Following – Wow! This Is Amazing

 (1998)

Following, stalking, sniffing, shadowing, whatever, that’s what The Young Man does around the streets of London. What’s his name? Sorry, not mentioned. And what for? Well, he’s a loner, waiting to be excited, and he considers himself a writer, so what do you think? Anyway, one of the important rules he sets for himself is to pick the target randomly. As he, however, breaks it helplessly later on, things go terribly wrong. Who’s following who? He has no idea until he goes to the police and tells what he thinks has happened.

This black & white film back in 1998, looking fairly old fashioned and rough, yet with a fresh and stylish non-linear story structure, is considered a British noir classic, that could get pretty confusing at the beginning, but don’t worry, don’t fall asleep, pay attention, and at the end, you’d go like…well, how’d you feel if you think you’ve seen the whole picture but you’re in fact just part of it?

Christopher Nolan is one of the filmmakers that I admire. Following is his first try as a director. If you’ve tried his Momento and The Prestige, you wouldn’t feel too much of a headache watching this one, but if you haven’t, try it too. You’ll be loving it.