Jonathan Nolan: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to honor acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter Jonathan Nolan with a specially curated retrospective celebrating both his recent work in television and his most memorable collaborations as a screenwriter for this generation’s most beloved films. Join us as we welcome the prodigious filmmaker for an in-person discussion about his work on the critically acclaimed FALLOUT and WESTWORLD.

One of the most influential films of the 21st century, based on a short story written by Jonathan Nolan, is MEMENTO, which marked the first collaboration between the brothers; a riveting neo-noir that explores the depths of memory and identity, blurring the lines of reality. The Nolan brothers’ take on the psychological thriller continued to blossom as their careers progressed. In THE PRESTIGE, in which Jonathan Nolan contributed as a screenwriter, themes of identity and obsession are examined through the science of cloning and the moral implications of such a reality informed by “magic.”

After the colossal success of their take on the Batman story, highlighted by the masterpiece THE DARK KNIGHT, the Nolans’ singular vision of genre-bending films crescendoed into a modern day epoch of blockbusters with an unparalleled complexity. Perhaps their most acclaimed collaboration during this period, INTERSTELLAR, is a science fiction epic that traverses time and space to unveil the Nolan brothers’ most poignant assessment of the human condition, at the heart of which is simply the story of a father and daughter. Jonathan Nolan’s ventures into television have seen him continue placing extremely human stories within larger, high-concept cinematic worlds. In both FALLOUT and WESTWORLD, Nolan constructs dystopian futures in which his characters must adapt to rapidly changing societies.