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Christopher Nolan's Favorite Films

12 films

Films Christopher Nolan has cited as personal favourites and key influences, not films he directed.

Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan’s cinema is built on precision, scale and intellectual ambition. The films he has repeatedly named as favourites reveal the sources of that ambition: Kubrick’s cosmic philosophy, Fritz Lang’s architectural nightmares, Michael Mann’s cool professionalism, David Lean’s epic landscapes and the pure suspense mechanics of classic thrillers. This set gathers the pictures Nolan himself has cited as personal touchstones — the movies that taught him how to stage a set-piece, how to manipulate time and perception, and how to make the biggest possible film feel intimate and urgent.

The Thin Red Line

1998 Drama, History, War

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

1933 Crime, Mystery, Thriller

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.

Alien

1979 Horror, Science Fiction

During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

Chariots of Fire

1981 Drama, History

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.

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