Ryan Coogler is thanking fellow filmmaker Christopher Nolan for not only inspiring him, but also making the world a better place thanks to Nolan’s art. “Sinners” director Coogler selected Nolan’s directorial debut “Following” while visiting the Criterion Closet in the below video, and couldn’t help but praise Nolan for changing cinema.
“This is my guy. I’ve come to know him. I’ve come to know his wife [producer Emma Thomas]. Amazing people,” Coogler said. “First and foremost, they’re just lovers of cinema, and lovers of family. The world is richer because they’re making movies.”
Coogler added that Nolan is a “mentor of mine,” no doubt since they both share indie filmmaking roots, have gone on to helm large IP installments (the “Black Panther” and “Dark Knight” respective trilogies), and also direct original blockbusters. The duo also champion IMAX technology.
Related Stories
Nolan’s directorial debut “Following” premiered at Slamdance 1999. The film centers on an aspiring writer who stalks people to find inspiration. “It’s just brilliant because it’s obviously the most indie you’ll ever see…Mr. Nolan, he’s finding his way,” Coogler said while in the Criterion Closet (Criterion released “Following” in 2012). “A lot of the Christopher Nolan trademarks are here in this movie.”
Coogler also selected “Thief” by Michael Mann as being a film “in discussion” with “Following.” Mann’s 1981 feature “Thief” is a neo-noir heist movie starring the late James Caan.
“I do think that in observing Chris’ movies, I think that Michael Mann is a big influence,” Coogler said. “You can feel it quite a bit when you look at this film. If you haven’t seen this movie [‘Thief’], holy fucking shit, this movie.”
And “Thief” also changed the game for crafts in filmmaking: Coogler added, “What I heard is that…a rumor about this film is this is the movie that made wetdowns a thing. A wetdown, if you don’t know, is when you’ve got enough money to (this is probably a waste of water) to have a truck wet your streets down, and what it does is it makes, for nighttime photography, it makes the streets reflective.”
Coogler previously thanked Nolan, along with auteur Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino, for helping inspire “Sinners.” Coogler wrote in a letter shared with IndieWire, “I had the gift of the opportunity of making a film inspired by my family and my ancestry, but it was always a film that we wanted to make for audiences, in theaters. We always had our minds on you, the audience, and felt a deep responsibility to entertain you, and move you in the way only cinema can. We don’t get to do what we do if you don’t show up. To see your response to the film has reinvigorated me and many others who believe in this art form. And together maybe we can expand the definition of what a blockbuster is, what a horror movie is, and of what an IMAX audience looks like.”
