Since it released in the UK on August 26th 2020, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has marked itself as another major cinematic event. He’s a visionary auteur; one of few directors that has both free rein and finances to do whatever he wants on the big screen. He often receives the biggest budgets and most creative freedom from Warner Bros as a result.
I went to see the movie opening day at IMAX in a mildly busy screening and from a filmmaking standpoint, it was equally as stunning and immaculately produced as the director’s previous efforts. In both scale and dedication to practical filmmaking, Christopher Nolan remains unchallenged. Across its one-hundred- and fifty-minute runtime, the audience seemed to be enjoying it, though following initial reactions, a point of contention has emerged and that’s the film’s amplified audio.
The dialogue is muffled at many key points. In a film where understanding the character’s motives and where they’re going is a crucial component, does this damage the film’s better qualities? One may need to view the flick at a regular screen for comparison, but considering how Nolan views the format as the best means of watching, many an audience will be treated to a cacophony of loud gun battles and vehicle clashes. IMAX’s audio systems are finely tuned to achieve the director’s vision alongside the use of 70mm film stock, but Tenet has proven that how you implement the audio levels before the viewing experience is equally important.
It’s a technical facet that ties in with the movie’s narrative. In the director’s previous work, Dunkirk, the narrative was simple and straightforward; get the British forces and their allies out of danger and safely back across the channel. With no need for substantial exposition, the film’s audio reaches its full, phenomenal impact. We, the audience are fully immersed the movie’s three components, each of which are drastically enhanced; the roar of the spitfire dogfights and the collapse of the torpedoed allied destroyer among many other memorable moments are all superbly conveyed throughout the film.
On the whole, reviews have gone in several directions; a good portion enjoyed the production, but it certainly isn’t Christopher’s best work. This raises another point; the overall seriousness of each release. Nolan’s productions are relatively low on humour and charismas, relying instead on their clever narratives to engage the audience. It may well be time for him to change this; relying on a suitable formula is common in the film industry, but audiences can also find samey trends tiresome after many years.
Others profess it to be the saviour of cinema and the director himself has long been an advocate for the cinematic experience. He has hoped that Tenet will get people back into theatres with its international release; takings will be admittedly slower, considering the delayed release to the US market. Intellectually stimulating it may be, but considering how complicated Inception was ten years ago, some audiences find the style off-putting.
On the topic of box office profits, Nolan already makes films that request some mental finesse, perhaps he could return to more adult-oriented topics; this hasn’t been seen since 2000’s Memento. After nearly two decades of support for the 12A rating, some feel the director could be more ambitious in this regard, myself included; it’s a symptom of Hollywood’s movie-making approach. Anything above the 12A or PG-13 rating and you’re running the risk of losing a substantial share of the profits; as films generate more inflated budgets, this focus has only grown more persistent. You need to cut out the violence and foul language to reach as wide an audience as possible.
Yet like Tarantino and Scorsese before him, Nolan is one of few directors to have established a definitive style and identity; many a viewer will go to see his latest projects no matter what. Despite his penchant for producing thought-provoking blockbusters and trusting the audience to follow them, there’s a healthy dose of potential waiting for ages fifteen and up. Perhaps he could try his hand at other genres by expanding into this field in future.
For now, Tenet’s success is for the most part assured by the director’s well-established reputation. What he does next is anyone’s guess; another trait that will continue to make audiences gravitate towards his work. If nothing else, some may keep some ear blockers handy for the next outing
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