| |
Time for Tenet |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
|
Written by: Mark Lyndon, 70mm correspondent, London, UK |
Date:
03.09.2020 |
Picture
by Tim Collins
I was uncertain whether I loved or hated Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster
Tenet, now I’m not so sure. I attended a matineé screening of Tenet at a packed
out London IMAX, last Saturday, Covid, Schmovid. We began with a trailer for the
latest Bond movie, which confidently announced that the release will take place
in April 2020. That set the tone for the evening.
The title Tenet is a palindrome, a word that meets itself coming back, rather
like this film, in reverse. In the first of a series of set pieces, or
Immersibles as Kubrick, Nolan’s hero, called them, Tenet opens with a terrorist
attack on a concert hall, opera house? One of the SWAT team sent to deal with the
mayhem gruffly interrogates another in Polish: “What are you doing here?”
A traditional Polish term for action thrillers is “They killed him but he ran
away”. We first meet our anti-hero/hero The Protagonist, being sent on a
Mission Improbable - Halfway Back to the Future. Tenet is full of clever and
obscure references and devices, too clever by half, for some. The last ten
minutes feature action that goes forwards and backwards, or Tenet in a word.
Nolan pays full tribute to the King of Spies - in Dr No, Goldfinger and Diamonds
are Forever. Nolan is blessed with the best cinematographer in the business in
Hoyte van Hoytema, working with a staggering array of cameras and lenses, the
results distilled into the format that reigns supreme above all others. Dare I
call it TRUMAX?
He is equally blessed with a strong cast led by John David Washington, a
powerful charismatic and compelling screen presence, mysteriously dubbed The
Protagonist. Robert Pattinson, plays Neil, amazingly mercurial, a double agent,
maybe? His performance starts off firmly in Jude Law territory and ends up in
Sean Connery land. Elizabeth Debicki, a real class act, as Kat the patrician
wife of Andrei Sator, a heavy vodka sipping Russian Oligarch, as well as a
clever anagram, torn from Central Casting by that great, veteran war horse
Kenneth Brannagh, hardly wasted this time. Michael Caine, is looking worryingly
fragile, but very welcome in his traditional cameo.
What the hell is Tenet about? A clue may be gleaned from the palindromic title.
The concept of time travel is nothing new, but time travelling backwards and
forwards at the same time? Or is it the other way round? Maybe Nolan should have
filmed and screened it two strip Cinerama with one reel running backwards at the
same time as one running forwards, or the other way round. Does the 2 and half
hours running time feel more like five hours? Maybe in half the time. Oh yes, I
forgot, it’s a spy movie. Or is it yps? Goodness me! Is that the time.
|
More in 70mm reading:
"Tenet" in the splendour of 7OMM
The Golden Age of 70mm
Internet link: |
snilloC
miT yB erutciP
.emit eht taht sI !em ssendooG.
?spy ti si rO. eivom yps a s’ti ,togrof I ,sey hO .emit eht flah ni ebyaM ?sruoh
evif ekil erom leef emit gninnur sruoh flah dna 2 eht seoD .dnuor yaw rehto eht
ro ,sdrawrof gninnur eno sa emit emas eht ta sdrawkcab gninnur leer eno htiw
amareniC pirts owt ti deneercs dna demlif evah dluohs naloN ebyaM ?dnuor yaw
rehto eht ti si rO ?emit emas eht ta sdrawrof dna sdrawkcab gnillevart emit tub
,wen gnihton si levart emit fo tpecnoc ehT .eltit cimordnilap eht morf denaelg
eb yam eulc A? tuoba teneT si lleh eht tahW
.oemac lanoitidart sih ni emoclew yrev tub ,eligarf ylgniyrrow gnikool si ,eniaC
leahciM .emit siht detsaw yldrah ,hgannarB htenneK esroh raw naretev ,taerg taht
yb gnitsaC lartneC morf nrot ,margana revelc a sa llew sa ,hcragilO naissuR
gnippis akdov yvaeh a ,rotaS ierdnA fo efiw naicirtap eht taK sa ,tca ssalc laer
a ,ikcibeD htebazilE .dnal yrennoC naeS ni pu sdne dna yrotirret waL eduJ ni
ylmrif ffo strats ecnamrofrep siH ?ebyam ,tnega elbuod a ,lairucrem ylgnizama
,lieN syalp ,nosnittaP treboR .tsinogatorP ehT debbud ylsuoiretsym ,ecneserp
neercs gnillepmoc dna citamsirahc lufrewop a ,notgnihsaW divaD nhoJ yb del tsac
gnorts a htiw desselb yllauqe si eH
?XAMURT ti llac I eraD .srehto lla evoba emerpus sngier taht tamrof eht otni
dellitsid stluser eht ,sesnel dna saremac fo yarra gnireggats a htiw gnikrow
,ametyoH nav etyoH ni ssenisub eht ni rehpargotamenic tseb eht htiw desselb si
naloN .reveroF era sdnomaiD dna regnifdloG ,oN rD ni - seipS fo gniK eht ot
etubirt lluf syap naloN
.drow a ni teneT ro ,sdrawkcab dna sdrawrof seog taht noitca erutaef setunim net
tsal ehT .emos rof ,flah yb revelc oot ,secived dna secnerefer erucsbo dna
revelc fo lluf si teneT
.erutuF eht ot kcaB yawflaH - elbaborpmI noissiM a no tnes gnieb ,tsinogatorP
ehT oreh/oreh-itna ruo teem tsrif eW .”yawa nar eh tub mih dellik yehT“
si srellirht noitca rof mret hsiloP lanoitidart A ”?ereh gniod uoy era tahW“
:hsiloP ni rehtona setagorretni ylffurg mehyam eht htiw laed ot tnes maet TAWS
eht fo enO ?esuoh arepo ,llah trecnoc a no kcatta tsirorret a htiw snepo teneT
,meht dellac ,oreh s’naloN ,kcirbuK sa selbisremmI ro ,seceip tes fo seires a fo
tsrif eht nI .esrever ni ,mlif siht ekil rehtar ,kcab gnimoc flesti steem taht
drow a ,emordnilap a si teneT eltit ehT
.gnineve eht rof enot eht tes tahT .0202 lirpA ni ecalp ekat lliw esaeler eht
taht decnuonna yltnedifnoc hcihw ,eivom dnoB tsetal eht rof reliart a htiw nageb
eW .divomhcS ,divoC ,yadrutaS tsal ,XAMI nodnoL tuo dekcap a ta teneT fo
gnineercs éenitam a dednetta I .erus os ton m’I won ,teneT retsubkcolb tsetal
s’naloN rehpotsirhC detah ro devol I rehtehw niatrecnu saw I
teneT rof emiT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Go: back - top - back issues - news index Updated
28-07-24 |
|
|