Christopher Nolan and 'Tenet'

Christopher Nolan, director of 'Inception,' 'The Prestige,' 'Interstellar,' focuses on conceptual stories and conceptual storytelling. He is fascinated by stories that bend the rules of time in space through how they are presented narratively, or by actually bending time and space itself. This is accomplished through his emphasis on the visual elements of filmmaking by using encumbering, high-specced equipment, and numerous practical effects. When watching his movies he wants the edges of the screen to disappear and enable a fully immersive experience. These details about his direction are important to fully understand the thought process that went behind his most recent film, 'Tenet.'

Allegedly taking 5 years to write, 'Tenet' was released in late 2020 and received copious amounts of mixed reviews and reception. Only recently was I able to view the movie, due to the Pandemic, and my thoughts are indeed mixed. It's the story of a secret agent who learns to manipulate the flow of time to prevent an attack from the future that threatens to annihilate the present. The mind-bending concept in this is "inversion:" the ability to reverse entropy and therefore invert time. When you are inverted, you move backward in time. From your perception you are moving as normal, while the rest of the world is moving in reverse. The audience follows the character simply named the Protagonist (John David Washington) who teams up with Neil, another agent (Robert Pattinson), attempting to prevent the onset of WWIII. To sum it up, it's a spy thriller with inversion.

The first half of the movie is an exposition heap as the film takes the protagonist moving from character to character and location to location until the plot is completely setup. During this half, he takes time to explain the inversion concept further, which ironically makes it more confusing. Wrapping our minds around moving through inverted time is something better shown than explained. The film even states that "you don't have to understand it, you feel it." Nolan understands that conceiving inversion is complicated, but he still proceeds to explain it narratively rather than through distinct visuals. In 'Inception,' he demonstrates the effects of the dream world visually, which lets the audience process it themselves rather than understanding it through dialogue. The movie rarely allows the audience to see character motive, plot revelations, and emotional stakes because it is constantly being explained. The Protagonist is devoid of emotional grounding and motivation, the main villain's plan is underdeveloped, and the side characters feel empty, acting as the means to further the plot. There could have been an emotional, deeper connection between Neil and the Protagonist, but is cut completely to form a clever twist in the end. It is frustrating knowing that Nolan can create an amazing, immersive experience through a mix of creative visuals and dialogue. With 'Tenet' the film just turns to mush as most details don't stick out as they are all pieces of an overexplained story.

My final issue is with 'Tenet' is Nolan's unintelligible dialogue. Due to the sound mixing, a majority of the dialogue is lost in the legendary score. Surprisingly, the issue of unintelligible dialogue has been developing across his recent films. Starting with Tom Hardy's voice as Bane in 'The Dark Knight Rises' and continuing through to 'Interstellar,' which contained dialogue obscured by space sound effects. Usually when a director obscures dialogue with sound it is for a specific reason; either to purposely hide what is being said or to display the gravitas of the score. In this case, Nolan purposely crafted this experience for top of the line theaters, which alienates any other audience member. I personally had to turn on subtitles to retain the dialogue that otherwise would've been lost.

Despite these major critiques of the film I still absolutely enjoyed it. The concept is ambitious and certainly unique, which is uncommon for modern blockbusters. The actions and stunts are almost completely practical; containing a record low of VFX shots in his filmography. For my next viewing, I intend to shut my brain off and enjoy the experience for what it is and take something away from it. The issues with sound and exposition are major, but for casual viewing it is passible enough to not deter enjoyment. 'Tenet' is not Nolan's best movie by any stretch, but it is a fun and thought-provoking concept. I recommend this to viewers who are fans of Nolan and, if you've never seen a Nolan film please don't let this be your first. Leave a comment if you want to see 'Tenet' or if you have, let me know what you think.