Nolan no longer afraid to dream a little bigger...?

In a Washington Post article about Christopher Nolan's views on IMAX and 3D, explaining his decision to go for the former but not the latter for The Dark Knight Rises, we find out that:

“Nolan said he’s open to shooting in 3-D one day, but only if it would enhance the story. He considered converting his 2010 blockbuster “Inception” to 3-D, saying the added dimension might have been a nice fit with the film’s dreamscapes. But he dropped the idea because there was not time to do a quality 3-D conversion.”

The first part of that quote almost jumps out of the screen at the reader, in contrast to many of Nolan's previous comments on 3D. However, the rest provides important context. Christopher Nolan is a story-driven filmmaker, and like Pixar, uses technology simply to further the telling of the particular story. His filmmaking decisions are driven by what he thinks would serve the film best creatively.

However, no doubt if Nolan ever does adopt 3D, there'll be plenty of fans ready to jump on the "Sellout!" bandwagon, being all angry and chaotic like Bane's followers in The Dark Knight Rises. But Nolan knows what he's doing, and wouldn't make decisions like that lightly (he did direct films called The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, after all). In that case, he wouldn't be the filmmaker the fans think they deserve, but the one they need (to show them that 3D can work well). Or something.

The article also says:

“While not generally a 3-D fan, Nolan likes seeing what other filmmakers do with the format, which until now has been used largely on action films and animation.”

This offers the possibility that Nolan could be inspired by the work of other filmmakers to try 3D himself at some stage. There are several talented directors using the format, including James Cameron, Peter Jackson, and Martin Scorsese, so it could just be a matter of time before one of them comes up with something that convinces Christopher Nolan of the potential of the format.

If Christopher Nolan ever does decide to shoot a film in 3D, what would be a good choice? Animation tends to work well in the format, so perhaps an animated comedy which is a non-linear character study of a conflicted talking animal of some kind? After all, with The Dark Knight Rises being the latest target of Ice Age-related spoofery, perhaps Christopher Nolan could direct a Scrat spin-off. The key theme of obsession is one that runs through Nolan's work, and perhaps the sudden, inconvenient cracks in the ice could represent the character's shattering psyche. Or something.

In the meantime, however, Christopher Nolan continues to be a big fan of IMAX, saying:

"People who are lucky enough to find those [IMAX] venues are going to see something they can't see anywhere else and will have never seen before, frankly. I know that I can give the audience something that I really believe is going to give them added value when they see the movie."

The Dark Knight Rises comes out on Friday, July 20, but not in 3D, unless someone suddenly convinces Christopher Nolan that rapidly post-converted 3D is really, really, really good.

See also:

3D or no 3D? That is the question...

Christopher Nolan will never make any more Batman movies after The Dark Knight Rises

New Dark Knight Rises trailer isn't good; it's stunning

Ice Age meets Batman in The Dark Nut Rises

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