Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of the most consistent film directors of his generation, building the bridge between art and commerce in a time when these two seem to drift away from each other. Whether his cerebral films that often play with time are always up your alley, there’s no denying that he’s able to craft inventive stories and realize his vision on the silver screen in a spectacular way. His films have become cinematic events.

When you take a look at a track record that includes experimental noir, dark blockbusters and imaginative spectacle – winning public and critical acclaim with nearly every film, while always completing his productions in time and under-budget – it’s no wonder that he’s one of the most reliable and sought-after studio directors working today.

Now that we have to wait at least another year for his next release, let’s dive in the meantime into the part of the cinematic world in which he operates. What are the films that heavily influenced or inspired Nolan himself? Which titles will interest you if you like the way he tells his stories? And what others may not have turned out without his impact? Some of these films are well-known but worth a revisit when seeing them through a Nolanesque point of view.

So let’s take a look in chronological order at some films that provide several ingredients for his vision and some others that feel like good follow-ups to his work. Happy dreaming.

1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Nolan has never made it a secret that he loves the James Bond franchise. At first glance, it may look somewhat peculiar that the one film featuring what is regarded as the weakest actor to portray 007 turns out to be his favourite.

Taking a closer look, it makes sense: George Lazenby lacks the self-confidence of his iconic predecessor, but this allows for a more significant overall story, one that is refreshingly less predictable than other instalments. Bond is more vulnerable and Lazenby’s portrayal is well-fitted for the more serious and tragic plot at play. Each shot in the film is memorable, without spoiling a second of entertainment.

The chase sequences are exhilarating but never undermine the love story. This confluence of solid action scenes and emotional storytelling makes the film a fan-favourite and a goal that Nolan aspires to in this in own work.

This is where both of his talents as filmmaker, as screenwriter and as director, come together. Similarities with Inception – he even coined it his own version of a Bond film – are visible: an exciting plot with great action scenes in the snow, but also intricately linked to a darker love story.

In addition, Nolan is no stranger to portraying dark heroism with an epic vision. So if you’re interested to see what he might bring to Bond if he’d ever be asked to direct the secret agent, start with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

2. Solaris (1971)

Stanley Kubrick left audiences in awe with 2001: A Space Odyssey, re-inventing cinema with a minimalist version of the arch plot and revolutionizing visual effects and inner-dimensions of space travel on-screen.

Meanwhile in the Soviet Union, Ever the iconoclast, Andrei Tarkovsky was underwhelmed and argued that the film was shallow, lacking any substantial emotional resonance. And in quite the Cold War spirit, it inspired him to make his own sci-fi masterpiece Solaris, based on the novel by Stanisław Lem about psychologist Kris Kelvin who travels to an orbiting space station to evaluate the crew on board who are dealing with different emotional problems. But during his arrival he becomes part of the same mysterious phenomena that the others encounter, and like him the audience starts questioning the nature of reality.

Tarkovsky demonstrates his visual flare, including his signature levitation scenes, but more importantly connects memories, nature and existence. Far less bombastic and more intimate than the Western take on the genre, Solaris is more of a psychological drama manifested through a grand vision that happens to be in outer space. The film is a delicate and moving meditation on humanity and love through a story that is simple, yet profound.

And like in Nolan’s Interstellar, Solaris tells about a widower and his guilt, using water as a visual motif representing an ocean of psychological turmoil. Nolan aimed to marry the visual spectacle and mechanics of space travel with the intimacy of a love story. Though Interstellar is a true cinematic experience and offers a magnificent score, it may have exceeded its grasp. Both of the inspirations are probably more successful in achieving these goals separately.

3. Don’t Look Now (1973)

Director Nicolas Roeg made several films in the ’70s and ’80s that became cult classics and clearly show his distinct style: highly imaginative, notoriously hard to label as they transcend genre conventions and very influential. Don’t Look Now is surely not the only film by Roeg that Nolan drew inspiration from, but one of the most memorable.

An unconventional love story set in a Venice that has never been so gloomy, the story masks as a psychological thriller about the occult, but it is much more than that. While it has elements of the supernatural, this is really about the grief of a married couple who have lost their young daughter who was drowned.

Moving to Italy after accepting a project to restore a church, John Baxter starts to experience unexplainable things that put pressure on his relationship with his wife Laura. The inventive non-linear structure is particularly powerful in its use of flashbacks and flash-forwards. This style of editing provides the viewer with the foreshadowing of key events in the story to huge effect; water remains an important motif throughout the film.

Nolan has claimed that Memento would have been unthinkable without Roeg´s films. The tense atmosphere, unpredictability of its plot and the confluence of visual metaphors with character development is unique and has been imitated by or at least inspired countless other directors from Lars von Trier to Danny Boyle and from Lynne Ramsay to Martin McDonagh.

4. Taxi Driver (1976)

Another film that has directly influenced Nolan’s psychological labyrinth that is Memento is Scorsese’s most influential film from the ’70s: his masterpiece Taxi Driver. This is also a haunting thriller about a disturbed and lonely man in an urban, filthy jungle. No one has said it better than Quentin Tarantino when he declared his love of the film, highlighting the main similarity between the movies.

Spoilers ahead, so don’t read if you still want to appreciate Taxi Driver or Memento for the first time. Written by Paul Schrader, it’s one the best examples of a film told by an unreliable narrator in the history of cinema: a unique first person character study of a deeply troubled man spending most of his time in the dirty parts of New York City, while being haunted by his past.

Robert De Niro completely morphs into Travis Bickle, so much that he captures the viewer completely into his perspective. Harvey Keitel is perfect as Sport, the pimp of an underage prostitute played magnificently by Jodie Foster.

The crucial scene of the film is where Travis tries to make up with Betsy, the girl he´s been chasing, only to get rejected. While he´s still talking to her on the phone, the camera moves away leaving him outside of the frame and instead is focusing on the empty hallway; signifying the unbearable feeling of what just happened.

Memento handles that theme of isolation with a much more intricate and fractured story. It is structured to make you feel how it is to have amnesia and it succeeds like no film does. To understand how that structure really works, check out the director himself in this video or see a summary of the story here.

Taxi Driver is less interested in the tension between subjective and objective reality, and more in the inner realms of this suffering, lonely man who tells the entire story from his point of view. The cinematography is completely one with how the viewer experiences this character. No film has done this quite like Taxi Driver.

5. The Tenant (1976)

Another disturbing psychological neo-noir that reminds of Nolan’s world, especially his earlier and grittier work, is Polanski´s third part of his Apartment Trilogy. After Repulsion and Rosemary´s Baby, arguably the greatest horror films of the ’60s, he concluded his take on the troubling and claustrophobic indoor world with The Tenant.

The story involves mysterious and ambiguous elements, drawing comparisons with Don´t Look Know and The Shining. Polanski directs himself as a quiet Polish man who rents a Paris apartment but quickly succumbs into a downward spiral of paranoia. As he becomes obsessed with the previous tenant who tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the apartment, he suspects his strict landlord and neighbours of making him suffer a similar fate.

Polanski uses Kafkaesque elements by painting an absurd environment, filled with anxiety and confusion, leading to guilt and paranoia. The plot is at times so absurd, that it provides a high dose of bleak humour. Like in his previous films, the line between reality and madness becomes blurred, and a cyclical process of another person’s nightmare becomes a new reality.

The film also speaks about the loss of identity, as the protagonist is isolated and perhaps sexually repressed, representing a powerful void. Frightening and subjective, it questions the behaviour of the characters. Both Insomnia and Memento deal with similar themes and like The Tenant allow for multiple viewings to explore its multi-layered themes.

It has proven a challenge for filmmakers to resist the temptation of either repeating themselves unnecessarily or taking on projects that do not utilize their talents. Even the most influential directors like Hitchcock, Bergman, Welles and Chaplin, or more recently Scott, Lynch, Tarantino and the Coens have had their misfires. Creating a singular and fully realized vision, and being able to translate that time and again into a picture that finds an audience is a trait only very few have.

This list is a careful though incomplete selection of filmmakers. I´ve decided to only look at people who made at least seven features as a sole director, since that is the number of films a director can make during a generation and through which they can have a full cultural impact. Moreover, half of this list consists of older directors who have passed away and the other half is still alive.

In doing so, some did not make this list but can still be regarded as undeniably gifted filmmakers. The ones that did are directors who had an important hand in the writing and/or producing of their pictures, further cementing their status as complete auteurs or at least visionary writer-directors who in their least successful effort still delivered a good and unique film. Here is, in chronological order, a selection of 10 directors who never made a bad film.

1. Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Cinematic Painter
A giant with an unparalleled ability to draw visual masterpieces.

The oldest director on this list, Akira Kurosawa was trained as a painter before he focused on directing films. Many Japanese filmmakers were incredibly productive during their lifetime, given the 40+ films that Yasujirō Ozu made and the 94 credits that Kenji Mizoguchi has to his name. And Kurosawa is no stranger to this: every single one of his 32 films as a director during a 60 year-long career presents an exciting story.

Another reason for him being such an icon is his huge influence outside of Japan, counting a variety of accomplished directors as his closest admirers. From legends such as Kubrick to New-Hollywood directors like Spielberg, and from Italian masters such as Fellini to Scandinavian specialists like Bergman.

In fact, Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars was a remake of Yojimbo and Lucas’ Star Wars Saga was directly influenced by The Hidden Fortress. This is evidence of the enormous impact Kurosawa has made throughout the history of film. All of his works are signature pieces and it comes as no surprise that he is regarded as the first Asian auteur.

He is probably best known for his samurai stories like Seven Samurai, revolutionary for their epic scale. Psychological thriller Rashomon is equally brilliant for its point-of-view storytelling. Other masterpieces like High and Low are astonishing for their careful blocking to visually build dramatic tension, controlling the viewers’ attention on a single character, revealing who the characters truly are, and conveying this all into one unifying visual story.

His range is equally incredible: from historical action adventures like Ran to the romantic drama The Idiot, and from profound dramatic pieces such as Ikiru to contemporary crime films like Drunken Angel. He is the sensei of cinema´s other heroes who stand on his shoulders. Without him, many directors would not be the filmmaker they would have become.

2. Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), Master of Adaptation
A complete filmmaker in complete control.

Even if you glance at Kubrick’s earlier work, it’s evident that he exhibited a meticulous control of his craft. His anti-war film Fear and Desire was more of an experiment, but worthy and effective as a debut. He made two solid noirs: Killer’s Kiss – his first adaptation – and The Killing using a nonlinear structure and featuring Sterling Hayden who would later play in the best war comedy ever written: Dr. Strangelove. A poignant political satire with a perfect look at the Cold War: razor-sharp and funny as hell up to this day.

Kubrick became a coveted filmmaker with the raw Paths of Glory set in World War I and by helming the historical drama Spartacus. Furthermore, he never shied away from controversial topics to reveal the darker side of humanity like in the forbidden romance of Lolita and the dystopian crime satire that is A Clockwork Orange. He mastered other genres as well.

With his background in photography he lighted the elegant set designs like no other in period drama Barry Lyndon, he made psychological horror completely visual in The Shining, and he delivered an intense war drama with Full Metal Jacket. Although he perfected the art of adaptation, he was also able to create new concepts.

Together with author Arthur C. Clarke he developed his crown jewel, the enigmatic sci-fi spectacle 2001: A Space Odyssey. One the most analysed films of all time, Kubrick elevated the genre to unprecedented heights and created a sublime visual and philosophical work of art.

He dazzled audiences one last time in Eyes Wide Shut, an erotic thriller that is mysterious and unforgettable. It’s one of the most underrated of his works, and remains as haunting as any love story can be. He was able to secure his own place in the Hollywood system, only doing studio projects he chose and operating with a rarefied independence.

He completely controlled each stage of his work. Each picture added a new layer of intensity, originality and fearlessness to his track record. He envisioned his films with extreme focus and used every technique to his disposal, perfecting his actors, cameras, production design, soundtrack and editing. As Spielberg once said about Stanley Kubrick: nobody could shoot a picture better.

3. Sergio Leone (1929-1989), Capo of Close-up
A master who shattered genre conventions.

Sergio Leone is best-known for inventing the subgenre the Spaghetti Western. And rightly so, since his take on the Western was refreshing at the time: complex and morally ambiguous characters, inventive use of music and raw performances edited with a dynamite energy, never at the expense of entertainment value.

He manifested his style most vividly through the balance between long shots that took forever and extreme close-ups. He utilized the whole spectrum of the canvas. Italian-born Leone met composer Ennio Morricone in school, and the two became an illustrious duo behind unforgettable soundtracks. Their scores are guiding themes for certain characters and perfectly capture the rhythm of the story.

He was able to produce high-end spectacles on low-budgets, such as the Dollars trilogy which made Clint Eastwood a household name. It gave Leone the chance to go to Hollywood and work on Once Upon a Time in the West. Among a group of stars, Henry Fonda was brilliantly cast against type as the villain with a grin. The legendary film is a brilliant retribution drama following an unbearably long intro scene that cleverly sets up the tension. Duck You Sucker was overlooked when it was released, but has a great amount of detail, effects and tension.

His last work was his most ambitious and enigmatic. Over 10 years in the making, Leone set out to tell an epic tale of three generations of the Jewish mafia in New York City. He turned down an offer to direct The Godfather to focus on his own meditation on American mythology. Once Upon a Time in America could stand as his best yet most puzzling piece.

A confident departure from the Western, he created a story of enormous scope and depth. Morricone struck gold with the music and Leone´s masterpiece is a treat to experience. The long running time and slow pacing helps to evoke its transcendent feel and reveal its deeper meaning. The signature close-ups in all of his films are not only extreme; they evoke a distinct feeling and rhythm, a deeper understanding of the characters. All of his films are one of a kind.

4. Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986), Master of Dreams
Nobody got closer to visual philosophical art.

The life story of Andrei Tarkovsky is that of a great but tragic artist. Born in the Soviet Union, he became their foremost auteur, was banned from working in his beloved country, and he died at age 54. What Chekhov was to writers of short stories and plays, what Stanislavski was to actors, and what Eisenstein was to editors, fellow Russian Andrei Tarkovsky was to film directors. An artist in the deepest sense of the word who elevated the filmed medium to visual poetry.

Nothing sounded like his films, nothing looked like his films, and nothing felt like his films. He invented a new language, as Bergman noted: “capturing life as a dream”. His contribution was so influential that it became known as Tarkovskian.

A film theorist himself, he described his method as sculpting in time: expressing the course of time through the rhythm of film. His heart-breaking debut Ivan’s Childhood dealt with the horrors of war through the eyes of a young boy and brought the director international acclaim.

The historical drama about artist Andrei Rublev won him the first of many prizes at in Cannes. Solaris became a cult hit back home, but it was Stalker – his meditation on the metaphysics of life – that reimagined the sci-fi genre.

Mirror, his most autobiographical account, threw all notions about fabula (the order of events) and syuzhet (the narrative) of the table, and is Tarkovsky at his most inaccessible and inventive. He broke the rules of structure with an art piece that portrays human consciousness itself.

Mirror and Stalker were produced under such difficult circumstances and were treated so poorly by the local authorities that he decided to escape the motherland in exchange for Europe. Due to his illness, he only managed to finish two films: Nostalghia and The Sacrifice. Both films reveal how deeply he cared about his life and legacy.

Tarkovsky asks his audience a lot and no one comes closer to the deepest parts of the soul. His body of work consists of only seven films; it speaks volumes about the effort it took him and his impact on the medium.

5. Hayao Miyazaki (1941), Anime Hero
A pioneer of profound, emotionally-driven animation.

A magical thing happened in the world of animation when editor and producer Toshio Suzuki approached director Isao Takahata and animator Hayao Miyazaki to form Studio Ghibli, based on the Italian noun for “hot desert wind”. And a new wind started to blow. Miyazaki already had a successful career as a manga artist and animator, and improved the techniques of animation with Takahata.

Now they set out to create stories that weren’t just exciting to watch but had strong (female) characters, adult themes, and painted an expressionistic fantasy world that resembled the real world.

Entire generations are raised on these meaningful adventures stories about the relationships between people and with nature. Smoothly evolving from traditional animation to computer-based techniques, Miyazaki juggles roles as a storyboard artist, animator, screenwriter, director, and editor; carefully shaping his control throughout the process. Each of his 12 films is a wonderful story, dealing with varying themes.

By virtue of anime as an art form, no other filmmaker has been able to create such magical worlds for global audiences. He forged a capacity in which he could easily play with elements of biography, family, romance, adventure, and drama. His ability to combine transformational storytelling and quirky excitement has left critics and audiences in awe, delivering hit after hit.

His most successful films include Princess Mononoke, a great war fantasy that also works as a philosophical love story, and Spirited Away, an enchanting and fearless coming-of-age story.

The fact that in each of his works the level of technical craftsmanship never diminishes the scope and impact of its underlying story is utterly unique. Pixar may be Disney for adults, but it’s the little brother of Ghibli. And its hero Miyazaki is a giant who continues to thrive, capturing the human spirit in the most fascinating of ways.

It’s that time of the year and some might be thinking: seriously, have we not seen them all? At times, romantic movies seem to only consist of repeated formulas, endless clichés and worn out storylines. So it is about time to look at romantic films that offer something different. A storyteller breaking new ground with a unique point of view or by telling their story in a way nobody has done before.

A well-written screenplay is the start of any great film, and the romantic genre reveals, perhaps most evidently, when it works and when it does not. This is a closer look at some truly original films, meaning no adaptations…Although one could say that all love stories are essentially derivatives of one general story arch: a romantic relationship between characters with the underlying question: is their love strong enough?

There are many great titles that did not make this list. But the ones that did are unforgettable as they offer a breath of fresh air from celebrated screenwriters, and elevate both the genre as well as the filmed medium in general. Without further ado, here is – in chronological order – a selection of the most original romantic films ever made.

1. City Lights (1931) – Charlie Chaplin

Theme: the perception of love
Why it is great: a magical movie for all its honesty and sincerity

Lauded as a pioneer in the history of film, both in the silent-era and during the start of the ‘talkies’, Charlie Chaplin, perhaps the first auteur of modern cinema, is mostly known for creating his signature role of the tramp. Dressed in formal yet dirty clothes, a derby hat and a toothbrush moustache, his bumbling behaviour usually gets him into trouble and a big heart helps him to get out it.

City Lights was his fifth directorial feature and is regarded not only as his finest work, but a landmark in the history of filmmaking. The central theme is about how love is viewed and noticed. And what if that does not happen in the way you would expect? The tramp falls in love with a flower shop girl who needs money for an operation that could cure her blindness. Not having much to spend himself, he receives the help from an eccentric millionaire.

With only this simple storyline, Chaplin handles the perception of love in a profound way: is seeing truly believing? The acting during the final scene is nothing short of breathtaking also thanks to its subtext: it is not about how you look, but about how you see. Love in its strongest form can be unconditional and poignant, and in City Lights it leaves much anticipation about what might follow. This film will leave every viewer moved.

2. Annie Hall (1977) – Woody Allen

Theme: the necessity of love
Why it is great: a hilarious and revealing exposé of how relationships end

Whether you think Woody Allen is a screenwriting genius or a snobbish neurotic (both hold some truth), this could very well be his finest film and one of the funniest scripts ever written about relationships. While playing a version of himself as usual, he reflects on his failed relationship with Annie Hall who is basically his polar opposite: charming, fun and carefree.

In a way, this is Allen’s answer to Scenes from a Marriage. Though not as serious as and probably more accessible than Bergman´s work, it is obvious that Allen is a great admirer of the Swedish auteur, focusing on the human condition in all its frailties though his own pair of glasses. His hometown of middle-upper class New York returns as the central setting, offering many long-shots of walk ‘n talks. He frequently breaks the fourth wall, knowing that the audience will recognize certain elements that may lead to any break-up.

There is an endless list of clever and funny one-liners, but the story is also profoundly sad. In addition, he touches on several topics ranging from gender differences to psychoanalysis and (Jewish) identity. His character is quite nihilistic and he never hides that. The scope of the story is ambitious, balancing the story effortlessly between funny and sad.

Everything works, from the marvellous camerawork by Godfather veteran Gordon Willis, to the witty dialogue and the indelible casting of Diane Keaton and Woody Allen who have undeniable chemistry. It set the standard of what a romantic comedy could be and never ceases to be wonderful.

3. When Harry Met Sally… (1989) – Rob Reiner

Theme: love vs. friendship, are they mutually exclusive?
Why it is great: so sweet, so real, and hugely influential.

Harry and Sally meet fresh out of college and live a life of failed relationships with other people. They keep meeting again, and as their friendship grows deeper, the question becomes more obvious: should they give it a try? They have known each other for a long time; can they stay friends or will sex change that forever? During a phone call they talk about Casablanca (1942) – another great romance – whether they should have stayed together.

Clearly one of the lighter films in this list, it speaks volumes about its ability to tell a great story without being overly dramatic. The funny and realistic screenplay was penned by Nora Ephron who grew to be one of the most distinctive writers of her generation. Not only the primary screenwriter of the romantic comedy (romcom) genre, she became an acclaimed director in her own right, and wrote books, and plays.

This film features many hilarious and touching scenes, perhaps the high point being the infamous restaurant scene partly thanks to both actors improvising. Director Rob Reiner gets terrific performances out of Billy Chrystal and Meg Ryan – clearly succeeding in putting their chemistry on screen – and creates a perfect rhythm for the story.

The interlaced segments of married couples are a hilarious touch, keeping the realism close enough. Their friendship, life and connection develop beautifully and lead to an incredibly satisfying yet believable ending. And that is something unique for the romcom genre. When Harry Met Sally… shows what real relationships are made of, and it influenced the whole romantic genre in the decade(s) that followed.

4. Three Colors: Red (1994) – Krzysztof Kieslowski

Theme: the anti-romance
Why it is great: a unique metaphysical take on lost love

Before Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski achieved international fame, he was known in his home country as the leading auteur of ambitious films and TV series, including The Dekalogue (1989), created with his regular team consisting of screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz and composer Zbigniew Preisner, profoundly reaching the hearts of many, including Stanley Kubrick. With that same group of people, he made what turned out to be his last piece of work: the trilogy Three Colors, inspired by the French Revolutionary ideals and corresponding Tricolour.

The three films are equally impressive, and the last instalment, tackles romance in a unique way. Described by Roger Ebert as the anti-romance, it tells a story about a model, a law student and a retired judge who share a mysterious connection. But the plot is only a device through which the choices of the characters, and forces beyond their control, are questioned. The alchemy of symbols through sound and vision has rarely been put together so elegantly, resulting in meaningful visual splendour. The film is pure poetry by making the abstract look accessible and the enigmatic look familiar.

Red shows how lost souls find each other through time, and their story connects neatly with the other parts of the trilogy. Unsurprisingly, the film received universal acclaim, landing Oscar nominations for its direction, screenplay and cinematography. This is Kieslowski’s magnum opus: a unique tale of love through parallel universes.

5. The Before Trilogy (1995, 2004, 2013) – Richard Linklater

Theme: love over time
Why it is great: an epic exploration of all seasons in a relationship

When Before Sunrise was released, a small indie-loving audience saw how a young American writer and a French university student fell for each other over the course of one night in Vienna. Nine years later, they returned in the sequel Before Sunset with a premise anyone can relate to: what would you do with the one that got away? That audience grew into a devoted group of fans, whose patience was rewarded.

The films struck a chord with its sincere, unsentimental portrait of a man and a woman whose paths cross. At the same time the story is witty, exciting and just plain beautiful; their dialogues so carefully written and rehearsed that one would think these two are genuinely falling in love. Once again, they returned nine years later in Before Midnight, 18 years after their first encounter and with traces of what their first talk (un)intentionally referred to.

Clearly in a different season in their relationship, the wrinkles in their face signify the darker unavoidable themes in their life together, for better and for worse. What does it mean to meet the love of your life, and how does a relationship evolve over decades?

Only Richard Linklater, who collaborated closely with actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy on the screenplays, could succeed in turning such an ambitious project passing two decades into something audiences were willing to wait for: an honest and completely exciting portrait of love over time.

Both actors would grow into writer-directors themselves, and this trilogy shows their mutual talent for creating characters viewers fall in love with. Many have been here, but never has it been shown so magically in what is probably the truest depiction ever put on film.