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The Fictional Christopher Nolan
From Memento and Insomnia to the Batman films, The Prestige , and Inception , lies play a central role in every Christopher Nolan film. Characters in the films constantly find themselves deceived by others and are often caught up in a vast web of deceit that transcends any individual lies. The formal structure of a typical Nolan film deceives spectators about the events that occur and the motivations of the characters. While Nolan’s films do not abandon the idea of truth altogether, they show us how truth must emerge out of the lie if it is not to lead us entirely astray. The Fictional Christopher Nolan discovers in Nolan’s films an exploration of the role that fiction plays in leading to truth. Through close readings of all the films through Inception , Todd McGowan demonstrates that the fiction or the lie comes before the truth, and this priority forces us to reassess our ways of thinking about the nature of truth. Indeed, McGowan argues that Nolan’s films reveal the ethical and political importance of creating fictions and even of lying. While other filmmakers have tried to discover truth through the cinema, Nolan is the first filmmaker to devote himself entirely to the fictionality of the medium, and McGowan discloses how Nolan uses its tendency to deceive as the basis for a new kind of philosophical filmmaking. He shows how Nolan’s insistence on the priority of the fiction aligns his films with Hegel’s philosophy and understands Nolan as a thoroughly Hegelian filmmaker.
- GenresFilmNonfictionPhilosophy
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Todd McGowan
55 books247 followersTodd McGowan is Associate Professor of Film at the University of Vermont, US. He is the author of The Fictional Christopher Nolan (2012), Out of Time: Desire in Atemporal Cinema (2011), The Impossible David Lynch (2007), The Real Gaze: Film Theory After Lacan (2007), and other books.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 22, 2013
Thorough explication on the logos of Christopher Nolan films.
December 9, 2013
Definitely recommended for Nolan fans, since it goes in depth into all of his films, and makes you look at them in different ways.
May 22, 2019
Todd McGowan's The Fictional Christopher Nolan is a critical analysis of Nolan's films from Following (1998) through to Inception (2010), with both a philosophical and psychoanalytic approach.
On the philosophical side, McGowan makes the argument - with some success - for Nolan's affinity with Hegel, and for a loose yet tangible unifying theme of the structural primacy of the lie (a.k.a. the deception or the fiction) and its necessity as a catalyst for and path to truth. He establishes this as a distinguishing feature of Nolan's work from contemporaries like Shyamalan and Tarantino, whose work arguably has superficial similarities of twists, puzzles, and unconventional chronologies.
Given the largely consequentialist ethics displayed in Nolan's oeuvre, McGowan also uses Kant (the ultimate anti-consequentialist) as a reference point for comparing and contrasting. Plus we get some exploration of capitalism via Marx and the odd bit of Nietzsche, Sartre, Žižek and others.
On the psychoanalytic side, he makes heavy use of both Freud and Lacan, implying a currency and legitimacy of which I'm especially doubtful in Freud's case.
The book is always at risk of over-interpreting, though McGowan seems to have some sense of this risk. For a heavily beta-read academic work replete with citations, however, he does occasionally make assertions that range from bizarre, to hyperbolic, to factually dubious.
On the hyperbolic end there's "He revolutionizes this revolutionary form." in the context of Insomnia's relationship with film noir. Settle down, Todd.
Then there's his attempt to define the hardboiled detective noir as distinct from the classical detective story of Dupin and Holmes. He asserts "In contrast to the classical detective, the noir detective never receives payment, and if a client offers payment, the noir detective necessarily refuses it."
This opinion is so odd that I'm baffled as to how McGowan came by it. He explicitly states Dashielle Hammett's foundational influence on the genre, in which case he should know that traditional hardboiled detectives like the Continental Op and Philip Marlowe earn their living as private eyes or police officers, for which they assuredly demand recompense. There's a clue there in the word 'client', Todd.
This line of thinking becomes even stranger when he brings in a superhero comparison. Namely "In fact, every superhero is a version of the hardboiled detective because the mere existence of superpowers indicates the distortion of subjectivity that plays a role in the investigation of crime." That's one heck of a big claim to preface with 'in fact', especially without elaborating on the implication that literally every superhero story is necessarily the investigation of a crime.
For that matter, while illustrating his Hegelian interpretation of the fictional identity of Batman, he uses perhaps the worst conceivable example by insisting that Clark Kent adopts the heroic identity of Superman. He re-phrases this sentiment several times, including "Superman, for instance, is just a guise that Clark Kent adopts when he wants to fight criminality and injustice." There's a joke to be made here about getting Descartes before the horse.
Nevertheless, McGowan's work has value and there is plenty of scope here for a second edition covering The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and whatever follows. Darren Mooney has released another critical analysis of Nolan's filmography in late 2018, so I look forward to comparing it.
On the philosophical side, McGowan makes the argument - with some success - for Nolan's affinity with Hegel, and for a loose yet tangible unifying theme of the structural primacy of the lie (a.k.a. the deception or the fiction) and its necessity as a catalyst for and path to truth. He establishes this as a distinguishing feature of Nolan's work from contemporaries like Shyamalan and Tarantino, whose work arguably has superficial similarities of twists, puzzles, and unconventional chronologies.
Given the largely consequentialist ethics displayed in Nolan's oeuvre, McGowan also uses Kant (the ultimate anti-consequentialist) as a reference point for comparing and contrasting. Plus we get some exploration of capitalism via Marx and the odd bit of Nietzsche, Sartre, Žižek and others.
On the psychoanalytic side, he makes heavy use of both Freud and Lacan, implying a currency and legitimacy of which I'm especially doubtful in Freud's case.
The book is always at risk of over-interpreting, though McGowan seems to have some sense of this risk. For a heavily beta-read academic work replete with citations, however, he does occasionally make assertions that range from bizarre, to hyperbolic, to factually dubious.
On the hyperbolic end there's "He revolutionizes this revolutionary form." in the context of Insomnia's relationship with film noir. Settle down, Todd.
Then there's his attempt to define the hardboiled detective noir as distinct from the classical detective story of Dupin and Holmes. He asserts "In contrast to the classical detective, the noir detective never receives payment, and if a client offers payment, the noir detective necessarily refuses it."
This opinion is so odd that I'm baffled as to how McGowan came by it. He explicitly states Dashielle Hammett's foundational influence on the genre, in which case he should know that traditional hardboiled detectives like the Continental Op and Philip Marlowe earn their living as private eyes or police officers, for which they assuredly demand recompense. There's a clue there in the word 'client', Todd.
This line of thinking becomes even stranger when he brings in a superhero comparison. Namely "In fact, every superhero is a version of the hardboiled detective because the mere existence of superpowers indicates the distortion of subjectivity that plays a role in the investigation of crime." That's one heck of a big claim to preface with 'in fact', especially without elaborating on the implication that literally every superhero story is necessarily the investigation of a crime.
For that matter, while illustrating his Hegelian interpretation of the fictional identity of Batman, he uses perhaps the worst conceivable example by insisting that Clark Kent adopts the heroic identity of Superman. He re-phrases this sentiment several times, including "Superman, for instance, is just a guise that Clark Kent adopts when he wants to fight criminality and injustice." There's a joke to be made here about getting Descartes before the horse.
Nevertheless, McGowan's work has value and there is plenty of scope here for a second edition covering The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and whatever follows. Darren Mooney has released another critical analysis of Nolan's filmography in late 2018, so I look forward to comparing it.
March 20, 2021
Todd McGowan's The Fictional Christopher Nolan argues that Nolan's films communicate truth in a way that might seem counterintuitive to many spectators. Early in The Fictional Christopher Nolan, McGowan claims, "The typical Nolan film has the formal structure of a lie designed to deceive the spectator concerning the events that occur and the motivations of the characters. Nolan uses the form of deception to constitute an ethical philosophy rooted in the ontological primacy of the lie. Nolan's films do not abandon the idea of truth altogether, but they show us how truth must emerge out of the lie if it is not to lead us entirely astray" (1). The roots of McGowan's claim lie in psychoanalysis, specifically the primacy psychoanalysis places on misrecognition and misinterpretation. Lacan's les non-dupes errent is a concept that emphasizes, paradoxically, how any attempt to circumvent the symbolic order by seeking the truth outside of it is a double or deeper deception. Slavoj Zizek succinctly articulates this concept by suggesting, "those who do not let themselves be caught in the symbolic deception/fiction...are the ones who err most." Therefore, to arrive at the truth, we must seek it through the lie. If we attempt to circumvent the lie (i.e., the symbolic), we only increase our alienation from the truth, or as McGowan claims, "Those who refuse to become dupes, who refuse to accept the fiction, ironically abandon the field of truth entirely" (5).
Here, McGowan articulates the ethical dimensions of misrecognition by continuing the psychoanalytic tradition of placing far greater emphasis on the form of a phenomenon rather than its content. Nolan's Batman in Batman Begins makes this very point when he says, "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." Here, he encourages his audience (both the spectator and within the film's diegesis, Rachel Dawes) to take his form (i.e., his Batman alter-ego) seriously, far more so than what might exist behind or "underneath" it. By asking for his name, which Rachel demands, she shows how her proclamation from earlier in the film, "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you," a proclamation Batman cleverly appropriates, exceeds her. To understand what Batman means, we should look no further than the form he assumes, or as McGowan suggests, "Batman identifies what is essential about Bruce--the trauma with the bats that shapes his existence and his ability to confront trauma" (6).
But I want to return to this claim that misrecognition is ethical. McGowan argues, "Some fiction is necessary to make life worth living at all, and Nolan's films draw attention to this to make the moment at which value--what gives existence its worth--emerges. They don't encourage lying but rather the recognition of both the role that deceit or fiction has in the creation of value and the recognition of truth's dependence on this creative fiction. This is Nolan's ethic of the lie" (11). This sense of "value" resides in the embrace of fiction (i.e., the lie) as all there is. A path to truth that circumvents the lie does not exist, just like a path to the "transcendent beyond" that circumvents the mundane world also does not exist. As McGowan claims, this point is deeply Hegelian: "we discover truth not through separating ourselves from fiction but through fully succumbing to it" (16). Therefore, Nolan's films much like Belinda Carlisle's most successful pop hit, understand that "heaven" is forever and only discoverable as "a place on earth." In summary, Nolan's films are a rejection of an outside to fiction. His films are "a total investment in the completeness of the cinematic fiction" (17).
McGowan's reading of Nolan's 2006 The Prestige is the book's high-water mark since The Prestige is arguably Nolan's most succinct articulation of artistic creation and self-sacrifice. The film is a celebration of sacrifice because, in Nolan's hands, the sacrificial act bears witness to subjectivity's lack and eschews any notion of wholeness. McGowan writes, "Self-sacrifice functions ideologically when it is tied to the promise of a recovered wholeness for the subject...An emancipatory self-sacrifice, by contrast, works to shatter the image of wholeness" (112). Consistently reiterating the impossibility of recapturing a sense of wholeness or completeness is one of the reasons why psychoanalysis seems so pessimistic. But the point psychoanalysis wants to make, which is similar, in some respects, to the point Marxism wants to make, hinges on the notion that any promise of a return to a whole or complete state of being is nothing more than an ideological declaration. But the contrast McGowan makes between ideological self-sacrifice and emancipatory self-sacrifice is similar to the hypothetical contrast between a song Belinda Carlisle never wrote, let us call it "Heaven Is a Place Beyond the Mundanity of This Feeble Earth, Just Keep Looking," and the one she actually wrote, "Heaven Is a Place on Earth."
But what is important to understand when reckoning with McGowan's reading of The Prestige is how the film celebrates both sacrifice and spectacle without necessarily elevating one over the other. McGowan writes, "The film creates an illusion that returns us to the sacrifice rather repressing it. What the film thereby shows is that the spectacle of the illusion does not just require past sacrifice; it also leads one back down the path of sacrifice and loss. The narrative structure of The Prestige challenges the obfuscatory power of the cinematic medium by juxtaposing sacrifice and spectacle, but it does so in order to celebrate both rather than to condemn either one" (121). Throughout the film, Nolan fabricates a distinction between the film's two main characters, Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Borden (Christian Bale). For most of the film, Nolan leads us to think that Angier is a vapid showman while Borden, by contrast, is a sober tactician. But the film's ending reveals that these binary categories are too simplistic. Both characters embody forms of sacrifice and spectacle just in different ways. What is fascinating about The Prestige is how we, the audience, arrive at this realization through the lie of cinema itself, specifically, Nolan's unique brand of disjointed, non-linear cinema. We arrive at a more profound truth about these characters, this film, film itself, and the act of artistic production through the film's lie, not by circumventing it.
McGowan published The Fictional Christopher Nolan in 2012. Since its initial publication, Nolan has made several new films, including a third and final film in his Dark Knight trilogy. I would like to know what McGowan thinks of Nolan's cinematic efforts since the publication of The Fictional Christopher Nolan, especially if he thinks Nolan's commitment to the ethics of the lie still holds.
Here, McGowan articulates the ethical dimensions of misrecognition by continuing the psychoanalytic tradition of placing far greater emphasis on the form of a phenomenon rather than its content. Nolan's Batman in Batman Begins makes this very point when he says, "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." Here, he encourages his audience (both the spectator and within the film's diegesis, Rachel Dawes) to take his form (i.e., his Batman alter-ego) seriously, far more so than what might exist behind or "underneath" it. By asking for his name, which Rachel demands, she shows how her proclamation from earlier in the film, "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you," a proclamation Batman cleverly appropriates, exceeds her. To understand what Batman means, we should look no further than the form he assumes, or as McGowan suggests, "Batman identifies what is essential about Bruce--the trauma with the bats that shapes his existence and his ability to confront trauma" (6).
But I want to return to this claim that misrecognition is ethical. McGowan argues, "Some fiction is necessary to make life worth living at all, and Nolan's films draw attention to this to make the moment at which value--what gives existence its worth--emerges. They don't encourage lying but rather the recognition of both the role that deceit or fiction has in the creation of value and the recognition of truth's dependence on this creative fiction. This is Nolan's ethic of the lie" (11). This sense of "value" resides in the embrace of fiction (i.e., the lie) as all there is. A path to truth that circumvents the lie does not exist, just like a path to the "transcendent beyond" that circumvents the mundane world also does not exist. As McGowan claims, this point is deeply Hegelian: "we discover truth not through separating ourselves from fiction but through fully succumbing to it" (16). Therefore, Nolan's films much like Belinda Carlisle's most successful pop hit, understand that "heaven" is forever and only discoverable as "a place on earth." In summary, Nolan's films are a rejection of an outside to fiction. His films are "a total investment in the completeness of the cinematic fiction" (17).
McGowan's reading of Nolan's 2006 The Prestige is the book's high-water mark since The Prestige is arguably Nolan's most succinct articulation of artistic creation and self-sacrifice. The film is a celebration of sacrifice because, in Nolan's hands, the sacrificial act bears witness to subjectivity's lack and eschews any notion of wholeness. McGowan writes, "Self-sacrifice functions ideologically when it is tied to the promise of a recovered wholeness for the subject...An emancipatory self-sacrifice, by contrast, works to shatter the image of wholeness" (112). Consistently reiterating the impossibility of recapturing a sense of wholeness or completeness is one of the reasons why psychoanalysis seems so pessimistic. But the point psychoanalysis wants to make, which is similar, in some respects, to the point Marxism wants to make, hinges on the notion that any promise of a return to a whole or complete state of being is nothing more than an ideological declaration. But the contrast McGowan makes between ideological self-sacrifice and emancipatory self-sacrifice is similar to the hypothetical contrast between a song Belinda Carlisle never wrote, let us call it "Heaven Is a Place Beyond the Mundanity of This Feeble Earth, Just Keep Looking," and the one she actually wrote, "Heaven Is a Place on Earth."
But what is important to understand when reckoning with McGowan's reading of The Prestige is how the film celebrates both sacrifice and spectacle without necessarily elevating one over the other. McGowan writes, "The film creates an illusion that returns us to the sacrifice rather repressing it. What the film thereby shows is that the spectacle of the illusion does not just require past sacrifice; it also leads one back down the path of sacrifice and loss. The narrative structure of The Prestige challenges the obfuscatory power of the cinematic medium by juxtaposing sacrifice and spectacle, but it does so in order to celebrate both rather than to condemn either one" (121). Throughout the film, Nolan fabricates a distinction between the film's two main characters, Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Borden (Christian Bale). For most of the film, Nolan leads us to think that Angier is a vapid showman while Borden, by contrast, is a sober tactician. But the film's ending reveals that these binary categories are too simplistic. Both characters embody forms of sacrifice and spectacle just in different ways. What is fascinating about The Prestige is how we, the audience, arrive at this realization through the lie of cinema itself, specifically, Nolan's unique brand of disjointed, non-linear cinema. We arrive at a more profound truth about these characters, this film, film itself, and the act of artistic production through the film's lie, not by circumventing it.
McGowan published The Fictional Christopher Nolan in 2012. Since its initial publication, Nolan has made several new films, including a third and final film in his Dark Knight trilogy. I would like to know what McGowan thinks of Nolan's cinematic efforts since the publication of The Fictional Christopher Nolan, especially if he thinks Nolan's commitment to the ethics of the lie still holds.
February 6, 2019
A bit too philosophical for me (a discussion of Hegel's conception of "bad infinity" versus "speculative infinity," for example), but several of the essays make interesting thematic observations, particularly the chapters on 'Insomnia,' 'The Prestige,' and 'The Dark Knight.' Probably not for a casual Nolan fan, but worth reading for real aficionados.
June 17, 2025
I've read a lot of McGowan's work and this was probably the most challenging. But I say this in a good way. Having a little background in Hegel and Lacan helps, particularly the notions of substance is subject. For McGowan, deception (fiction) is intertwined with truth. This works against the notion of truth as residing in the beyond. That is, truth emerges within the lie. We have to work through the lie until we reach its endpoint to arrive at truth. McGowan offers variations of this notion in Nolan's body of work. I really enjoyed the chapters on The Prestige and Dark Knight.
September 7, 2021
A bit too much like reading a university paper. The analysis is good but the delivery a little dry and stiff to be really entertaining. It does allow for some very worthwhile theorizing on Nolan's intentions and inspirations, deeper psychological and societal meanings.
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April 2, 2023"Like the magic act, the film creates through sacrifice and then hides the sacrifice--the labor that goes into making the film--through its spectacle. While cinema hides the sacrifice of labor, it also creates transcendence through its fiction."
May 4, 2021
McGowan’s reading of Inception is particularly brilliant and transformed my viewing of the film (already a much rewatched favourite).
April 2, 2025
Detailed & critical look at Christopher Nolan (up til Inception).
Author loves to talk about Memento refers back to it way too much in my opinion.
Author loves to talk about Memento refers back to it way too much in my opinion.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews