Filmed using 16-mm camera with grainy black-and-white films, only on weekends and on a tight financial leash, Following would be expected to be a good experimental effort by a wannabe filmmaker at the most. On the contrary, this British indie with a heavy leaning towards classic noirs (what with its Expressionistic B/W feel) has turned out to be a brilliant debut feature by Christopher Nolan. Told in flashbacks and employing fractured narratives, Following tells the tale of a down-and-out-of-luck two-bit writer, who out of severe loneliness and boredom develops the strange habit of following people. And as is usually the case in film noirs, this apparently harmless little habit, followed by his partnership with a fellow loner, and a relationship with a damsel in distress/femme fatale that starts developing out of thin air, sets him up for dark, ugly consequences and clears his path for his walk down to doom. The movie is well enacted and very well edited, and the twists are worth savouring. Watching this mesmerizing and beguiling piece of work would leave one in no doubt that Following is a prequel of sorts (and a damn worthy one at that) to Nolan’s audacious follow-up, Memento.
To read a larger review of Following by me, click here.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Thriller/Post-Noir/Psychological Thriller
Language: English
Country: UK
4 comments:
Now there's a good film. It's a great start for Nolan's career. You can see his style in it, that's for sure.
Absolutely. A great start to a career that has shaped up pretty good.
Indeed. It's a bit uneven, but considering that it's essentially a student film, it's great. A harbinger of things to come.
I'm a bit skeptic on your views that it is uneven. But I completely agree with your view that its great.
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