Tenet marries originality and

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Tenet marries originality and convolution, resulting in a noble failure

Christoper Nolan’s Tenet attempts to save the movie theatre industry with stunning IMAX cinematography but fails to offer much else in plot structure, sound design, or character development

PRABHJOT BAINS

Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated spiritual successor to his smash hit Inception (2010) is finally here.

It only took three delays from its original release date of July 17 and an ever-increasing swarm of fan theories and heated debates to get it into our grubby and impatient hands. However, this time much of the discussion surrounding the film was not centred around its content, but about the state of the movie-going experience as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Movie theatres have been closed since March, and for film lovers around the world it only signified one thing. The death knell of the cinematic experience and the continued rise of the impersonal and mediocre streaming giants. However, there was light at the end of this dark tunnel and its rays spelled out Tenet. Christopher Nolan was back to “save cinema” and he was dead set on releasing the film theatrically.

Nolan’s influence as a serious filmmaker allowed him to pressure the studios out of a digital release so he could protect his vision of seeing audiences return to the theatres for decades to come. Thus, as the eventual premiere of the film neared after three delays, the conversation around the film began describing it as a “saviour of cinema” that would allow the industry to come out of the pandemic running with full energy. So, is this film cinema’s bastion for a positive future? Well, not really.

Tenet is wholeheartedly an experience that is jaw-dropping at times, which is especially enhanced by a large IMAX screen. However, Nolan’s penchant for emphasizing style over substance creates an experience that is more frustrating than entertaining, leaving the audience simultaneously dazzled and exhausted.

Its originality is something to be marveled at, as Nolan creates sequences that even the most visionary could not have even fathomed. Even so, it’s this grandiose ambition that hinders the film from becoming an experience that people will want to return to after its theatrical run is over. This is a

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major problem for a film that sees itself as a work of art that begs for perpetual re-watches.

Nolan has never been a filmmaker that wants to make his audience feel comfortable, creating movies like Memento, Inception and The Prestige that constantly force the audience to pay attention to every frame so they can solve the puzzle at the end. In Tenet, Nolan strives to do the same, but never achieves it. This is because, unlike those films, Tenet does not have engaging characters nor a strong sense of narrative cohesion.

The film takes us from one scene to another without any pause for character building or emotional resonance. This failure to involve the audience into the characters’ plight is even worse as the time-inverting plot about preventing the outbreak of World War III is nearly incomprehensible.

Nolan is in such a rush to exhilarate the audience with beautiful and intricate set pieces that he fails to make the audience care about why it is happening in the first place. He doesn’t even take time to name the main character, as he is just called the Protagonist

(John David Washington) which makes the already hammy plot more so.

In addition to all these issues with the film’s plot and direction, what really cements the film as one of the worst in Nolan’s celebrated catalogue is its atrocious sound mixing. This issue has always been prevalent in Nolan’s filmography to differing degrees, but its prevalence has increased since the release of Interstellar.

Many scenes in the film feature indecipherable dialogue. This wouldn’t be as big an issue if the film was simpler in nature. But the complicated plot, featuring time-travel, has many points of crucial dialogue being drowned in large ambient noise and a thunderous score. This leaves the audience in a complicated haze that increasingly makes it harder to catch up to the film’s ever-changing storyline.

Besides the issues with Tenet’s screenplay and direction, the technical mastery alone makes the trip to the theatre worth it. In this respect, Nolan has achieved a minor victory for movie theatres amid this pandemic.

Hoyte Van Hoytema’s simultaneously measured and intricate cinematography adds a level of sophisticated sheen to Nolan’s vision of classy sci-fi. Hoytema’s lens glides across the vivid landscapes and brings us closer to the set pieces unfolding across the screen in a manner that not only immerses the audience, but entertainingly forces us to fathom the impossibility of what’s happening in front of us. The photography of the film is so impressive it begs the question why Nolan didn’t film it entirely in IMAX, as many scenes revert to the basic 35mm framing.

The cast also does a serviceable job in anchoring the film’s human stakes. But make no mistake, this is not an actor’s film, as Nolan’s overarching style smothers any possibility of the cast stealing the show away.

John David Washington and Kenneth Branagh are fine as the protagonist and antagonist respectively. Dimple Kapadia also adds a level of sophistication to the more exotic locations of the film. But if someone had to choose the best performance, it would be Robert Pattinson, whose energetic eyes liven not only the action set pieces but the rare dialogue sequences as well.

Tenet is going to go down as one of the lesser films in Nolan’s catalogue, even though it’s his most expensive original project to date, at a budget of $200 million. It’s a cinematic experience that everyone should have in theatres, but its impact won’t be felt much longer after the credits roll and the popcorn gets cleaned up.

The film is indicative of the fact that when directors’ budgets balloon to huge figures, quality won’t necessarily follow. However, Tenet should still be celebrated for its originality, even though much of it is hollow. It is a noble failure whose ambitions of saving the movie-going experience should be appreciated and built upon.

Cinematography: 2/2 Direction: 1/2 Screenplay: 1/2 Performances: 1/2 Entertainment Factor: 1/2 Total: 6/10