Date of Birth:

30 July 1970, London, England, UK

Birth Name:

Christopher Johnathan James Nolan

Nickname:

Chris

Height:

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography:

Born in London in 1970, Christopher Nolan began making films at the age of seven using his father's super 8mm camera and an assortment of male-action figures. He graduated to making films involving real people, and his super 8mm surreal short 'tarantella' was shown on PBS' 'image union' in 1989. Chris studied English Literature at University College London while starting to make 16mm films at the college film society. His short film 'larceny' was shown at the Cambridge Film Festival in 1996, and his other 16mm shorts include a three- minute surreal film called 'doodlebug'.

Trade Mark:

Begins his movies and introduces his main characters with a close up of their hands performing an action.
Often works with editor Lee Smith, composer David Julyan, cinematographer Wally Pfister, production designer Nathan Crowley and wife-producer Emma Thomas.
Often casts British or non-American actors in American roles.
Frequently casts Christian Bale, Michael Caine.
Usually starts films with a flashback or a scene from the end of the movie.
When shooting a dialogue scene, the actors are often framed in wide close-up with a shallow depth of field to blur out the background.
His main characters are usually men with a goal who face adversity.
Films conclude with the two central characters discussing the preceding events and the results which have stemmed from said events.
Non-linear timelines (Following (1998), Memento (2000), The Prestige (2006))
Crosscutting several scenes of parallel action to build to a climax (The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008))
His endings have a recurring theme of justified dishonesty. (Examples: Guy Pearce's "Do I lie to myself to be happy" monologue in_Memento (2000)_, Michael Caine's closing remark that the audience "wants to be fooled" from _The Prestige (2006)_, and Christian Bale's rationale of how the citizens of Gotham City "deserve to have their faith rewarded" at the end of _The Dark Knight (2008)_)
His films usually revolve around characters that are afflicted with some kind of psychological disorder. (Examples: Guy Pearce's short-term memory "condition" in Memento (2000), Al Pacino's titular sleeping disorder in Insomnia (2002/I), Christian Bale's phobia of bats in Batman Begins (2005), and Aaron Eckhart's dual personality in _The Dark Knight (2008)_)
The storyline in his films usually involves a determined character seeking vengeance over the death of a loved one. (Examples: 'Guy Pearce (I)' in Memento (2000), Christian Bale in Batman Begins (2005), Hugh Jackman in _The Prestige (2006)_, and Aaron Eckhart in _The Dark Knight (2008)_)
Often casts actors in roles contrary to their usual screen persona.
Frequently uses hard cuts when transitioning to the next scenes. This is most prominent in his films from 'Batman Begins' onward, especially in 'The Dark Knight', where, in some instances, the hard cuts he uses will go so far as to nearly cut off character's lines in order to quickly and efficiently get to the next scene.
All of his films contain a major reference to the film prior to it.
His protagonists will often resort to tactics of physical or psychological torture to gain information (e.g. (SPOILERS) in 'Batman Begins', Batman uses the hallucinagenic fear compound on Jonathan Crane in order to gain information about his "boss"; in 'The Prestige', Angier buries Borden's assistant alive in order to get Borden to talk; in 'The Dark Knight', Batman throws Salvatore Maroni off a building, breaking his legs, in order to gain information about The Joker; in the same movie, Harvey Dent puts a gun to one of the Joker's henchman and flips a coin for his life every second he doesn't talk to scare him into talking; in 'Insomnia', Dormer drives into oncoming traffic in order to scare the victim's best friend into talking).
Employs non-linear storytelling techniques, often flipping around the three acts of a movie to tell the story in an interesting fashion.
Characters in films often gain a physical or psychological handicap in the course of the film (SPOILERS: in 'The Prestige', Angier gets a crippled leg while Borden loses two fingers; in 'The Dark Knight', Salvatore Maroni gets a crippled leg; in 'Insomnia', Dormer gets insomnia; in 'Memento', Leonard gains a memory handicap, the event of which is shown in flashback during the film)
His films often have obsessive protagonists with a troubled past, who are obsessed to gain justice by any means in life (e.g. Leonard in_Memento (2000)_, Al Pacino's character in Insomnia (2002/I),Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (2005). Also the_Following (1998)_ protagonist and Hugh Jackman in_The Prestige (2006)_ were obsessive)
Lonely troubled protagonists who are unwillingly forced to hide their true identity from the world.
Typically ends his films with a character giving a philosophical monologue.
Frequently in his films the protagonists, at some crucial moment, feel let down or betrayed by their mentors whom they have been following blindly and with respect. (e.g. The protagonist being cheated by Cobb in Following (1998), Leonard "discovering" that Teddy is the culprit in Memento (2000), Hilary Swank's character respecting Al Pacino as a great detective in Insomnia (2002/I) only to find out that he is also flawed, Bruce Wayne and Liam Neeson's character's confrontation in Batman Begins (2005), Cutter not supporting Angier in The Prestige (2006))
His films' protagonists have mostly lost their loved ones &/or failed in love, a circumstance that causes them turn into malevolent &/or apathetic forever. (e.g. Leonard in Memento (2000) has lost his wife in a brutal murder in the past, Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (2005) has lost Rachel Dawes' faith in him throughout the film, Borden in The Prestige (2006) does not get his wife's love because of his character's 'act' in the movie and Angier loses his beloved in a mishap during a magic trick, Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight (2008) loses Rachel as well as Bruce Wayne is not able to win her love back)
Often casts non-American actors in American roles. (e.g. Guy Pearce, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson)
Uses camera revolving around a character. (The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Memento and Inception)
Displays the title before the end credits (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception)

Spouse:

Emma Thomas (1997 - present) 3 children

Source: