TENET
Theatrical release: August 26, 2020
Duration: 2h30
Director: Christopher Nolan
Main actors: John David Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Pattinson
Synopsis: Armed with just one word – Tenet – and determined to fight to save the world, our protagonist travels through the twilight world of international espionage. His mission will project him into a dimension that goes beyond time. However, it is not a question of time travel, but of a temporal reversal...
This open letter review may contain spoilers. These spoilers contain inverted sentences. To read these reversed sentences, you can go to this site and copy/paste the text.
Goodbye Tenet and thank you Christopher...After having broken my head over the first session where I did not understand the second part of the film, my second session where I finally understood the concept of temporality and the third session where I was able to discover delicious details that I had not seen until then.
Your film Christopher haunted me for a good week during which I asked myself questions and only wanted one thing: to see it again. Watch it again to try to understand and see again what I hadn't seen the first time. Like a lack, like something I had never seen in my life and which demanded to be seen again and again. As if I had an inexorable need to dive back into your magnificent work, to see again this world that you have built. To fill in the memory gaps that I happened to have at the end of the session. I couldn't believe it: Christopher Nolan left me stuck at the end of the session with all these questions that remained unanswered.
You may not know it, but I'm a big fan of sci-fi and even more so when it comes to time travel. From George Pal's Time Machine, Army of the Twelve Monkeys, Déjà Vu, Back to the Future, Somewhere in Time and many others. Each of these films explores time travel but in a linear fashion. Each time, the character “jumps” in time, going from one era to another. You explore a hidden facet of travel through time and this is what is strong, transcendent and difficult to understand for each of us because we have never seen it on screen. This way of controlling time and reversing the course of events leaves me speechless. It's innovative and no one had thought of it before, at least in such a pronounced way.
The first time I saw one of your films was in 2008 with Batman facing the Joker. Excuse me if I didn't know your films before Batman. This was a revelation for me. You made a film that dusted off the myth of Batman, restoring the nobility of the bat, far from the two pastiche films of Joel Schumacher which, by the way, have aged very poorly. Whether it was Michael Caine perfect and classy for the role of Alfred or Christian Bale impeccable replacement for Michael Keaton in the role of Batman, I loved everything from start to finish. Nolan's Batman trilogy had a strong impact on me and I still consider today that they are the best superhero trilogies along with Sam Raimi's.
And since then, I have appreciated your films more and more, and it is only recently that I understood what drives you: the obsession with time. When we look more closely at your filmography, time is present every time, whether visibly to the naked eye or in subtext.
My favorite movie is definitely Interstellar. Because it was not only about space travel, but also about a man who hopes to see his daughter again once back on earth, but in despair at not being able to see her grow up and not being able to share moments with her. So many emotions for a film that made me cry because of the estrangement of a father and his daughter. His mission to find a livable planet was for a good cause, but at what cost...
After Dunkirk and Inception, I wondered what you would turn to. In January, the first trailer for Tenet arrived and I told myself that this was going to be a film that should not be missed because once again in a genre that I like. The first images made my brain boil. What were you going to tell in this film? So what is Tenet? Why do cars flip and drive backwards? you knew how to take care of your first trailer, so mysterious, leaving us waiting… I was hoping that this day would arrive to go see your latest film which was normally supposed to be released in July during my vacation. A little icing on the cake for me.
And then, there was the confinement in March in France. All businesses were closed until further notice with the exception of essential businesses. We could no longer gather around a drink, go jogging, or even meet up with loved ones. And cinema was one of those activities that was left on hold for an indefinite period. All cinema professionals wondered how they were going to hold on and what the economic benefits would be for them. Many films that were due to be released have had their release dates postponed or even canceled to arrive on streaming platforms to limit damage. This was the case for Forte with Valérie Lemercier (a very well-known actress in France) which arrived on Amazon Prime. This allowed some people to still be able to enjoy films that they should have seen on the big screen, but the cinema experience is not the same, and you will agree with me. I started to doubt the release of your film. But that’s without taking into account your pugnacity and that of your distribution partner Warner Bros, in whom you have trusted for many years. You knew how to cope and not postpone your film for too long. It would be a shame not to see it in the cinema, you who love cinema and do everything to ensure that your films are seen on the big screen.
Yes, I know you are someone who films the old-fashioned way, with no or very few special effects (300 special effects shots alone in Tenet, hats off to the artist) and with cameras that have certainly reduced in size with the time but are still cumbersome. I of course want to talk about your Imax cameras, of which you are one of the few to use them.
To return to the film, it is complex but intoxicating.
Your special effects are admirable where you tried as much as possible to get closer to reality without having to use green backgrounds. But like everyone else and you first and foremost, you said in the media that you cherished shooting in Imax and you are also a fervent defender of Imax. But you're going strong, using nearly 4,800 km of film to shoot Tenet in its entirety... you're very strong!
And you push the limits of intelligence of those who come to see your films. But once you get used to the frenetic pace of the film, you get used to it...after two viewings. Yes, because it's not easy to follow the logic of your film. However, I would have liked in the first half hour which resembles a spy film - We know that you like the James Bond franchise -, I would have liked you to be able to add transition scenes between the scenes where the protagonists travels from one place to another. It would have been easier to understand because I must admit that you shouldn't look elsewhere and get distracted.
You chose your actors well. The Pattinson / Washington duo is quite good with a John David Washington in great shape who plays a very classy and confident character in a suit and a casual appearance like James Bond like Sean Connery. The action scenes where he interacts like in the kitchen scene, hit the mark. You managed to give us action scenes worthy of interest. I say this because you have never been comfortable with action, proof with Interstellar when they fight on a white planet and where you preferred to give us a wide shot showing us the immensity of the landscape, which I admit it is a nice plan.
As for Pattinson, you knew how to direct him well, today I no longer doubt his performance as an actor and I see him very clearly in Matt Reeves' next Batman as a dark superhero.
I heard that your film lacked emotion, that it was cold. It's true that we don't know much about the characters and that they lack a little depth. Besides, quite a few people on social networks have imagined lots of theories about them like what titep tnaté linkN tiaté'uq tnafne'l tiares xaM. I hope you can give us an answer one day.
Still talking about acting, you chose Elizabeth Debicki to play Katherine. There too some say that it is cold. But I can offer an explanation :)? monerp nu rennod iul ed eilbuo sa ut iouqruoP( etsinogatorp el ceva ertnocner al ne resilaer es ever nos riov ed riopse elbiaf nu ceva erapmesed te eessialed emmef ed noisserpxe ettec uo'D .slif nos ceva eriaf el ed eedi'l rennodnaba srola tu af iul li ,eiv erporp as erviv te iul ed erebil erte tuev elle is euq euova iul te egatnahc ud tiaf iul rotaS ,ayoG ed ocsicnarF xuaf nu retehca tiaf riova iul ed esuccA .rotaS euqragilo'l iram-xe nos ceva euqixot noitaler enu a enirehta K
Ahhh Michael Caine! your favorite, the one you feature in all your films (or almost), even in The Prestige which I highly recommend to those who talk to me about you. They don't all know it, but it's a good film. And this little tackle from Mike in the film Tenet, towards the protagonist and his clothing, a hell of a moment. Even if he doesn't appear in the film for long, Michael Caine always remains a little nod to your other films.
As I was saying, the film is a real visual gem in this way of filming reversed time, of making the impossible possible. That's what I would remember first. Your visual effects take on their full dimensions in the last act of the film where it goes quickly and until today I have not yet fully understood the importance of the scene in its entirety.
One last point, the music: I found it quite far from the compositions that I am used to hearing on your films. Some dialogues like in the Free Port are inaudible, and I thought this was normal. But when I saw the film in original version, I was surprised to see these scenes with subtitles. I assure you, all the other dialogues are perfectly understandable. Too bad Hans Zimmer was taken on to compose the music for Denis Villeneuve's new film: Dune. So you choose Ludwig Göransson, known for his compositions on Creed II and The Mandolorian series. So, yes it's surprising at first viewing, we have the impression that the music doesn't fit the film, that it lacks emotions, relaxing moments. It's really a shame but you get used to it with time.
In short, to finish, and despite the people who said that this was your worst film, I remain and will remain faithful to you in your way of telling the story of time and its derivatives. I'm sure that with time and the release on DVD and Blu-ray, people will know how to glorify your poorly understood film.
I can't wait to see your next film and see what you have in store for us.
I'll see you soon and continue to write stories that make us think.
