Agree with this totally. Two recent examples of that, that I really liked, were Succession (where Adam McKay ruled the production with an iron fist and scrutinized every detail), and Hamilton, where Lin-Manuel Miranda not only wrote the music and the lyrics and played the lead, but also had a hand in the choreography and probably in more stuff. And both of these things were considered some of the greatest, or the greatest, works in their respective genres in the last God-knows-how-many years!
This may be Nolan’s single theme, but it’s a complex one that might take 1,000 movies to exhaust.
I’m grateful for watching all these explorations.
I share your curiosity and maybe we’ll see one day. But I’m also happy if we just see 30 more movies exploring the same theme.
While Nolan isn’t truly unique in history, I think he’s rare and not many are telling stories like he is.
That doesn’t detract from his other successes!
By layering on requirements unrelated to “fun”, eventually fun becomes incompatible with all the different needs and wants.
“Must cater to lucrative Chinese market.”
“Must have at least one of each race represented — even if they’re a single family from one village.”
Etc… eventually the singular vision is just one of many items on a long checklist.
The only good new Disney show is Andor, which was notably made by a small team with a small budget and hence little interference from “corporate”.
Thinking about it, all of the media I’ve enjoyed in the last decade — my middle age — were made with a single “dictator” in charge instead of a committee in charge. E.g.: I like Christopher Nolan or Ridley Scott movies precisely because their personal vision and style is apparent and beautiful.
Corporate committees have only one vision: taking your money.
That’s what comes through. That’s what you’re picking up on subconsciously.