Steal Like a Filmmaker: How Anime Inspired Nolan, Aronofsky and the Wachowskis

Nothing new under the sun but always worth sharing, reminding, and connecting out loud: filmmakers get inspired by other filmmakers, by painters, by life and thus, by anime.

That’s the where the joy lies when it comes to creating a film: you can take from everything and mix and match to give birth to yet a new thing.

The filmmakers & bloggers over at Film Crux have shared a short and sweet video showing how filmmakers such as The Wachowski, Darren Aronofsky or Christopher Nolan have used frames and inspirations from animes to inject in The Matrix, Inception or Requiem for a Dream:

Now, unsurprisingly, Satoshi Kon is a strong influence. Perfect Blue and Requiem for a Dream are two foundational films for me and if you are not familiar with Kon’s work, and if you want to better understand the creative differences between anime and live action I recommend you watch this great video essay by Tony Zhou:

Satoshi Kon – Editing Space & Time

And for a full look at the Film Crux’s video: