Review of Following (1999) by Chad H — 15 Jun 2011

Following is Christopher Nolan's first film. Sadly, it also happens to be one that not many people have heard of, let alone seen. This is disappointing, considering the how well made it is.

Following , er, follows a young writer, whose name is not given, who is obsessed with following random people on the streets. One day he is caught following a man who calls himself Cobb after failing to keep his distance. Cobb is a serial burglar, and recruits the man to be an assistant of sorts. He soon becomes dangerously entangled in a criminal underworld.

Having watched many of Nolan's films before watching this one, it's interesting to see how many things this film has in common with some of his other works. It follows a non-linear plot line and even has a score that sounds very similar to that of Memento. It's hard not to compare this to his other movies when it shares so many elements with them. However, it does have it's own style (it's filmed in all black and white) and that noir-feel that doesn't quite match his other films.

The actors are all unknown actors, but also give decent performances. Cobb in particular gives a very smug and interesting performance, and is definitely one of those characters you love to hate. I can't really say much else about the cast because there wasn't really anything to make them stand out.

The plot itself is quite a interesting. It utilizes that same non-linear structure that other Nolan films use, but it is well-written and clever. The only thing that brings it down is a couple twists that don't really work very well, and there are quite a few twists near the end.

It's easy to tell that Following is a labor of love for Nolan. It took a year to produce, and it took a lot of commitment to make. Most shooting took place on weekends and every scene was rehearsed extensively so that the first take could be used. It had a literally shoe-string budget, and it's great to see that it didn't hold back the quality of the film.

If you like any of Nolan's other films, you will like Following. It's not essential viewing, but it's a great film and shares many characteristics that influenced his later works. I highly recommend it if you can find it.