
The Nolan Variations
The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan
Tom Shone(Author)
Faber & Faber (Publisher)
Published on 5. November 2020
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-571-34798-8 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Description
A rare, intimate portrait of Hollywood's reigning 'blockbuster auteur' whose deeply personal billion-dollar movies have established him as the most successful director to come out of the British Isles since Alfred Hitchcock.
'A masterclass . . . brilliant. Immersive, detailed, meticulous, privileged inside-dope.' - Craig Raine
More than just the tinkerings of a glass watchmaker, Christopher Nolan's films have an unerring grasp of the way time makes us feel. Time steals people away in his films, and he takes careful note of the theft. Time is Nolan's great antagonist, his lifelong nemesis. He seems almost to take it personally.
Written with the full cooperation of Nolan himself, who granted Tom Shone access to never-before-seen photographs, storyboards and sketches, the book is a deep-dive into the director's films, influences, methods and obsessions. Here for the first time is Nolan on his dislocated, transatlantic childhood, how he dreamed up the plot of Inception lying awake one night in his dorm at school, his colour-blindness and its effect on Memento, his obsession with puzzles and optical illusions - and much, much more. Written by one of our most penetrating critics, The Nolan Variations is a landmark study of one of the twenty-first century's most dazzling cinematic artists.
'Christopher Nolan is a wonderfully unlikely contemporary filmmaker. We're fortunate indeed to have him, and fortunate now to have this book.' - William Gibson
'A masterclass . . . brilliant. Immersive, detailed, meticulous, privileged inside-dope.' - Craig Raine
More than just the tinkerings of a glass watchmaker, Christopher Nolan's films have an unerring grasp of the way time makes us feel. Time steals people away in his films, and he takes careful note of the theft. Time is Nolan's great antagonist, his lifelong nemesis. He seems almost to take it personally.
Written with the full cooperation of Nolan himself, who granted Tom Shone access to never-before-seen photographs, storyboards and sketches, the book is a deep-dive into the director's films, influences, methods and obsessions. Here for the first time is Nolan on his dislocated, transatlantic childhood, how he dreamed up the plot of Inception lying awake one night in his dorm at school, his colour-blindness and its effect on Memento, his obsession with puzzles and optical illusions - and much, much more. Written by one of our most penetrating critics, The Nolan Variations is a landmark study of one of the twenty-first century's most dazzling cinematic artists.
'Christopher Nolan is a wonderfully unlikely contemporary filmmaker. We're fortunate indeed to have him, and fortunate now to have this book.' - William Gibson
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 192 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
1310 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-571-34798-8 (9780571347988)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions

Book
02/2024
Faber & Faber
€31.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2020
Faber & Faber
€24.99
Available for download
Person
Tom Shone was the film critic of the Sunday Times from 1994 until 1999. He is the author of five books, including Tarantino: A Retrospective and Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, Intelligent Life and Vogue. He currently teaches film history and criticism at New York University.