Modern Day Icon - Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is one of the most talented and sort after filmmakers currently working in Hollywood directors who has enjoyed huge box office success in the last few years.

In his short career he has produced movies such as Memento, the Dark Knight and Inception - all of which are critically acclaimed and will guarantee that we enjoy his movies for many years to come.

His first feature length movie came in the mid nineties when he Following, which starred Jeremy Theobald and Alex Haw, which centred on a young man who followed strangers around the streets of London.

But it was to be his second movie Memento in 2000 that really caused a stir in the movie world as Guy Pearce took on his now famous role of Leonard Shelby.

A robber attacks a married couple, killing the woman and leaving the man for dead. As he convalesces, the man struggles to overcome amnesia through the chaos of memory loss induced by his injuries.

Finding himself within rag-tag moments of his past, he attempts to remember the vital details and solve the mystery behind his wife's murder.

A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.

The movie began to capture people's attention as it did the rounds on the festival circuit and while it struggled to find a distributor the movie was praised and championed by Steven Soderburgh.

Word of mouth seemed to do the trick and grossed just under $40 million, not bad for a movie made for $4.5 million, and it was a huge hit with the critics.

Nolan went on to be nominated for Best Director at the Directors Guild of America Award before collected the trophy at the Independent Spirit Awards. Ten years on and the movie is now a cult hit and one of Nolan's most famous works.

Two years later and then a remake, in the form of Insomnia, was on the cards as Nolan teamed up with Al Pacino and Robin Williams for an American version of Erik Skjoldbjærg's 1997 movie of the same name.

It was another critical hit for the director but he didn't return to the big screen until 2005.

And 2005 brought a change of genre for Nolan as he took on the blockbuster by bringing Batman back to the big screen. A re-boot of the franchise saw Christian Bale take over the lead role of Bruce Wayne as Nolan took his story right back to the beginning.

Batman Begins was both critically and commercially successful as it took $372 million at the global box office, and the franchise was back on its feet and in good hands.

He stayed with Christian Bale and Michael for his next project The Prestige in 2006 as Christopher Priest's 1995 novel of the same name was adapted for the big screen.

However it was The Dark Knight that proved to the big success of his career as the movie broke through the $1 billion barrier - and it widely recognised as the greatest comic book movie ever made.

The release of the movie was highly anticipated with news that the Joker was returning to the big screen, in the unexpected form of Heath Ledger.

Two years after the success of The Dark Knight and Nolan was back with Inception - which was the best movie of 2010.

The director has brought together an impressive cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Michael Caine and Tom Hardy.

In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception.

Nolan is a director who is unafraid to use complex narrative and plot as he tests and asks questions of the audience.

Inception is a maze from the off as Nolan adds layer upon layer to the story as the audience takes a trip into a dream world and an exploration of the subconscious.

The film went on to storm the box office and the movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, losing out to The King’s Speech.

Next summer he returns to the Batman franchise with The Dark Knight Rises - which looks set to be one of the biggest movies of 2012.

The Dark Knight may have missed out on a much deserved Best Picture Oscar nomination but The Dark Knight Rises may just surpass everything that its predecessor achieved.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw