Following [DVD] [1999]

This is the first feature length film (though only just feature length) from Christopher Nolan, the man behind the excellent 'Memento' and forthcoming 'Insomnia'. Bill is a writer, or at least wants to be one, and follows people on the street for inspiration and relief from his boredom of being unemployed. He is caught in the act by burglar Cobb, who then takes him under his wing, leading him into a criminal underworld and an obsession of crime. The structure is complicated and initially confusing, and some of it seems indulgent, but with such a brave approach you won't notice. Nolan directs with flair and style, holding a clausrophobic, paranoid feel throughout. The lack of colour allows for a darker, more mysterious mood than many thrillers, and fits the film aptly. Jeremy Theobald (Bill) and Alex Haw (Cobb) a both excellent, though some of the other actors are not so convincing. The music for the film, supplied by David Julyan, like the mood is mysterious and claustrophic, and is in fact better than the music he produced for 'Memento' a few years later. This film is a noir with subtle differences, and viewers are rewarded for putting up with the frustrating structure with an excellent final scene, drawing everything together, rather than the ambiguity of Memento. In short if you were a fan of Memento, don't mind being confused, and aren't put off by black and white, this is for you.

Before the release of the critically acclaimed cult classic Memento, Christopher Nolan made his feature film debut with the London based neo noir Following. Made in a similarly distorted fashion to its better known big brother, Following displays early signs of a talented film maker yet to fully hone his skills. Here we see a director showing a raw grittiness in their debut work that is reminiscent of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets.

Produced on a shoe string budget of a mere £6000 over the course of a year's worth of weekends, Following runs for a mere 70 minutes. However this short film packs a punch with its daring approach to a hackneyed and clichéd genre. Shot in black and white it bares all the hallmarks of the classic Film Noir formula; the untrustworthy femme fatale, the morally ambiguous hero, the strong arm gang boss and the manipulative villain. Also as with classic Noir's such as Out of the Past, Following refuses to give its hero a happy ending and the satisfaction of the film comes from the way in which the story is told and not in its conclusion. Nolan is largely successful in his manipulation of the narrative of what other wise would be a boring and formulaic film. However this can not be a criticism because it is obvious he intended from the beginning to tell his story in such a way. Piece by Piece we are allowed to fit the puzzle together as the film jumps back and forth in time. Nolan uses the appearance of the protagonist Bill (Jeremy Theobald) to indicate where in the story we are, one moment he is long haired and scruffily dressed the next he has a sharper haircut and a bruised face. Nolan leaves us intrigued to discover who and why has given him such a beating and we are ultimately satisfied as the story unfolds. He displays a great dexterity with his mobile camera work which often has a voyeuristic feel. Of course Voyeurism is a major theme throughout the film. Bill is essentially a stalker who deludes himself into believing he is researching for his book. Cobb works under the pretence of being a burglar but is actually more interested in uncovering the secrets of other people and the theme even continues with the photos Bill is unwittingly tricked into stealing. Despite the fact Following was filmed in London, the capital is unrecognisable and murky. There is no sign of the houses of Parliament and Big Ben, a shot of which most London based films compulsively include. Instead we linger in grotty apartments and a smoky bar with the sensation of uncomfortably viewing events through a peephole.

The ending is cleverly crafted and the plot twist within a twist is genuinely unexpected. There is a slight feeling however that for all Nolan's ingenuity in displacing the narration he is merely covering up for the fact that it is a fairly uninspiring story. With Memento, Nolan had a genuine reason for muddling up events as we followed the story of a man who was incapable of creating new memories. Here the reasoning for this device is unapparent and although it is done very cleverly within the context it can be seen as a bit of a gimmick. Nevertheless, for a first film made with such a miniscule funds, Following is compulsive viewing and evidence that cinema can be just as, if not more, inspiring without a multi million dollar budget.

Following is the one of the cleverest, smartest, toughest psychological thrillers since...well...since Memento. Bill (Jeremy Theobald) is an unsuccessful wannabe writer. "I've been on my own for a while," he tells an older man at the beginning of the movie, "and getting kind of lonely...and bored...nothing to do all day. And that's when I started shadowing." Bill will pick out a person and spend the day secretly following them around, seeing what they do and who they meet, what their lives are like. Fate, or something more sinister, takes a hand when he follows Cobb (Alex Haw) one day...and Cobb confronts him in a cafe. Cobb is about Bill's age, but he's smart and assured. And a thief. He breaks into people's flats and takes things, not just for the money. He convinces Bill, almost in a seduction, to follow him around while he does this. Bill is torn between fascination and unease, and fascination wins. Cobb explains to him that "interrupting someone's life is what it's all about. Making them see all the things they take for granted." One night Bill meets an attractive blond (Lucy Russell) in a nightclub owned by her boyfriend, an older, ruthless criminal who deals in drugs and pornography. As their relationship develops, so does his relationship with Cobb. Cobb may not be the best guy around to trust. Maybe not Lucy, either.

You might think the movie is a linear neo-noir until you realize that while some scenes are not in a linear context, they still provide clues to what's happening to Bill. In one scene he may be scruffy. In another scene more-or-less well groomed. He may have a bruise the size of a fist on his cheek with a white rubber glove stuffed in his mouth; in the next scene, no bruise, no glove. The scenes aren't in any chronological context, but they aren't random, either. They're great as a way to cleverly capture your attention and to make you suspicious of what you're seeing and of what seems to be happening. We realize Bill's story is a lot more complicated than we think, and that Bill's version doesn't seem likely to be the only version. The conclusion makes absolute sense when we look back at everything, and it is totally unexpected.

Nolan, who made Memento three years after Following, is a master at cleverly moving around pieces of a puzzle. If Memento was close to being a masterpiece of indirection, Following shows Memento wasn't a lucky one-shot. The movie, according to IMDb, was shot on a budget of about $6,000 on weekends. The cast and crew were friends, coworkers and relatives. It doesn't look like the work of amateurs at all. This is a fully professional film. The cast, incidentally, does an outstanding job. Only Russell seems to have gone on to a professional acting career. Theobald captures the feel of a person who doesn't just follow, but is essentially a follower. And Alex Haw as Cobb brings to the role all the competent, assured superciliousness of a young Rupert Everett, and that's intended as a compliment.

The movie was shot full frame and the DVD transfer looks just fine. There are a number of extras that fans of Nolan will most likely find of interest, including a Nolan commentary. For people who can't stand puzzles, one of the extras includes the ability to restructure the story chronologically.