Following (1998)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Drama

Only a couple of years before Nolan hit it big with Memento, he debuted as a feature film maker with this intense piece about a wannabe writer Following strangers for material. While the low budget and the acting keeps it from being as great as it could be, Nolan's talent is easily spotted. The story and the directing choices of scenes with tension and details, is the beginning of what we've come to expect from him later on. Also the mixed nonlinear storyline seems like a try-out for the making of Memento.

It's somewhat short, just shy of 70 minutes. The choice of shooting it black and white doesn't harm as much as you might think thanks to the genre, but in several scenes the lighting isn't good enough to avoid a blurry result. The actors haven't quite got the needed presence to really pull it off, but the script it self makes this still a stunningly bright debut as well as a movie most directors would've been proud of making even after ten years in the business. It's still just a whisper of what's to come from Nolan, but a whisper you really should see if you're even close to enjoy his filmography.