MYST POST #2: Following

I have always enjoyed Christopher Nolan's films, so when I came across Following on Netflix, I decided it would be a good pick for my next MYST. Also, it is considered "neo-noir" so it fits well with what we are discussing in class. It was released in 1998 and features a cast of Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, and Lucy Russell among others, none of whom I had heard of before. While looking at other Nolan films I saw that he had casted Theobald in Doodlebug, a movie Nolan directed a year before Following. The movie features only four main characters, three or four of whom don't actually have names. They are simply referred to in the credits as "The Young Man," "The Blonde," "The Bald Guy," and Cobb. This movie was made on a very low-budget. Nolan used mostly available light instead of spending money on expensive lighting equipment. He also used as much available space as he could-- he actually used actor Jeremy Theobald's flat as his character's living space in the movie. He made sure his actors and actresses were well-prepared so they only needed one or two takes to get a scene so as not to waste the film stock the movie was shot on. Nolan also paid for the 16mm film stock out of his own salary. An interesting fact about the movie: besides being the director, Nolan served as writer, producer, editor, and photographer.

The film takes place in London where an aspiring writer (Jeremy Theobald) starts following people around on the streets. He sets rules for himself at first, but when he breaks one and begins to follow one man extensively, he gets involved in that is not so harmless. The man takes notice of his being followed and confronts the writer. The man, whose name is Cobb (Alex Haw), begins to tell the writer that he is a serial burglar and invites the writer to come with him on his criminal sprees. The writer tells Cobb his name is Bill and soon becomes enticed by Cobb's criminal lifestyle. He accompanies Cobb on various burglaries and starts dating a woman-referred to as "The Blonde", played by Lucy Russell- whose house he and Cobb broke into. The story gets pretty complex and confusing, but basically follows the young man's life while he becomes ever more deeply involved in burglary. It turns out that the whole thing was a set up created by Cobb and The Blonde in order to frame The Young Man for a crime he didn't commit. Then, it turns out that Cobb had been working for another man-known as The Bald Guy-and had set up both The Blonde and The Young Man. At a little more than halfway through, the movie became really hard to follow but it was still intensely interesting.

While watching this movie, I was surprised to realize how many similarities it has with Memento, another Christopher Nolan directed film and one of my favorites. I had no idea that Following was released only 2 years before Memento, and it made me think that maybe Nolan was trying to expand on his idea from Following. Both movies use reverse chronological sequencing at times, have a gritty feeling to them, and contain film noir elements. Memento has scenes that are filmed in black and white, while the entirety of Following is black and white. Narration plays a big part in both movies. In Following, The Young Man narrates throughout his experience with Cobb in an interview with a policeman (played by Christopher Nolan's uncle, John Nolan) who we only see at the beginning and end of the movie. In Memento, Leonard narrates parts of the movie while he is talking on the phone throughout. The narration that is used helps to show the separation that the characters in both films are feeling. The theme of alienation is big in both movies as well, and also characteristic of the film noir genre. An interesting thing that I noticed was that there was hardly any music or background sound used in the film (once again similar to Memento) until the first time The Young Man accompanies Cobb when he is breaking into someone's house. The sounds that played in the background were very eerie and squeaky and made the scene more intense and suspenseful. Check it out in the clip below...

In this scene where Cobb and The Young Man break into someone's house, sound is first used significantly in the background. The sound, which is very squeaky and high-pitched, makes the scene disorienting and uncomfortable. It fits with The Young Man's mood in this scene. He is alarmed by Cobb's actions in the house, which include dumping the contents of a box onto the floor, to which Cobb explains by telling The Young Man that his purpose is to interrupt the lives of those who live there and to make them see what they had. When Cobb said this to the Young Man, it made me think of how The Young Man's purpose had always been to follow without interrupting. Cobb acts as a type of character foil for The Young Man, who seems more innocent after seeing what Cobb does. 

The camera movements are shaky with most scenes being shot with a handheld camera throughout the movie, probably to serve Nolan's plan of reducing spending to a minimum. The look of this film fit that of a typical film noir. It was shot in black and white and had a certain grittiness to it. There were a lot of sharp cuts to black which reminded me again of Memento.

I really enjoyed this movie although I will admit I got really confused a little after halfway into it. I would give this film 4/5 stars because it is creative and thought-provoking and has well-developed and interesting characters. The ideas that this film presented were also very interesting and got me thinking about how much you can actually find out about someone else's life before you are intruding on them-- and if you can ever really know everything about someone else's life. The themes of intrusion and the study of a person seem to fit in well with the neo-noir genre because they have dark and mysterious undertones, much like a neo-noir film itself. This movie will most likely be one that I will have to watch a few more times before I fully understand all of it (again, like Memento), but one that I would enjoy watching over again.

Rating: ★★★★☆