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A black-and-white noir story of trust and betrayal, this film establishes many of the themes that would become hallmarks of Christopher Nolan's films.

Set in London, Following is the story of Bill, a lonely unemployed author experiencing writer's block. Short on cash and ideas and fueled by his voyeuristic fetish, he devises a game: pick a random pedestrian and follow them around town observing their daily routine. There are some rules though... he never follows the same person more than once and he never gets involved in their lives. He tells himself this is strictly research for potential characters in his writing, but it soon goes beyond research when he follows and ultimately develops a relationship with a mysterious well-dressed man named Cobb. Unfortunately for Bill, Cobb has a few secrets and an agenda of his own and nothing is as it seems...

The first half hour seems to be a simple story of a guy with way too much free time on his hands, but as we soon discover, there's a lot more going on than is initially revealed. Nolan takes his time peeling back the layers (and plays around with our notions of what's in the present and what isn't in a big way), but when everything is laid out, it's a stunner. And it makes sense, too. Unlike some other flicks that have had this sort of labyrinthine structure, Nolan's made sure that everything works (same as he did with Memento). It's the sort of film (again, like Memento) that demands a second viewing, just so you can see what sort of hints Nolan has dropped along the way.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell, John Nolan
Country: UK
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller

BD50, DVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC 4:3 | 01:10:10 | 46.3 Gb + 6.53 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English

Extras:

• Audio commentary featuring writer-director Christopher Nolan recorded in 2001

• Christopher Nolan - in this outstanding video interview, director Christopher Nolan recalls how Following came to exist, and discusses some of the more interesting stylistic decisions he made while shooting the film (there are some very interesting comments about the use of light in the film), the structure of the film, how his work on Following and later on Memento helped his make important decisions while shooting the Batman films, etc. The interview was conducted by Criterion in Los Angeles in December 2010. In English, not subtitled. (27 min, 1080p).

• The Linear Edit - this version of Following reorganizes the events in the film and puts them in chronological order. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles. (70 min, 1080p).

• Script to Film - the shooting script for Following is presented here together with direct scene comparisons showing how closely director Christopher Nolan shot each scripted sequence. Three sequences from the film are included. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080p).

• Doodlebug (1997) - Christopher Nolan's first short film about a man trying to kill a bug in his apartment. The man is played by Jeremy Theobald, who also plays the young writer in Following. (3 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - leaflet featuring Scott Foundas' essay "Nolan Begins". (Mr. Foundas is associate program director for the Film Society of Lincoln Center, where he also serves as a member of the New York Film Festival Selection Committee and a contributing editor to Film Comment magazine).

• Trailers