IMHO, his best film is "The Prestige", because that story perfectly fits his approach to film-making. Tenet is one of those movies that must've felt like a great idea in the writing process but really didn't come through on screen. Linkedin. In Nolan’s case, Price and Bochar are confident that the director does it intentionally. “The more expensive movies have got, the more of a bombardment they become on your senses.”. We heard all the lines. This review is not meant to encourage people to take risks, but since I am one of the first people in the world to actually be able to see a first run movie I thought it would be good to share my experience. It is an analysis of the work itself for posterity. (In cinemas the dynamic range – the range between the loudest and quietest sounds – is wider than on home TV screens, and, although the sound is compressed in the transition to TV, the range can still be so wide that you are forced to turn up the volume for dialogue, then down again for action. Seek it out, if only to marvel at the entertainingly inane glory of what we once had and are in danger of never having again. I created a separate thread on this, but it was removed by the mods and I was told to post my thoughts in this thread instead, so here goes: I went into Tenet knowing nothing about it. Tenet, which has been pushed several times by … here is a wonderful exchange in Christopher Nolan’s latest film. There are undoubtedly more recurring motifs, but these are the main ones I noticed. "Tenet" is big and ambitious, but Nolan is more caught up in his own machinations than ever before. There are two sequences that suffered most in this last regard. Given how hard Nolan’s blockbuster would be to understand even if all the dialogue was crystal-clear, it is curious that the director has made it doubly difficult to hear the story of a screenplay he supposedly spent five years writing. As with other movies, the scores are set to change as time passes. Right now, as it belatedly crashes a dormant global release calendar, it seems something of a time inversion in itself. Though it’s sometimes hamstrung by clumsy dialogue – a necessary evil, perhaps, given how much Nolan needs to explain – Tenet is rarely less than thrilling to watch. Tenet ending spoilers follow.. So much weight has been placed on Christopher Nolan's newest film Tenet that it almost isn't fair. Any of these review praise the soundtrack? It’s a much-repeated claim that movie dialogue is becoming harder and harder to hear. Well, that and the suits. But ultimately, this sequence just failed to cohere for me, and I watched with detached interest at best, and boredom at worst. “When they take the sound we record on set and kind of undermix it, it feels like, ‘What did we try so hard for?’” he says. For Bochar, the priority is dialogue. Despite this, it remains more interesting than most other tentpole movies and acts as a beacon for the director’s strengths. When he watches films or TV shows at home, he turns on the subtitles in case of clarity issues – he is far from the only one – and will limit the TV’s dynamic range. In other words, say what you will about the tenets of Tenet, at least it has an ethos. For me, it was "Inception." Just came out of this film in Australia. Maybe it's possible that Christopher Nolan has been put on this earth just to provide an excessively interesting retirement for Michael Caine. Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time. TheAbsolution. There is a wonderful exchange in Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Tenet, between Robert Pattinson and John David Washington. Oct 25, 2017 5,290 Atlanta, GA. Aug 18, 2020 #37 ... review … As sound technology advances, why are films getting harder to hear? The result is that as impressive as the craftsmanship and originality of Tenet is, other aspects of the movie prove to be frustrating. The sound drove me nuts. Although many viewers claim that films are getting louder, Bochar says that the opposite is the problem: “All of us in the industry will tell you point-blank that generally every single cinema is playing it lower than it should be.” A studio’s reference level tends to be around 85 decibels, or 7 on the Dolby scale, he says. “Somebody wrote the words and actors are saying those lines, so there’s got to be some priority.” He doesn’t know any re-recording artist who would deliberately obscure a story point. There's not a lot to say about the acting. I think Nolan is fascinated with the time travel gimmick mainly for its own sake. It's a conceit that feels like one you could just maybe get away with in a Golden Age or Silver Age era comic book. Sound effects and music tracks exist on faders that can slide up and down. Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster is already infamous for its barely audible exchanges. In an era – and a pandemic – in which home streaming dominates, cinema may be forced to pull out the stops once more. Easily my favorite film from him because I always found his stuff lacking a soul. Walked away confused and so did most of my group. ), Is it actually a modern phenomenon? Here, we answer all your questions about Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, including what happened in the ending. Tenet is not Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece, but it is another thrilling entry into his canon. The upside to not going to such a screening is that I’m not bound by any embargo; I’m free to scour stray Reddit posts in order to piece together a semblance of Tenet’s plot and climax. Felt NOTHING at the end. Marvellous. Beatty realised that projectionists, not directors, have final say on a film. Nolan devotees will still get a kick out of Tenet’s cerebral ideas and no doubt forgive its overloaded climax, while the more casual cinemagoer will get plenty of bang for their buck amid its vast visuals (cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema drenches the Nordic location in cool slate greys, while one clifftop shot of the Amalfi Coast is utterly beguiling). It may echo the cleverness of Rian Johnson’s “Looper” and Shane Carruth’s “Primer” in its dizzying disregard for linear chronology, but the plotting is muddled rather than complex, with less to say about the flow of time than “Interstellar” or “Memento.” In the end, “Tenet” isn’t one of Nolan’s most satisfying films. I just finished watching it in Dubai and had the exact same issues with the sound and the dialogues. Big, bold, baffling and bonkers. Don't be surprised if a conspiracy theory-minded Nolan fan goes on Reddit, claiming to have found the answers to Inception's ending and if life itself is just a dream on watching Tenet in reverse. You literally just have to watch it. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 71 Share on Reddit; ... Blu-ray Video and Audio Review: Tenet looks flat out gorgeous in 4K, which shouldn’t be surprising when it comes to a Christopher Nolan blockbuster. But I think Tenet ends up being too clever (or silly) for its own good. Don’t worry, it’s happened to all of us. вЂ�Tenet’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Long-Anticipated Time Caper Is a Humorless Disappointment "Tenet" is big and ambitious, but Nolan is more caught up in … To complicate matters, there is a disparity between the environment in which the director hears the final mix of a film and the one in which it is screened. Entire sections of dialogue were missed, making the already jumpy plot nearly impossible to follow. Previous 'The Devil All The Time' Review. Still confused? In a time when cinema is struggling through arguably its most difficult time in its entire history, Tenet works as a fantastic reminder of what blockbuster filmmaking can aspire to be, and why it’s best experienced in a huge, dark room. By. “It really isn’t a mystery. Mumblecore … Robert Pattinson and John David Washington in Tenet. Imax expects about 90% of its global network of about 1,400 theaters to be back open by the end of August. It's still a great movie and a true big-screen experience, but it does stop it reaching the heights of Nolan's best work. Tenet (2020) The site may not work properly if you don't, If you do not update your browser, we suggest you visit, Press J to jump to the feed. Tenet Review: John David Washington carries the weight of the film. Altogether, it makes for a chilly, cerebral film — easy to admire, especially since it's so rich in audacity and originality, but almost impossible to love, lacking as it is in a certain humanity. ReddIt. Sound engineer Ron Bochar, who was nominated for an Oscar for his mixing on Moneyball, thinks so. This article was amended on 4 September 2020. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Cool movie though but yeah that let it down for me. Member. I'd avoided the trailers (not intentionally, just haven't been to the cinema in the last few months, don't watch TV with ads, and don't generally seek trailers out online), and wasn't even sure what genre it was. That, by the way, isn't a criticism - after all there are very few original ideas left, and those sequences themselves worked pretty well. IM SHOCKED!! Cookies help us deliver our Services. And if you can, you need to see this visually stunning movie on a big screen. That's certainly true of Tenet, and not unusual in a story involving time travel. One was the opening, where I had some problems following the beats (something that was not an issue in other - better - Nolan opening heists, like the ones in The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises or even Inception). Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time. Yes, after months of impossible impossibilities that … Tenet Review. I also want to know how the soundtrack is. Cinematography : someone below mentioned that this had a mission impossible feel where the locations dictated the storyline and i agree with this. Italy looked gorgeous and a place i wanted to return to due to this. I've long thought that Branagh is at his best when he's playing bad guys, whether he's hamming it up shamelessly (Wild Wild West) or providing nuance, warmth and appeal to the most horrific of people (Conspiracy). All in all, Tenet delivers a mix of outstanding performances and unforgettable inverted sequences in another masterpiece of film making that will leave you on the edge of your seat. It’s a challenging, ambitious and genuinely original film packed with compelling performances – Washington and Debicki are especially excellent – which confirms Nolan as the master of the cerebral blockbuster. CRISTOPHER NOLAN?? The world is more than ready for a fabulous blockbuster, especially one that happens to feature face masks and chat about going back in time to avoid catastrophe. In this case it involves the question of who is the protagonist (rather awkwardly actually put in those terms: "I'm the protagonist of this story" is an actual line in the film). Listen to Apocalypse Now – you hear everything.” Price agrees: “If you watch old movies, you might hear some sound effects here and there but now they go nuts: somebody’s walking across the room in a leather jacket, you hear the zippers clink and the creak of the leather and every footstep is right in your face.”, When television became commonplace in the mid-20th century and challenged cinema’s dominion, cinema needed to distinguish itself; it needed to prove that it could justify people leaving the comfort of their homes. “Mmghh nmmhhmmmm nghhh,” replies Washington. But I think it is fair to consider it a companion piece to Inception. I think it's funny because it seems like some reviewers are just over it. Which makes it fascinating when a movie like Tenet comes along, because Tenet is a complete misfire. There are timeline twists, back-stabs, and more than a few paradoxes. He's always watchable as a villain no matter how good, bad or mediocre the surrounding movie. Christopher Nolan directed a technically impressive, emotionally cold movie? I can't recall watching a film like this and throwing my hands up in the air. This made what is an already confusing movie even harder to follow. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is a mysterious movie, one I can’t possibly explain, at least not without a dozen more viewings. What is going on? Half the dialogue was unintelligible. The first critic reviews for Tenet range from scathing to glowing, but they all agree it is very much a Christopher Nolan movie, for good and bad. They're often one of the best parts of Nolan films. There are some nods at both in Tenet. Cinemas will not necessarily play a film at the recommended level of 7 if they feel it is too loud. It's been funny to watch people come to this realization. “I think we’re bombarded,” Paul Markey, a projectionist at the Irish Film Institute, says of modern films. Nolan outsmarted himself on this one. вЂ�TENET’ Review: Christopher Nolan Finally Jumps The Shark In Arguably His Worst Movie Yet #Tenet. Loved the concept, construction and execution. FlipBoard. So a bullet might leave a hole in a glass before it's fired. This is how much of Tenet sounded to viewers in cinemas. I found it very hard to follow what was going on.