Christopher Nolan explains why his films like 'Tenet' have only one-word title; Read more

Christopher Nolan is one of the most acclaimed directors around the globe. He has garnered many praises for his unique filmmaking and twisted storytelling techniques. However, there is one thing which is common in several of his movies which is their title. Most of his films have only one-word as the title which has been questioned by fans. Now Nolan has finally answered the question.

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Why most Christopher Nolan films have only one-word as title?

In a recent interaction with ReelBlend podcast, Christopher Nolan opened up about the process of choosing his film's titles, which usually consists of one-word. He said that for him, titles are “very tricky” to be too self-conscious about. He stated that a person is looking for a way of expressing something about the film through its title. The filmmaker mentioned that to a certain extent, it is a branding exercise on larger-scale films.

Christopher Nolan explained that for the movie’s name he has always gravitated towards the simplest version of something that gets the idea across. He recalled that when he wrote the script of Following, it was initially named as The Following, so they got rid of 'The' and stripped it down.

The filmmaker thinks that it was the beginning of his interest in trying to make things as “short and a pithy” as possible, really. However, he stated that it is “all instinct” at the end of the day. It is all trying to create something that “someone is excited about, that they are excited to share with the world,” Nolan noted.

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Christopher Nolan made his feature-film directorial debut in 1998 with Following. Since then, many of his acclaimed films consist of only a single word as the title. It includes Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017). His recent most ambitious venture also has only one-word, Tenet. Other Nolan work that has more than one-word title is mainly from the Dark Knight trilogy.

The movies are Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Besides the Dark Knight trilogy, the filmmaker’s 2006 released movie, The Prestige starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Scarlett Johansson, is his only movie which has two words in the title. Now as Nolan has revealed that he removed 'The' from Following, many might wonder why he did not remove it from The Prestige. Prior to Following, his short films also had single-word as the title. They are Tarantella, Larceny and Doodlebug. 

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