Los Angeles, Jan 19 (IANS): Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. trekked to Sundance Film Festival‘s opening night gala to reveal that a “terrible tragedy” has befallen Christopher Nolan.
The hardship of the ‘Oppenheimer’ maker is really just a bad case of the blues, and it’s because Nolan — as Downey explained while bestowing Nolan with the first-ever Trailblazer Award — “has become recognisable on the street, reports Variety.
According to Downey, the critical and commercial success of ‘Oppenheimer’ means that casual moviegoers have started to spot the British director. And, as a result, “he recoils, as though from a hot flame, from this new and unwelcome reality.”
Well, Nolan may not be retreating from the spotlight anytime soon. The director, an awards season favourite, was lauded by Downey as an “enigmatic auteur” and “as independent a voice we’ve ever had in cinema.” But the actor, who has also been on the Oscar circuit for portraying Lewis Strauss in ‘Oppenheimer’, also playfully skewered his director.
“We have become extremely close”, Downey told the packed house at a venue about 30 minutes outside of Park City. “As in, we had dinner on location once.” He also teased the director for limiting bathroom breaks on set to “11 a.m. and 6 p.m. sharp.”
As per Variety, Nolan may be over the attention, but he expressed excitement in returning to Sundance. He got his big break at the festival with 2000’s ‘Memento’, a time-bending thriller starring Guy Pearce as a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia.
He’s gone on to make beloved blockbusters, such as the 'Dark Knight' trilogy, the mind-bender 'Inception' and the World War II epic ‘Dunkirk’. He wasn’t always breaking box office records. Nolan recalled trying to sell ‘Memento’ in the early aughts, but “nobody wanted the film. It was an appalling position to be.”
It wasn’t until a screening at Sundance that ‘Memento’ ignited any traction in North America. “If you get your film (to Sundance), you will get an audience,” Nolan said, acknowledging that attention doesn’t guarantee enthusiasm from critics and moviegoers. “They won’t always see eye to eye with you.”
Nolan wasn’t the only Sundance alum who was feted on opening night. Kristen Stewart, who headlines two films at this year’s Sundance, the sci-fi romance drama ‘Love Me’ and the queer crime thriller ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, was honoured with the Visionary Award.