Following

This 1998 debut feature by director Christopher Nolan shares more in common with his early, conceptually adventurous films such as Memento than his muscular Batman trilogy. The low-budget, black-and-white Following is a mind-game movie about an unnamed young writer (Jeremy Theobald) who obsessively follows people to gather material for his work, eventually becoming drawn into the world of Cobb (Alex Haw), a break-in artist who likes to peek into the personal lives of his victims. Cobb ultimately plays the role of confessor and evil twin, of sorts, to the writer, whom he mentors. Lucy Russell costars as a victim who becomes an intimate and then sends the protégé writer on his first big job. Nolan creates a quirky little film noir here with one of those too-clever twist endings, but you can see the seeds of Memento in his fascination with alienation and urban loneliness and in the shuffled story structure. Although not well-known, Following will be of interest to fans of Nolan and aficionados of oddball indie films. Presented with a new high-definition digital transfer for this DVD special edition and Blu-ray debut, extras include a “chronological edit” of the film, audio commentary by Nolan, a new video interview with Nolan, comparisons of the shooting script with scenes from the film, Nolan's 1997 short “Doodlebug,” and a booklet with an essay by film critic Scott Foundas. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)