in several ways, Christopher Nolan's "Following" reminded me of Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi", another low-budget, home-grown, internationally distributed debut that was made in the 90's. the films were both written, shot, and edited largely by their directors, and both use less-than-entirely-convincing actors and public or borrowed-from-friends locations to tell truly compelling stories. "Following" is significantly more understated than "El Mariachi" in it's brand of suspense and it's visual composition as a whole (we're talking the difference between shoot-outs because of coincidences and meticulously plotted sneaking around, the difference between a black-and-white, grey-skied London and south-of-the border sun-drenched vibrance), but they are both commendable in their resourcefulness and in their effectiveness, and definitely demonstrate the potential (which is now being realized) of these directors. Even though "Following" isn't so impressive standing as a piece of art in a vacuum, disconnected from the history of it's maker and production, it's fast-paced (short too, only 70 minutes!) and intriguing and non-linear enough to be worth recommending.
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