by Mick the Ram

Hollywood director Christopher Nolan has received his knighthood from King Charles III at the Buckingham Palace Investitures.

At the same event his wife Emma Thomas received a damehood for her work as a producer on their numerous blockbuster movies.

The couple are behind the films such as Inception, Dunkirk, the Dark Knight trilogy, and their most recent and most successful venture, Oppenheimer, which cleaned up at the 2024 awards.

Following the ceremony, Sir Christopher – to give his new title – said the king was very complimentary about the dramatization of the life story of J.Robert Oppenheimer, telling the creator that it was a story that very much needed telling.  

Co-founders

After they married in 1997, the couple co-founded and continue to run the production company, Syncopy, which has been behind many of their blockbusters.

The couple had met while studying at University College London (UCL), with Christopher introducing Emma to the university’s film society, where he was president and produced short films.

Oscar winner

Nolan said his partnership with Thomas had been “incredibly important”, adding they had been able to “achieve so much more together than we would have been able to individually”.

Oppenheimer marked the first time the couple had won the best picture Oscar and best film BAFTA having previously been nominated for the sci-fi movie, Inception, and the gripping war story, Dunkirk.

Praise from the king

The 54-year-old Nolan remarked how “wonderful” it had been to meet the king, whilst his wife who is a year younger, called the honour of a damehood “mind-blowing”.

She said it was “even more meaningful” to be recognised in such a way alongside her husband.

The both commented on how nice and “gratifying” it was to hear from Charles that he was aware of their work and how he particularly enjoyed Oppenheimer.  

Thrilling to educate

Ms Thomas highlighted how thrilling it was to know they had introduced an important part of history to a new audience.

“What has really thrilled me is the fact that I’ve heard anecdotally since about lots of younger people having their first experience of this story on the big screen, and then delving deeper and doing more of their own research into the events that we portrayed.”

Exciting times

Oppenheimer was made in 2023 and is a biographical drama that Nolan wrote and directed, with Thomas producing. It tells the story of a physicist who had a large hand in the development of the atomic bombs that brought an end to World War II.

Nolan added that it was “very exciting to watch a new generation of filmgoers discover the big screen and the power of experiencing a story with an audience, as that’s what makes cinema a unique modern art form  – it’s only a little over 100 years old, and we’re just beginning to feel all the things that could be done with it.”

Ditch the smartphone

He also touched on a story that is doing the rounds regarding him and smartphones. He admitted he no longer uses one, adding: “I’d encourage other people to put down the smartphone. It gives me a lot more time to think.

“There’s odd little pockets of time when you’re sitting around waiting for something and if you don’t have the internet in your pocket, you spend a little more time pondering things.”