With Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, he once again proved that he can get people into movie theaters. The film opened to more than $260 million worldwide—his biggest global opening ever, according to reporting.

And I know everyone is talking about it right now, which I would be too, but I haven’t seen it yet. I’m holding out for a convenient IMAX screening.

If you know anything about me, you know how much I love movies. I mean, I damn near mention it in every post. However, I can’t exactly call myself a cinephile because there are a lot of films out there I’ve yet to see—but they’re on the list.

With that said, I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan. I’ve seen all but maybe one of his movies.

So imagine my surprise when one of my best friends, another cinephile in the making, asked me, “Why don’t I know who Christopher Nolan is?”

I gasped out loud—to myself, because I was alone reading his text—but nevertheless, the point is I was surprised.

He and I often discourse over the latest films. We share a love of Quentin Tarantino movies—I credit him with forcing me to appreciate the greatness of Pulp Fiction—and we vibe sentimentally over Love Jones. I still remember our conversation the very night he saw it!

So, wait. What? What do you mean you don’t know who Christopher Nolan is?

That’s like saying you don’t know who Spike Lee or James Cameron is. When he said, “Cameron... didn’t he do Titanic?” I almost cried because who is this man that I thought I knew so well?

So I started running down some of Nolan’s movies.

Inception.

Batman.

And he goes, “Oh yeah, I saw that. It was okay.”

“Oh yeah, I liked that one.”

“Oh yeah, but I didn’t understand it.”

No worries. Many people don’t. That’s part of the appeal. Okay, we’re good. He knows Christopher Nolan movies. He just doesn’t know the man himself.

Fair enough.

Nolan does seem to be more on the subdued side. Not as expressive or flamboyant as, say, Spike Lee or Tarantino.

But this got me thinking: What role does a director’s personality play in the excitement around their work or even how that work is received?

(I know that sounds like a leap, but there’s no need to bore you with the many threads it took me to get to that thought.) And more specifically, what does that mean when it comes to Christopher Nolan?

As referenced, some of Nolan’s movies can be hard to understand. Cerebral. Sometimes even literally hard to hear. Does that make him more or less appealing as a director?

He seems like a nice enough man, but in every interview I’ve seen him in, he comes across as intense and a bit serious. He doesn’t strike me as the jokester in the room or the guy everyone gravitates toward at the party.

And yet, I’d guess that when a Christopher Nolan film is released, people are as excited to see it because he made it as they are about the subject matter.

I know I am!

He’s known for nonlinear structures and playing with time as a physical concept. I loved Inception from the moment I saw it—AND I understood it.

And don’t get me started on The Prestige, written by Christopher and his brother Jonathan Nolan (Westworld). The clones! The twins! Ahhh, such a good movie. But really, let’s go back to the beginning.

Or at least, my beginning with Christopher Nolan: Memento. And if you don’t know Memento, check out the TRAILER here first, then come back and finish reading this. If you have seen Memento, you already know how great it is.

I don’t remember if I fully understood it when I first saw it, but honestly, it didn’t matter. The storytelling technique. The story itself. The way information was revealed to us. Looking back, it was definitely a prelude to what would become Christopher Nolan’s storytelling style.

And today Nolan has almost become shorthand for old-school filmmaking craft. I love that he still does as many practical effects as possible. I love that he doesn’t seem particularly interested in trends. He’s a high-concept storyteller, but somehow his movies still feel personal.

So, what can we learn from Nolan?

Stop trying to manufacture a "style," stop chasing what you think audiences want to see, make enough work for your voice to reveal itself, and recognize that being unmistakably yourself may ultimately be your greatest competitive advantage.

And that can be hard to do, especially if your vision isn’t commonplace.

As a filmmaker, I’m constantly trying to figure out: What is my style? I’m more confident in my voice but style is different.

I’ve had mentors tell me that your style reveals itself over time, through multiple works. I don’t know if that’s true or not.

I used to believe I hadn’t figured mine out because the films I’ve directed have been so vastly different from one another.

But I’m starting to realize that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with style. Genre is not style. Subject matter isn’t necessarily style either. Maybe style is something harder to define.

Maybe it’s the stories you’re attracted to. The performances you gravitate toward. Where you put the camera. What you find funny. What makes you uncomfortable. The moments you choose to linger on and the ones you cut away from.

Maybe it’s simply how you see the world.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure it matters whether I can define mine or not. What matters most is staying true to the story and the work.

The story should dictate how it’s told. And if you’re truly bringing yourself to the process, your DNA will inevitably end up all over the movie anyway.

Maybe I’m simply too close to my own work to see mine yet. The features I’ve directed are vastly different, but they’re also all very loosely based on my own life experiences. So maybe there are connections running through them that I don’t even recognize yet. And maybe that’s the point.

Perhaps you don’t find your filmmaking style or voice by looking for it.

You find them by making films.

You make one. Then another. You follow the stories that interest you. You trust your instincts. You stop worrying quite so much about what everybody else is making or what audiences supposedly want (I could rant for paragraphs about that but I won’t).

And eventually, your style will reveal itself 🙏.

I live for the day when I have a body of work with an undeniable style—and moviegoers clamor to see the next one simply because my name is on it.

Until then I’ll keep plugging away working on my craft.

After all, Christopher Nolan had to make Memento before he could make The Odyssey.

Yours in Filmmaking, 

Nicole (your style here) Sylvester 😉