Memento (2000) | Making of a MASTERPIECE | Christopher Nolan 

Now repeat after me, " in Nolan we believe ".

Nolan’s voice is so soothing. This is almost like listening to asmr.

The conversation with Del Toro is interesting. I think it's fair to say that Nolan "sold out" a little to do the Dark Knight trilogy, in that it was clearly a compromise between his own creative voice and the desire of the studio to exploit their property in a way they were comfortable with and had control of. Batman Begins isn't a Nolan film in the way his non-Batman films seem to be. And even Nolan's next film after Memento, Insomnia, seemed more like a project he was brought onboard to service rather than his own creative vision. Of course, both of these films are admirable in most respects. I don't think there's anything innately wrong with a studio-driven film, as opposed to an auteur driven film. Some of the greatest films in history were conceived by studios and assembled by many hands, rather than singular artistic visions like Memento and Nolan's more recent work. Everyone thinks they have an idea what "selling out" is, but I think it's a gradual process by which compromise and collaboration encroaches more and more on good creative choices in favor of bad ones, like audience pandering or ego-stroking. I think it's hard to know when you've sold out, where that line is. Batman Begins definitely had some moments that felt more like studio egos wanting their way, rather than creative choices serving the work. In many ways, it doesn't feel like a pure Nolan film. Is it a sell-out? Maybe. I think it's better to call it a compromise, and one that paved the way for an incredibly brilliant creator's massive success. So sometimes, compromising, and even selling out, isn't the worst thing you can do.