Review of Following (1999) by Theapplegnome — 08 Oct 2015

Christopher Nolan’s first ambitious and paradoxical ride of entertainment. ‘Who follows the followers?’.

We follow this young writer, constantly trying to find depth to his imaginary characters. He starts to follow people and, of course, meats this thief. He gets obsessed with this character and gets into his life and sooner than later a companionship was formed. As Christopher Nolan’s next movie; “Memento” (2000), “Following” got the same (but less) complex non-linear structure but also the identical theme and compassion. It constantly jumps from different timelines and it keeps the audience interested with the story and its surprises, twists and turns along the one-hour movie. The whole plot is very ironic as it is paradoxical and smart. It got a lot to tell about obsession, trust, perspectives of different personalities & everyday life. It’s entertaining for one type of person, slow and boring for another one. But it worked excellent for me, because it’s so clever and I quickly got into this odd grayish cinematic flick.

The characters are very well presented, even though the acting performances aren’t flawless and that there isn’t that much time spent on introducing our characters in a more profound and less dry way. But there’s great development to our main individual, through his ups and downs we see his frustrations over all the struggles he must face with his new companionship. The stunning aspect with “Following”, is just as Nolan’s newer creations; the structure. Which is so smart and it puts everything we get to know in a brand new perspective, especially the third act which had some big twists and turns, both for the character and the main plot. The interesting part is that the soundtrack is hinting a bit, that something odd is going on, that something isn’t right. And it really is a stunning non-linear movie that’s enjoyable and highly unique, even though it’s 17 years old.

It might have some less-flawless aspects, including a non-perfectional editing and cinematography. But it really is a smart, iconic and of course a complex ride of entertainment, and that’s what keeps impressing my critical and personal viewpoint.