Christopher Nolan Says There Is a ‘Fundamental Flaw’ With Amateur Film Criticism: ‘To Identify the Mechanism Does Not Invalidate the Mechanism’
Critics have said their piece about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and now he is saying his piece about them. While on “The Odyssey” press tour, the...
Key points
- Critics have said their piece about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and now he is saying his piece about them.
- While on “The Odyssey” press tour, the director spoke with podcaster Zhong Shu about “a fundamental flaw of film criticism” he sees with amateur critics.
- “The criticism that’s often leveled at movies in general is, ‘Oh, the character has to be made sympathetic, so the character is manipulated in different ways or changed in different ways,’” he said.
- “And that’s a fundamental flaw of film criticism in a way, or storytelling criticism.
What happened
Critics have said their piece about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and now he is saying his piece about them. While on “The Odyssey” press tour, the director spoke with podcaster Zhong Shu about “a fundamental flaw of film criticism” he sees with amateur critics. “The criticism that’s often leveled at movies in general is, ‘Oh, the character has to be made sympathetic, so the character is manipulated in different ways or changed in different ways,’” he said. “And that’s a fundamental flaw of film criticism in a way, or storytelling criticism. That can be true of certain elements, and film grammar, film language evolves with that. Our audience has seen many films and they understand that language.” Popular on Variety There has been plenty of online discourse surrounding “The Odyssey,” which has grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide after three weekends in theaters and earned a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Related on this blog
- Ariana Grande to Take ‘Step Back From Visibility’ After Tour Ends Amid ‘Public Scrutiny,’ Drops Out of ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ Musical
- ‘Hadestown’ Parts Ways With Hades Actor Geno Segers After Online Controversy
- ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Obliterates Expectations With $927 Million Global Debut