Christopher Nolan was at the IFC Center in New York last night to present his first feature film, The Following, in a new 35mm restoration. Thankfully Film Comment was there to type up a transcript of a Q&A session with Mr. Nolan where he talked a lot about his three Batman movies. Here’s an excerpt where Nolan talks about the ending of The Dark Knight Rises:

The Dark Knight Rises leaves the door open at the end for a possible continuation of the Gotham saga, without Batman perhaps, but with these new characters like Catwoman and the young cop played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Do you envision revisiting Gotham? For me, The Dark Knight Rises is specifically and definitely the end of the Batman story as I wanted to tell it, and the open-ended nature of the film is simply a very important thematic idea that we wanted to get into the movie, which is that Batman is a symbol. He can be anybody, and that was very important to us. Not every Batman fan will necessarily agree with that interpretation of the philosophy of the character, but for me it all comes back to the scene between Bruce Wayne and Alfred in the private jet in Batman Begins, where the only way that I could find to make a credible characterization of a guy transforming himself into Batman is if it was as a necessary symbol, and he saw himself as a catalyst for change and therefore it was a temporary process, maybe a five-year plan that would be enforced for symbolically encouraging the good of Gotham to take back their city. To me, for that mission to succeed, it has to end, so this is the ending for me, and as I say, the open-ended elements are all to do with the thematic idea that Batman was not important as a man, he’s more than that. He’s a symbol, and the symbol lives on.

As a Batman fan, you’ve got to check out the full transcript of the interview. Head on over to Film Comment at the source link below and check it out!

Update 11/29/12: Christopher Nolan presented clips from his movies at another event in NYC last night. HitFix was there to transcribe Nolan’s quotes. He talks about Batman, meeting with Heath Ledger to play Batman, James Bond, and lots more. Click here to check it out!

SOURCE: Film Comment, HitFix