Following [DVD]

Ever heard of MEMENTO? I thought so. How about those two new BATMAN movies, especially the one with The Joker? You can't walk the streets without hearing about those flicks. What about INSOMNIA or THE PRESTIGE? Because of all the A-list talent involved, chances are pretty good you at least heard of them.How about FOLLOWING? Me neither. I have been an ardent fan of Christopher Nolan for a few years. But after watching THE DARK KNIGHT, it was time to find out whether my personal myth of this genius was always true. Was he always this good? As it turns out, Nolan's instant masterpiece MEMENTO wasn't the first project he tackled. I still had yet to discover this debut feature.Ever since hearing about this movie, I've always wanted to like FOLLOWING. Imagine how heartbroken I'd be if Nolan had anything less than a ***1/2-out-of-4 picture. If you can imagine that feeling of anxiety, then you'll understand how exhilarated I am to tell you that Christopher Nolan (in my opinion) has a perfect track record of excellence in his decade-long library.FOLLOWING shares many similarities to MEMENTO. Nolan penned both screenplays, produced both pictures, used David Julyan to compose a minimal score for each movie, and presents the plot out of chronological order. But to list the shared qualities between the two films is just as if you tired to compare Nolan's INSOMNIA to the 1998 original - you're missing out on the unique complexities.As FOLLOWING begins, we see brief random images that clue us into the literal and metaphorical shape of the story. Then, a young man is telling his story to an older authority figure in flashback. Jeremy Theobald, an actor I regretfully haven't seen in anything else, plays this unnamed character. His voice-over narration reveals that in order to inspire his writing, he innocently (?) shadowed London strangers. But soon, he is caught by one of his random selections in a diner. The stranger swiftly and seductively turns the tables on the follower, and convinces him to tag along for a burglary.What's interesting about this thief is that he shares some remarkable similarities to The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT: sinister yet irresistible, criminal yet logical, dangerous yet comforting. Like the Young Man, our assumptions about this thief's greed are quickly overturned by his philosophical justifications. What's more disturbing, is we're tempted to discover the secrets of others we don't know. The thief, calling himself "Cobb", soon reveals that he doesn't loot for money. He steals personal items instead, claiming that this invasion of privacy will impact his victims in a profound way.The plot isn't told in chronological order, but unlike MEMENTO, there is no particular pattern to the puzzle. The timeline is more like Alejandro Gonzalez Inarrittu's movies (21 GRAMS or BABEL, for example): told in random pieces, so that we're unsure if we're one step ahead of the characters, or vice versa. The main story arc focuses on the Young Man's involvement with a femme fatale, whose troubles with a powerful ex-boyfriend allow this Young Man (and us) to penetrate her innermost secrets. Like the greatest film noirs, FOLLOWING is so much more than a visually stunning piece of bizarre entertainment. The story is primarily (I think) an exploration of how our privacy can be violated in the most unusual ways; its unusual focus forces us to join the thieves for the ride. When Cobb and The Young Man enter these strangers' homes, I felt a guilty rush like when Michael Corleone almost couldn't find the gun in the bathroom stall. After all, did I really want to see either of these criminals get caught in the act?But this guilt is where Nolan is crucial to the piece. He never once approves of this behavior. He doesn't even sympathize with the Young Man's new ladyfriend, in spite of her exposure to brutish violence. But the secret to Nolan's success in FOLLOWING (and perhaps MEMENTO) is that his artistry paints the portrait, but makes it our responsibility to describe it. I think Nolan is very in tune with his audiences. He carefully constructs the story, but leaves us with plenty of subtleties to discover over time.I won't give away where the story goes next, because FOLLOWING depends on a first-time viewing more than any of Nolan's other films. There are some twists in the plot that are effective the first time around, but aren't as surprising after repeat viewings. That's not to say FOLLOWING isn't an excellent picture, because its psychological depth is a genuine delight. But like Nolan's THE PRESTIGE, there may be one too many twists. The developments work and make sense, but don't hit the gut as much as other surprises in Nolan's other pictures. Think of a clock whose hands make a slightly noisier sound than you might prefer.While this is my personal least favorite of Christopher Nolan's film catalog, FOLLOWING is an exemplary movie well worth your time. It's black-and-white photography and limited budgetshouldn't discourage you from one of the 90s' most intelligent psychological thrillers. Nolan had the confidence in his story - or at least good budget management - to keep the time length to a tight 71 minutes, and it's not a moment too short or too long. FOLLOWING is a tale so absorbing, it's a shame we didn't hear of this Nolan guy right away. Good thing MEMENTO was his next picture, right?***DVD Notes***This Columbia DVD release includes:1) A trailer2) An alternate angle to read the screenplay while the movie plays3) The option to play the movie in chronological order4) An audio commentary track by Christopher NolanNolan's humility and intelligence make any interview or commentary track a pleasure to listen to, and the alternate options to watch FOLLOWING are a nice touch. For a relatively unknown picture, the quality of bonus content surpasses most mainstream releases.

After watching Following (1998) last night, I've determined that writer/director Christopher Nolan, who would later do the immensely popular film Memento (2000), is either a raving psychotic, mad genius, or possibly equal parts of both (I'll elaborate more on this later). Appearing in the film is Jeremy Theobald, who appeared in Nolan's first feature short, Doodlebug (1997), Lucy Russell, who is going to appear in Nolan's take on the Gotham Knight in 2005's Batman Begins, and Alex Haw, who has no other credits, which is too bad as I thought he did very well here.Theobald plays Bill, an aspiring writer (i.e. the starving artist type...you know him...greasy, unkempt, living in a shabby apartment subsisting off macaroni and ketchup...or is it catsup? I guess it doesn't matter) whose curiosities have developed into a rather odd compulsion of picking people out of the crowd, randomly, and following them with no other reason than to see where they go...I guess it beats working. Anyway, after Bill gets caught `doing his thing' by one of his subjects, a slick, smartly dressed man named Cobb (Haw), he learns the man is a burglar, the two develop a sort of partnership, and Bill begins tagging along with Cobb (who seems to have an awful lot of insight about those who he robs), supposedly to gather information for his writing...but soon Bill finds himself not only learning, but participating, using the tricks of the trade taught to him as Cobb becomes the mentor, Bill the student. Bill also becomes involved with the occupant of one of the flats the two have burglarized, a pretty blonde woman (Russell) with a somewhat shady past and a penchant for manipulation. So what happens next? Well, let's just say once you begin your downward decent, regardless of the illicit activity, the momentum generally takes hold and becomes a force of its' own, and not stopping until confronted with an immovable object, in this case, rock bottom.So what the heck did I mean when I referred earlier to Nolan's mental state? The story seems pretty straightforward, from the way I described it, right? If you've seen the film Memento, you'll have a better understanding about what I'm talkin' about, Willis. The story is straightforward, when played in the linear, chronological sense, but that's not the case here. The film begins in the present, with the Bill relating his story to what appears to be a police detective, and then bounces between three different timeframes, the past, the not so distance past, and the present, highlighted by noticeable physical changes in Bill (hairstyles, facial hair, distinguishing bruises and cuts on his face...Bill gets the beating at one point). Now, this might make the story sound confusing and hard to follow, but I didn't think so as Nolan seemed to know exactly how to best put things in the order without actually putting them back in order (if that makes sense). As I said before, he does allow for variances to become the key indicators between the various timeframes, so if you're paying attention, you shouldn't have problems keeping up. The story, when told in chronological order, is actually pretty simplistic, but Nolan manages to complicate things just enough to keep you in the dark right up until the end. It is strange how much different the same story can play out depending on how it's told. As I said, Nolan seems to be able to extract the most out of his skewed chronology of events, heightening the tension greatly. The whole notion of understanding a story enough to completely tear it apart, re-assembling it in a completely different fashion, ultimately getting the same ending though a different route, and doing it successfully, is amazing. The film, which was shot in black and white, is kept minimal (i.e. sparse) in nearly all aspects (script, story, characters, etc.), and runs lean and mean with a runtime of about 70 minutes. There seems little, if anything, in the film that was unnecessary, so there's little to distract from the story. Bottom line is if you're interested in a sharp, smartly paced film that wastes little and requires a bit of thought from its' viewer, Following won't disappoint.The full screen picture (aspect ratio 1.33:1) looks gritty, serving to give the film a `noir-ish' quality, which accentuates the story well. The 2.0 Dolby stereo is adequate, but there are English subtitles if you have difficulty hearing all the dialogue. There are a whole slew of extras including commentary by director Nolan, the ability to reconstruct the film into chronological order, theatrical trailers for this film and Memento, second angles with the director's shooting script, along with cast and crew biographies. I was surprised to learn Nolan was directing the next Batman film, Batman Begins, as it doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd be interested in, but then many had preconceived ideas when it was announced Tim Burton was going to do a Batman film way back in 1989, and that didn't turn out too bad.Cookieman108

Most people now know Christopher Nolan's name from his involvement with the Batman reboot. Others may remember him from Inception or Memento, where his scripts bent minds with their wonderful weirdness.Following is his first ever effort at proper film-making. It features amateur actors who filmed their scenes while not at their day jobs, black and white footage and all filmed, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. In short, it comes across a bit like an `art house' flick when you put it like that. But is it any good?Yes.Considering its minimal budget and lack of film-making expertise, it's pretty damn amazing. If you can forgive the lack of Hollywood glitz and grainy, student-like footage, it's a very compelling story which exhibits many traits which Christopher Nolan has used again (and expanded on) in his upcoming features.It's about a man who, needing inspiration for characters he's writing about, starts following random strangers around London in order to get some idea what `normal' people do. However, what he doesn't bank on is when a suave thief who he follows catches him in the act and confronts him about it. Together they form an uneasy alliance and things take more than one turn for the worse. I'll keep the plot vague as it's one of those films that you can only really watch once and enjoy not knowing where it's going. I'll leave the surprises a surprise.If you can put up with a film that's very raw and rugged, devoid of anything vaguely Hollywood, plus you like a bit of a mind-bender which will have you guessing until the end, give this a go. Even if you completely hate it, it's pretty short, weighing in at just over an hour.Also, note the coincidental Batman logo on a flat door - a prediction of things to come?

Good Story. Great ending.. Had been wanting to see it for ages. Fascinating to watch what Christopher Nolan can do with just his friends and a camera.I was told it would arrive within two weeks, or there about, and it came after, I think, three days. My first order from amazon, could not be happier. The person I ordered it from even left a friendly little note inside.Would recommend the film to anyone who likes crime stories, thrillers, the neo-noir or anyone who wants to see where Chris Nolan began. Having said that, anyone who wants something different. For those who know Nolan and his stuff a great example of "showing you one thing but you think you're seeing another" as in The Prestige or Inception. Now stop reading and click "add to basked".Right now.

For everyone who thought that subtitles were not in the DVD, they were wrong. They are in the special feature menu.Only english, but they are there :)Just writing this to let you know. Nothing to say about the good movie that Following is...

Finally get around to watching this, granted I bought it 4 yrs ago and it was still in its wrapping. placed disc in dvd player, main menu loads up, however when I select play movie nothings happens, very disappointed :(

For film buffs, this film is interesting as it is the one that enabled Christopher Nolan to break into Hollywood where he is now a big-budget director (Batman Begins, Inception etc). For anyone else, it is a refreshing break from big-budget films, this is one where the story really has to carry the film, not glossy production values. If you know London it is also fun to spot the locations used.