Memento Movie 2000
While it was through The Dark Knight trilogy and major films like Inception that audiences everywhere became aware of this prominent filmmaker's greatness, for many moviegoers, it was through their introduction to Christopher Nolan's sophomore feature, Memento, that they became aware of this formative British filmmaker's potential. And it was through this film that it became apparent that Nolan was a storyteller meant to shake up the filmmaking scene in an undeniably vital way, already producing original, structurally dexterous art even from the beginning of his impressive career.
An entirely inventive look at the mystery genre, which flipped the concept of distorted reality on its head by having the entire film be told in a backward fashion (i.e. the last scene of the story is the first one we see and visa versa), what could've easily been merely an amusing gimmick became a brilliant dissection of the unreliable narrator, and how the conclusions we draw from our main characters — even in a fractured presentation — can often be deceptively twisted, believing what we want to believe (or what we expect to believe) from our protagonist before the truth slaps us right in the face.
Aided wonderfully by a great lead performance from the excellent actor Guy Pearce, Memento is quite easily Christopher Nolan's most ingenious screenplay and the film that balances his thematic and formative desires with a wonderfully engaging screenplay that constantly leaves you in a state of suspense, guessing what has already happened even when we already know the intended outcome. It's a phenomenal feat of both storytelling and filmmaking, and it's the film that not only introduced Christopher Nolan's power and potential as a filmmaker, but (in my view) remains his best feature.
There is no denying that Christopher Nolan's filmography is an incredible roaster of astounding films, many of which are constantly the source of in-house fighting when it comes to which one is actually the best of the best. These are merely one man's picks, but we'll be happy to hear what you have to say (because surely, you have your own personal favorites) in the comment section below. The mark of a great filmmaker is knowing that nobody's list looks exactly the same as the next, and nearly all the films we listed could arguably be considered his greatest. Let us know your picks.