TENET - General Information

Christopher Nolan's time inverting spy film that follows a protagonist fighting for the survival of the entire world.
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Lincoln wrote:
July 1st, 2020, 11:52 pm
Google translate. Because no one who knows French could translate it into English.

PREMIERE: Christopher, the question everyone is asking today is: Will Tenet be released on July 17 in the United States and on July 22 in France?

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: Good question! I only have one certainty at this stage: the movie will be ready. On our side, in any case, it is almost finished and we can show it as soon as the rooms are reopened.

If I ask you, it is because we saw many articles in the media explaining that you were doing everything to make the cinemas reopen as quickly as possible. Richard Gelfond, the head of IMAX, even explained that "no one in the United States pushed more for the reopening of theaters and the premiere of his movie than Chris Nolan."

Again, the Tenet release date is beyond my control. However, what I can tell you is that your quote from Richard [Gelfond] 's words is incorrect. I am a fierce defender of cinema, I always was, and what he meant here is that I advocate the survival of film culture as a whole.

Were your comments more about your column in the Washington Post than about Tenet's departure?

Presumably. At the beginning of the pandemic, I felt the need to do this. To remind you of the context of this text [published by the Washington Post on March 20, 2020], I wanted to emphasize that behind the movies, there are people who work to launch them and make them visible. Exhibitors, projectionists, presenters, film workers ... Cinema is not just about glamor, the studio and the stars. And I wanted to emphasize that without these thousands of people who welcome movie theater viewers, who make movie viewing possible, my job as a director would be incomplete. It had to be remembered that the war on the virus was going to affect exhibitors and people who work in theaters. That was the purpose of that opinion column!

So let's talk about Tenet. "Ask Chris," "Chris knows better. I interviewed his producer Emma Thomas and his actors, but no one wants to tell me what makes this movie so mysterious! Can you tell me more?

Ah ah You will be disappointed, but no. I prefer that you discover it in theaters, without prejudice or comments. It's still one of the greatest pleasures as a spectator, right?
 
Upon discovering Tenet's first few minutes, we had the impression that, after Dunkerque, which was an essay film, a visceral and almost dialogue-free play, this new play marked his return to a more narrative cinema.

In any case, there are more dialogues on Tenet than on Dunkirk, that's for sure. (Laughter.) But it's more complicated than that ... For each movie, and Dunkerque was no exception, I try to find the way that best corresponds to what I want to tell. I always felt that form must follow substance, and vice versa. The two must overlap, unite. Personally, when I write, I cannot think about what I am saying and how I am going to express it in a different way. Let's put it another way: I'm not trying to have a style; I am looking for a form of narrative that combines the information that I want to transmit and the way that this information will be transmitted ... So, necessarily, each movie is different from my stories, the themes that inhabit them are different. And naturally I approached Tenet with a focus far removed from Dunkirk.

When Dunkirk came out, you explained to me that you really didn't want to make a war movie. Tenet seems, on the contrary, to play very consciously in the spy movie record ...

Tenet actually uses all the codes of the genre. For Dunkerque, he did not want to make a war movie because he was not interested in following these conventions. No more than taking them elsewhere.
To tell my story, Dunkirk had to be a live thriller, a Hitchcock thriller, so to speak. It is the stylistic approach that we favor. But for Tenet, a bit like Inception, I started from the genre. It served me here as a springboard; It is a board that allows spectators to be projected in places where they have never been before. In Inception, the last hour of the film made us penetrate this indistinct area where the dream mixed with reality. Without these conventions, viewers probably wouldn't have accessed these places as easily. In Tenet's case, it is espionage that serves as my common thread.

The spy thriller. Why?

Because I like this. I grew up, like all English children, watching James Bond. Like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the '70s Bond marked me for life. It is part of my DNA. I discovered the potential of cinema escape there, I understood thanks to these films that this art invented worlds and realities that we could later inhabit. For the child he was, it was a way to discover new horizons. In a literal sense, too, because Bond had this globetrotting look that was so refreshing.
 
You could have made a James Bond movie. It probably would have been simpler, right?

It would have been especially extremely useless: these movies still exist and are very good. What he wanted was not to jump as such. I wanted to find my childhood feelings about these movies before. A sensation. Tenet, it's all that: my attempt to recreate the excitement I had in this large-scale entertainment, which I could feel when I discovered these films. It was the memory of an emotion more than the codes of the films themselves.

Especially since the formula was looted, reproduced, sometimes even weakened by all contemporary action cinema ...

Exactly: and this is the paradox we are immediately faced with. You had to successfully recreate that feeling of emotion that I was talking about. But for that, you had to offer something new. And that goes far beyond what these movies were in the 70s. The game over time, which is the heart of Tenet, should allow it. This film offered me the opportunity to propose a new look at action cinema and its entertainment possibilities. When we use this word "entertainment", particularly in English, it is often connoted negatively, tinged with shallowness. But for me, it is synonymous with commitment, participation. Viewers must have their eyes fixed on the screen, be immersed in universes that never stepped on; it is about giving the public an "experience" that will allow them, in the most intense way possible, to disconnect from their daily reality. That's what "making" a movie is for me.

You talk about your childhood impressions ... but the spy thriller is also a genre deeply rooted in society. Even the Bonds, in a way, talk about their time. These are sometimes overtly political films, which was never the case with your cinema. From this point of view, does Tenet address a change in his filmography?

Hmmm. Your comment is interesting. I do not disagree with you, but it is fun because many times I was criticized for making films that, precisely, were a reflection of our time. Remember the Dark Knight reviews. That said, the way I see things is different: When I write, I try to be as authentic as possible in the way I talk about my time. Not from a social or political point of view, of course, but from an emotional or personal point of view. For example in Inception. Its structure with exploited points of view, changes in states of consciousness. The film was written when mobile phones appeared, the beginnings of the iPhone. People became more and more introverted, immersed in what these new tools offered them, and that inevitably fed me to write! For Tenet ... I can't tell you anything. (Laughter.) Let's say I have a feeling that the John David Washington character is a hero of our time. He is quartered, in full tension, wedged between his loyalty to his country and to humanity in general. When you look at what's happening today, I feel like it's a relevant idea, right? We are all linked, we are all interconnected, but where does our loyalty go? What nation? What idea? To what culture? It seems to me that this is a very crude question these days.

It was also one of the themes raised by James Bond.

It is true. Today, some people in the industry wonder if viewers want to watch movies that remind them of what they are going through or, conversely, if they have to show movies that allow them to escape everyday life. Bond is a product of the Cold War, but not all Bond. He faced the issue of the nuclear threat. Viewers sat in front of movies depicting a world where tensions were highly identifiable. But the hero was ... reassuring: we knew he would take care of everything. (Laughter.) This reassuring side is very attractive. Undoubtedly, it is no coincidence that this has been an important feature of cinema in American films for more than twenty years. It appears elsewhere in different forms in several of my feature films, especially in Memento. People who know my films will see that I synthesize in a plan all my fascination with time and narration. D? We are all linked, we are all interconnected, but where does our loyalty go? What nation? What idea? To what culture? It seems to me that this is a very crude question these days.

You Talk About Memento: In this movie, the hero relives a traumatic episode from his life backwards. Certain effects seen in the Tenet trailer and in the eight minute prologue really make you think about it...

There are obvious points of comparison between the two films. But in Memento, time advanced as it receded. At Tenet, thinking is different. It is no longer a question of asking how time works, but of asking yourself: what if it were true? What if it really happened, if it wasn't just a concept, an idea for a screenwriter, but reality?

All his films start from a very precise scientific postulate. In Tenet's case, what is it?

The laws of physics are always symmetrical. Time moves forward or backward. NASA just announced a few days ago that we might have found a parallel universe where time flows backwards. All physical laws are symmetric, except one: entropy. Tenet's story is based on this concept: what if you could change the direction of time? I've been working on these issues for ... six or seven years. That's what Emma basically said: Tenet summarizes everything that has haunted me during these years.

Dunkirk explored the depth of time, the layers of time. There, you are interested in the directions of time, is that it?

Dunkirk spoke of the flexibility of time, of its different textures. For Tenet, the idea is that time can take different directions. But the real question I ask myself is how to transform these concepts into a narrative matrix. Because these movies must work on the spy or thriller record first. I don't force anyone to ask existential questions about time. (Laughter.) I use these obsessive questions to engage the viewer a little more.
have complete confidence in your intelligence ... I understand what you mean, but I did not reason that way. I am not thinking "in the audience". I am part of the audience! We are all the public. We cannot disassociate ourselves from the spectators, nor put ourselves in an observer position. In my opinion, it is very dangerous, as a director, to think saying "they are going to say that" or "they are going to think like this". Who are they"?

Let's say you maintain a blind faith in the power of cinema...

I had the opportunity to make Hollywood movies, big budgets, big hits, that had real success. Each time, the study gave me a little more freedom for the next ... The question that arises is: how to use this trust and this freedom? How to advance, how to push the limits a little more with each new project? I always experienced this as a great responsibility. Not as an indulgence or a blank check. Really as a responsibility. There are so many storytellers around the world who would love to have such an opportunity that they could not miss this opportunity. We have to take risks. Pushing limits and barriers. This is what always guided me. At Tenet, he had resources like few filmmakers have. So you had to do what I think about everything. Don't make a movie just to make a movie. It is not a job It is not a business! It's a passion.

For Dunkirk, you showed movies to your team to give them directions on the tone of the movie. Did you do it for Tenet?

Not! Precisely for the reasons that I explained to you before: everyone knows the great classics of the spy thriller. Bond is in our DNA (especially English in my team). My ambition was to do what Leone did to the west. When you realize Once upon a time in the west, you don't need to see westerns again. You just need your memories, your feelings. This is the only way to approach the iconography of a genre. Once upon a time in the west is a wester on the west. It is not a western in the way we see westerns. For Tenet, he didn't need to study the spy movie action scenes I know by heart. I wanted to make a unique movie that expresses my love for the movies I grew up with.

One last attempt to unravel the mystery of the film. Can you give us the keys to the palindrome title? What does this word Tenet correspond to? Is this a reference to the magic square of the early Christians?

The palindrome is important to history and organization. The idea of faith is also very present in history. But not how you think. Tenet is about what we cannot know, with a reality that we cannot verify. And it is a word that works like sesame; is the name of the organization through which the person is recruited. I'm not sure it will help you see more clearly.
thank you so much for translating for us :gonf:

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Another magazine incoming

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@Lincoln Thx for the translation! :gonf:

EDIT: Just read it! Very very good stuff.
Last edited by DUNKIRKIE on July 2nd, 2020, 5:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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For me most intriguing part was about idea of faith very present in movie.

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intersteIIarx wrote:
July 2nd, 2020, 3:56 am


Another magazine incoming
have a feeling this is gonna be an interesting interview

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poplar wrote:
July 2nd, 2020, 4:21 am
For me most intriguing part was about idea of faith very present in movie.
TENET in ancient India language mean BELIEF (FAITH), so i think this is also related with the scenes that were shoot in INDIA.

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This is totally out of the subject and feel free to ignore this but what should a NolanFan fellow filmmaker do to get a little support for his upcoming short film ? Any advice :?:

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There is a part of the forum dedicated for aspiring filmmakers, to discuss this stuff. Haven't been there a lot, but it's probably the best place to start.

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antovolk wrote:
July 2nd, 2020, 5:26 am
intersteIIarx wrote:
July 2nd, 2020, 3:56 am


Another magazine incoming
have a feeling this is gonna be an interesting interview
How so?

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Demoph wrote:
July 2nd, 2020, 7:36 am
There is a part of the forum dedicated for aspiring filmmakers, to discuss this stuff. Haven't been there a lot, but it's probably the best place to start.
Thanks.

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