"Narrative Doesn't Work That Way": Christopher Nolan Accuses Film Critics of Excessive Pickiness

"This is a fundamental mistake of film criticism: the ability to recognize a mechanism does not negate its effect. Today, people reason like this: 'If I understand why a story affects me in such a way, then it didn't work.' But narrative doesn't work that way. The fact that this mechanism can be recognized does not devalue it. When we, storytellers, create a heroic image in a story, we must take into account the energy that the viewer brings to that story, as well as the interaction between our intention and how the audience perceives it. The very fact that people can recognize this mechanism does not make it less effective. Of course, this may be true for individual elements – along with this, the language of cinema also develops, so when a trope becomes too familiar to the audience, it has to be changed."