Christopher Nolan is has told some great stories in his films. The filmmaker has never been opposed to experimenting with the processes in production. In quotes from The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan, a recently released novel by Tom Shone, the director mentions the critiques of his films’ sound mixing, specifically Interstellar. Nolan says other Hollywood directors called him about not being able to hear the dialogue. You can check out what he had to say below.
“We got a lot of complaints…I actually got calls from other filmmakers who would say, ‘I just saw your film, and the dialogue is inaudible.’ Some people thought maybe the music’s too loud, but the truth was it was kind of the whole enchilada of how we had chosen to mix it.”
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More from Nolan:
“The problem comes when the action stops and the film starts explaining how it all works, giving the audience clunky lines of exposition through cold and detached readings — as if the actors were nothing but soulless animatronics at a theme park. It doesn’t help that a big part of the dialogue is mumbled and drowned by the metallic sound design and loud score.”
Wow, this is surprising. I think Nolan is a great filmmaker, as he directed one of my favorite films of all time in The Prestige. It’s kind of weird to hear his opinion on dialogue, he probably isn’t big on Tarantino movies. Sure, there are times when no words are necessary. And times where films rely too heavily on exposition. On the other hand, there’s a reason many of us, especially film geeks love to quote movies.
This isn’t the first time audio in one of Nolan’s films has been an issue. In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane’s dialogue was barely able to be understood. Though Nolan famously redubbed the villain’s dialogue, making him easier to understand.
What are your thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s audio mixes? Let us know in the comments down below!
Source: The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan (via Collider)