Doodlebug (1997)*** 1/2 (out of 4)Christopher Nolan's directorial debut was this three minute B&W short. The film starts off with a man on the floor bouncing around trying to kill a bug with his shoe. He tries and tries to kill it but soon we realize something else is going on.DOODLEBUG was a highly effective short that reminded me of the early work of David Lynch. The B&W cinematography perfectly captures a rather dark and moody atmosphere and I thought it certainly helped the film and its nightmare like quality. I'm not going to spoil the twist for those who haven't seen the film but I found it to be very good. Technically speaking this is a very impressive short and especially when you consider it was the first one Nolan had made. It certainly shows that there was a talent behind the camera. Fans of his should get a kick out of this film.

I never heard about someone, who after watching this short by Nolan didn't have smile in his face. This movie is just masterpiece among the short movies (I watched plenties) and very inspiring according to fact that on the scene is just a man with a shoe and he's trying to catch something.In this movie Nolan shows us that, he can really grab our attention. And play with our emotions like he does in many other movies, like a true genius and all he needs is just 3 minutes.Interesting fact is that Nolan was also behind the camera which is very rare according to the Following which was the last movie he shot. And I personally like his camera.Yet I would also mention that the soundtrack is made by David Julyan who made soundtracks for another Nolan movies Following, Memento, Insomnia and The Prestige.So I would recommend Doodlebug to everyone who is Nolan fan, who likes Kafkaesque movies and basically to everyone who likes movies, cinematography and dynamic short movies.

Calling "Doodlebug" as being Christopher Nolan's baby steps into filmmaking would be an outrageous act. This isn't a baby trying to walk, this is a kid already walking and aware of everything around him, skipping part of the evolution but ready to do anything. Light years from making us dream within a dream within another dream and way before of resurrecting the Batman franchise or twisting Leonard's memory, Nolan made this wonderful short about a man who hunts something unknown with his shoes to later find out he's hunting himself in a different way and form. What comes after might not be all surprising but it certainly leaves a great impression on you, to make you frozen thinking what the hell just happened.The constant themes present on his works such as sanity loss (or the fight in discovering if you are sane or not) are there. He intrigues us in less than three minutes by showing this man (played by Jeremy Theobald) that seems disturbed by this moving thing he starts to chase, and even though he sees that this thing is him in a alternated version he kills it. Perhaps an allusion of us as human race, hunting versions of ourselves simply because they bothers us, by that I mean, humans, people who are born with the same constitution (flesh and blood) but with notable variations and characteristics. And that never ends.It's really delightful to watch it, you can sense Nolan's incredible sense of style filming in a scary black and white and using some incredible special effects. The student knew exactly what he was doing, a real professional. Many of us, and even the man himself couldn't possibly imagine than in matter of just a few years he would be directing names like Guy Pearce, Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johansson in outstanding pictures. Well, here's a positive proof of why this man is one of the greatest directors in activity at the moment and why he deserves all the recognition. His originality goes beyond anything. A real fun to watch. 10/10

I think anyone reading this knows what literally happened as far as the storyline goes. In a dingy apartment, a guy that looks possibly insane, carries a shoe as a little black figure scurries across the floor. But what or who is this creature? Who is the man? I think the man represents the human condition. Man is constantly at battle with those who are lesser than us. We feel the need to conquer and thus we are the ones who pose threat to ourselves. The man hitting the small version of himself with the shoe shows abstractly the very thesis i just said. In hurting others, he really only hurts himself. (i am finding out while writing this that there are several morals or messages that the director wanted to portray, and i am doing none of them justice)