Larceny (lost Christopher Nolan short film; 1996)

Still from the short, featuring Jeremy Theobald (left) and Mark Deighton (right).

Status: Lost

Larceny is a 1996 short film directed by Christopher Nolan. The film was created over the course of a single weekend in 1995 while Nolan was part of the University College London film society. He shot it using UCL film society equipment, including an Arriflex 16BL camera. Similar to his debut feature film Following, it was a "no-budget" film funded solely by Nolan himself.

The short was only shown once, at the 1996 Cambridge Film Festival. It was regarded as "One of the best (if not the best) shorts of filmsoc recent generations" by UCL film society and said to "Contain some superb hand-held camera work, and a fast paced gripping story."

The film has a runtime between 8-9 minutes, contrary to what BFI lists. This is supported by the UCL film society page and a Nolan interview conducted during the post-production of Memento.

Multiple copies are known to still exist. In an email, Ivan Cornell confirmed he held onto a copy. Over Twitter DM, David Julyan also confirmed he owned a VHS copy of the short. Both refused to release it. Cambridge Film Festival may have a copy, but according to an email from the 1996 festival director, a search for the short was conducted a few years ago with no luck. UCL Film Society is confirmed to still possess a private copy in their archive. According to Jeremy Theobald, who lost his personal copy, Nolan still maintains tight control over the short film's rights, hence why it won't be released.

Synopsis

Christopher Nolan has consistently described the short as "about a burglary" in various interviews.

An Empire magazine issue includes an interview with Jeremy Theobald. In it, he Theobald sums up his three collaborations with Nolan, including Larceny. "A man breaks into a flat, startling the occupant (me). They argue about the new girlfriend of the 'burglar', who's come to get her stuff. Then a third man bursts out of the cupboard..." This aligns with how Larceny is described as being shot in Nolan's flat at the time by Theobald in a 2018 interview.

In that exclusive interview, which is within Christopher Nolan: A Critical Study of the Films, Jeremy Theobald states the following:

"This was unlike all the other film society scripts at the time that I'd read, which were quite surreal ... slamming doors of train on Euston Station, when trains had doors that could slam. This was witty. It was funny, it was pithy, and it was dark. It had a great twist at the end. I was offered the lead part in that. And that became Larceny, the ten-minute short that we shot in one weekend in Chris' flat. A Saturday and a Sunday."

Both the British Film Institute and IMDb summaries were deemed inaccurate by Jeremy Theobald in a private message.

Film Credits

Starring: The Man - Jeremy Theobald, Toby - Mark Deighton, Wooly Hat - Dave Savva

Production Assistant: Emma Thomas

Sound: David Lloyd

Assistant Director: Nigel Karikari

Music: David Julyan

Assistant Camera: Ivan Cornell

Written, Directed, Shot and Edited: Christopher Nolan

Produced: Christopher Nolan, Ivan Cornell

Thanks: Mike Dunderdale, Steve Street, Bloomsbury TV, UCL Film Society

Gallery

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  Jeremy Theobald.

• 

  From left to right: Jeremy Theobald and Dave Savva.

See Also

• Tarantella (found Christopher Nolan short film; 1989-1990)

External Links

• TMDb page for Larceny (1996).
• IMDb page for Larceny (1996).