Chris Nolan's debut movie FOLLOWING gets IFC re-release

By Matt Holmes /

Call me an idiot if you like but I've never actually seen Chris Nolan's experimental 1998 B&W debut film Following, and nor have I ever had the desire to. If I was on my deathbed right now or had been shot with David Carradine's truth serum from Kill Bill Vol. 2 - I would probably tell you that I have actively avoided seeing it for ten years. I know I know, and that comes from a huge Nolan fan, eh? I've seen my least favourite movie of his oeuvre more than once (Insomnia, but I still love it) but I can't drum up the enthusiasm to dedicate an hour of my life to this particular one that I haven't. And I actually think it looks cool too...The only excuse I can come up with and you let me know if it's a viable one or not, is that I'm always put off by extremely low-budget, industry entry level movies, especially those with actors I don't know. If I don't see them on there first run, I have no time to hunt for them and I rarely ever do. There's just too many movies made by directors I admire at their peak (rather than them starting out) that I want to see and I suppose when there's not half a dozen Woody Allen movies my eyes are still yet to witness - I'll give the debuts of Scorsese, Hitchcock and Nolan a fair shake. IFC have announced a cinematic re-release of Following that will be available in the U.S. for three months, though the DVD is already readily available for purchase. Apparently Criterion are re-issuing it next year too, so maybe I'll be tempted if it's an extra-heavy Nolan edition. The re-release is thanks to the increased interest in Nolan because of Inception, whose lead character also shares his name with the character from Nolan's debut. This thanks to The Playlist;

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The low-budget film (made for under $10,000 dollars) concerns a young writer who follows people around London, looking for inspiration for his novel. One day he gets noticed by a master thief named Cobb (sound familiar?) who draws the writer into his lifestyle, and as you might expect, things get a bit hairy. It's a crackerjack debut that features many of the stylistic and narrative devices Nolan would employ in later films.
Any OWF readers who have seen Following, feel free to tell me if it's an hour worth spent.