. Concerned about the reverse-chronology structure being too much for audiences.
Instead of this being a worry for Nolan, he argued that taking formal risks would make his films distinctive and offer something new to audiences. And in doing so, he has now become well known for playing with film structure and changing timelines in his films.
The Odyssey is in cinemas on July 17th.
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