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Christopher Nolan: film criticism's 'fundamental flaw'

By AAP Newswire

Aug 4, 2026

Sir Christopher Nolan thinks there is a "fundamental flaw" with amateur film criticism.

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The 56-year-old director - who recently helmed The Odyssey, his film adaptation of the epic poem the Odyssey by Homer - has pushed back against familiar criticism from amateur movie-watchers.

Speaking to podcaster Zhong Shu, he explained: "The criticism that's often levelled at movies in general is, 'Oh, the character has to be made sympathetic, so the character is manipulated in different ways or changed in different ways'.

"And that's a fundamental flaw of film criticism in a way, or storytelling criticism. Because to be able to identify the mechanism does not invalidate the mechanism.

"I'm thinking more of amateur criticism, because they feel they've identified the mechanism, they feel that it invalidates it.

"That can be true of certain elements, and film grammar, film language evolves with that.

"So when a trope becomes too familiar to an audience, then it has to be changed.

"But we do, as filmmakers, avail ourselves of that common language.

"We build on that understanding. Our audience has seen many films and they understand that language."