Tenet: Director Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending mayhem
Director Christopher Nolan is back with another project that will mess with your head. But don’t be too concerned if you walk out thinking ‘wtf just happened in there?’ — the star of Tenet was also confused when he first read the script.
Movies
Don't miss out on the headlines from Movies. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- REVIEW: Has Christopher Nolan’s Tenet been worth the wait?
- Plate of Origin contestant’s shock cancer diagnosis
Director Christopher Nolan is the da Vinci of mind-bending movies and Tenet is his Mona Lisa.
Quietly brewing in the back of his complicated mind for almost a decade, this hugely anticipated big-budget action film is landing in cinemas at precisely the right moment.
It’s not just because it’s a shiny new piece of art from a man many consider the greatest filmmaker of our time. Off the back of such blockbusters as Inception, Interstellar and Dunkirk, Nolan could direct a wedding video and the buzz would be off the charts.
More significant is the fact Tenet is finally hitting the big screen after being pushed back time and time again, and that will act as a beacon of hope that the world is on the mend after months of unprecedented global upheaval.
Cinema doors, which have been chained shut because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are being thrown open again and this film will be the litmus test for a beleaguered industry.
In saying all that, expect this sci-fi-action-spy extravaganza to mess with your mind as only Nolan knows how.
But those walking from the cinema asking “wtf just happened in there?” need not fret. Even the movie’s protagonist, rising star John David Washington, was left scratching his head when he first read the script.
“When I walked out of reading it (for the first time) I felt the same way you did except I didn’t even question it, I just knew I was in serious trouble,” Washington laughs while discussing the complexity of Tenet with Insider.
“I was pretty sure I would never figure this out but I read the script, it took about four hours to read, and as I got to keep working on it, as we got into it and with the discussions and the questions and the process of it all, I slowly became more comfortable with my way into the character and his purpose in the story and how to serve that purpose.”
At its core, Tenet is an old-fashioned spy thriller. The good guys are racing against the clock to topple the villain and save the world. The influence of Bond – one of Nolan’s favourite characters — is evident.
But as is often the case with his films, nothing is ever as it seems and it might take a few cracks at watching for all the pieces to fall into place.
If one was to be sci-fi-cynical, it’s almost as if Nolan has jumped forward in time, noticed the world was in the grips of a global pandemic and returned with the ultimate strategy for an industry on its knees: ensure everyone must watch the movie four times before knowing exactly what the hell is going on. Kaching!
The feverish anticipation surrounding Tenet is the result of a perfectly planned and executed marketing plan: scant plot details, compelling but vague trailers and a virtual cone of silence activated around those involved.
This has given rise to an army of fans who have spent countless hours online theorising and writing fan fiction about possible directions the movie could take.
Washington laughs when he recalls first realising the level of fandom that surrounds Nolan and his films.
“I didn’t realise how massive it is,” he says. “You know how Beyonce has the Beyhive, Chris has his hive as well.
“There are some people out there that are just fanatics and they will come up with theories. Some of them were very interesting with what they got off a teaser. Not even a trailer — a teaser!”
Of course, Washington himself is a card-carrying member of the Nolan fan club and was long before getting the chance to work with him.
“He is one of the greatest directors of all time, our generation and beyond, I truly believe that,” he says.
“(Co-star) Rob Pattinson said something interesting: when you’re such a fan of someone like that, you don’t ever see a world where you get to work with them, that’s just a whole different universe to consider him to be a colleague, a teammate if you will. I guess I was in such delusion or denial that I’ve actually got the job.”
He says he was surprised Nolan was so warm and open when they first met.
“I didn’t know that going in, I thought he’s going to be like a machine, he’s not even going to be a real person,” he laughs. “To be the film god that he is, he’s down to earth, he’s witty, believe it or not he might even curse from time to time.”
After such a long wait in such trying circumstances over the past six months, Washington believes audiences are going to connect with Tenet more than they usually would.
He’s not so bold as to suggest everyone will love the movie, but he is confident it will provoke a reaction.
“People will be affected,” he says. “I can’t say how they will be but they will be affected by this film.
“It’s a combination of the current state that we’re in as a world and as moviegoers and where Chris is in his career right now and where he’s taking his art.”
* There are advance screenings of Tenet this weekend. It opens on Thursday
NOLAN’S SURPRISING INSPIRATION FOR TENET
Christopher Nolan has provided a rare insight into what inspired him to write the script for his much-anticipated time-shifting thriller Tenet.
Audiences are finally getting to see the film, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh and Australian Elizabeth Debicki (pictured below), this weekend with hundreds of preview screenings marking a return to the cinema for many around the country.
Nolan, who has spoken about having the idea for Tenet in his mind for almost 10 years, points to renowned mind-bending Dutch artist MC Escher as a big influence on his writing.
Escher’s drawings will be familiar to many and the illusions he created around impossible objects and the concept of infinity resonated deeply with The Dark Knight and Inception director.
“I actually take a lot of visual inspirations,” he says. “The work of MC Escher, those fantastic prints of the Penrose steps and the eternal staircase and things like that. Some of those prints, some of those visual inspirations (are what inspired me).
“I’d actually cite Escher as the main inspiration on the script actually.”
Weaving together this intricate story, one that intertwines his fascination with time together with a solid espionage thriller — was no easy feat.
It’s what kept him working away at it in the background over the past seven or eight years as he released epic sci-fi space thriller Interstellar in 2014 and the visually stunning World War II epic Dunkirk in 2017.
Asked why it took so long to move from concept to screen, Nolan says there was much to pull together.
“Really that period was spent trying to reconcile the peculiarities of construction that were required in the script to explain and raise the concept of time (and) reconcile that with the thrill ride,” he says. “It was about reconciling concept and genre.
Originally published as Tenet: Director Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending mayhem