| Following | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Christopher Nolan |
| Produced by | Emma Thomas Jeremy Theobald Peter Broderick |
| Written by | Christopher Nolan |
| Starring | Jeremy Theobald Alex Haw Lucy Russell John Nolan |
| Music by | David Julyan |
| Cinematography | Christopher Nolan |
| Editing by | Gareth Heal Christopher Nolan |
| Studio | Syncopy Films Next Wave Films |
| Distributed by | Zeitgeist Films (US) Momentum Pictures (UK) |
| Release date(s) | 12 September 1998 (Toronto International Film Festival) 2 April 1999 (New York City) 5 November 1999 (UK) |
| Running time | 69 min (1:09) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,000[1] |
| Box office | $48,482 |
Following is a 1998 British neo-noir film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It tells the story of a young man who follows strangers around the streets of London and is drawn into a criminal underworld when he fails to keep his distance. His debut film, it was designed to be as inexpensive as possible to make: scenes were heavily rehearsed so that just one or two takes were needed, thus economising on 16 mm film stock, the production's greatest expense, and for which Nolan was paying from his salary. Without expensive professional lighting equipment, Nolan mostly used available light. Apart from providing the script and direction, Nolan also did the photography, editing and production himself. The film has an unusual, non-linear plot structure which has been a feature in several of Nolan's films.
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A struggling, unemployed young writer (credited as "The Young Man") takes to following strangers around the streets of London, ostensibly to find inspiration for his first novel. Initially, he sets strict rules for himself regarding whom he should follow and for how long, but soon discards them as he focuses on a well-groomed, handsome man in a dark suit. The man in the suit, having noticed he is being followed, quickly confronts the Young Man and introduces himself as "Cobb". Cobb reveals that he is a serial burglar and invites The Young Man to accompany him on various burglaries. The material gains from these crimes seem to be of secondary importance to Cobb, who takes pleasure in rifling through the personal items in his targets' flats, and doing things such as drinking their wine. He explains that his true passion is using the shock of robbery and violation of property to make his victims re-examine their lives. He sums up his attitude thus: "You take it away, and show them what they had."
The young man is thrilled by Cobb's lifestyle. He attempts break-ins of his own, as Cobb encourages and guides him. At Cobb's suggestion, he alters his appearance, cutting his hair short and wearing a dark suit. The young man assumes the name "Daniel Lloyd" based on the credit card Cobb gives to him and begins to pursue a relationship with a blonde woman whom he meets at a bar and who claims to be the girlfriend of a local gangster. It is later revealed that he and Cobb had broken into her flat prior to this first meeting. Soon, the blonde confides that the gangster is blackmailing her with incriminating photographs. The Young Man breaks into the gangster's safe, but the only photos he finds are innocuous modelling shots, and before leaving he bludgeons an unidentified man with a hammer who had seen him taking the photos and also a large sum of cash. After confronting the blonde, he learns that she and Cobb have been manipulating him into mimicking Cobb's methods to frame him for Cobb's recent murder charge.
The Young Man leaves to turn himself in to the police. The blonde reports her success to Cobb, who then reveals that he actually works for the gangster and has a plan of his own. In order to stop the blonde from blackmailing the gangster with evidence from a recent murder, Cobb kills her, using the same bloody hammer marked with the Young Man's fingerprints. Once the young man finishes his story to the police, he learns that he has been framed for the blonde's murder, which was Cobb's plan for him all along. As The Young Man is arrested, Cobb disappears into a crowd.
Following was written, directed, filmed, and co-produced by Christopher Nolan.[2] It was filmed in London, on black-and-white 16mm film stock. Nolan used a non-linear plot structure for his movie, a device he again used in Memento, Batman Begins and The Prestige. This type of storytelling, he says, reflected the audience's inherent uncertainty about characters in film noir:
| “ |
In a compelling story of this genre we are continually being asked to rethink our assessment of the relationship between the various characters, and I decided to structure my story in such a way as to emphasize the audience's incomplete understanding of each new scene as it is first presented.[2] |
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Following was written and planned to be as inexpensive to produce as possible, but Nolan has described the production of Following as "extreme", even for a low-budget shoot.[2] With little money, limited equipment, and a cast and crew who were all in full-time employment on weekdays, the production took a full year to complete.[2]
To conserve expensive film stock, every scene in the film was rehearsed extensively to ensure that the first or second take could be used in the final edit.[2] Filming took place on Saturdays for three or four months, Nolan shot about fifteen minutes of footage each day. This time frame also moderated the cost of film-stock and allowed him to pay for it out of his salary.[3] For the most part, Nolan filmed without professional film lighting equipment, largely employing available light. This was made easier by the decision to use 16 mm black and white film.[3] He also used the homes of his friends and family as locations.[2]
Following received generally positive reviews. Its aggregate review score from Rottentomatoes.com is 76%.[4]
Los Angeles Times reviewer Kevin Thomas was particularly impressed with the film, saying that it was a "taut and ingenious neo-noir" and that "as a psychological mystery it plays persuasively if not profoundly. Nolan relishes the sheer nastiness he keeps stirred up, unabated for 70 minutes."[5] TV Guide called it "short, sharp and tough as nails",[6] praising its fast-paced storytelling and 'tricky, triple-tiered flashback structure'.[6] David Thompson of Sight and Sound commented that "Nolan shows a natural talent for a fluent handheld aesthetic."[7]
However, Tony Rayns felt that the film's climax was uninspired, saying that "the generic pay off is a little disappointing after the edgy, character based scenes of exposition".[8] Empire's Trevor Lewis questioned the skill of the film's inexperienced cast, saying that they "lack the dramatic ballast to compensate for [Nolan's] erratic plot elisions."[9] In contrast, David Thompson was of the opinion that the "unfamiliar cast acquit themselves well in a simple naturalistic style."[7]
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