On episode 152 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter discuss the first film in their Christopher Nolan series, Following (1998).
Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to break down, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.
At our current moment in cinema history, there is no other living director that compares to Christopher Nolan; he reigns supreme. In making some of the most memorable, eventful, successful films of the last 30 years, it was only a matter of time before Ryan and Jay tackled his filmography, and in doing so, they must start all the way back at the beginning, where Nolan lacked the resources he has today, making a noir thriller (on the weekends while working his day job) about a man who follows people and ends up following the wrong person down a rabbit hole of con artistry at its finest. A very small debut for Nolan that laid out the good and the bad tendencies that would be discovered about the famed director over the course of his bigger projects. Ryan and Jay break down their thoughts on the film, the smaller scale and scope compared to his bigger projects, their relationships with Nolan as a director, the lack of momentum in the film’s story and pace, and how, in this early era of his filmography, Nolan will never get back to this small size of filmmaking ever again.
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This podcast runs 1h44m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Christopher Nolan with a review of his next film, Memento. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
