On Tenet

 

 

Let's first talk about (sigh) a Star Wars movie. (Wait, what? I thought this was a Tenet review!) Did I like The Phantom Menace? No. Do I think it's a good movie? Not really. But, goodness, that lightsaber fight scene was unlike anything ever put to film at the time! 

Was it worth watching that whole movie just to see that amazing sequence and a completely new idea of how to use lightsabers? Actually, yes. I think so. Ok. I think Tenet is a far better movie than the Phantom Menace, but I couldn't think of another film that is a better example of "I didn't like it as much as I wanted to, but there were moments that were superlatively brilliant." This, in a nutshell summarizes how I feel about Tenet.

It's has concepts that are interesting and original--and the execution of those scenes?! Goodness! He's fighting himself and then he's fighting himself again in reverse? He's reverse bungee jumping into a building?! Aaagh! But. The film has a huge flaw that drags it down. It's too confusing. (Oh seriously Joseph? You're going to go that route? We already know that and everyone's already saying that.) 

It seems like most that complain about it being confusing are too humble about it. I can just imagine them now saying, "My personal preference is to understand what's going on during a movie. But it's just a personal preference." Let's get more in to that reaction and some other reactions to the film. And let's bullet point those reactions. Bullet points are good.

• "I didn't understand it. I'm lost. This is way too complicated. I didn't like it."  

Many, including die-hard fans of Nolan, didn't just say the film was too confusing. They also said there wasn't enough there for them to want to dig more and try to understand it. Oh...that second part is key! Nolan fans said this. Nolan fans are ridiculous. Google it. They think he farts gold and can do no wrong. 

The musician Charles Mingus once said: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” I agree. It isn't hard to make something complicated even more complicated. Brilliance is making complicated ideas simple.

• "You didn't like it? That's because you didn't understand it. I did." 

People that say this are one of two types of people. The first is the type that wants to feel, and wants others to think, that they are smart, and understand the esoteric ideas presented in the film better than others even if they don't. I feel the same way about these people as Eskeleto from Nacho Libre feels about orphans. These are people that follow me on Instagram but I don't follow them back and if they unfollowed me that's fine because I don't remember the circumstances under which they started following me on Instagram in the first place. Their opinions are more of a reflection of their ego rather than the film itself. 

The second, more respectable type, genuinely understood the film and liked it. You know something, for you people in the second group, (all two of you) I applaud you and you can probably stop reading now. I'm glad you understood everything and liked the movie. Good! (Seriously and not sarcastically) Why was I talking about this group? I can't remember. Enough about this group of people. On to the next. 

• "I didn't understand it, but I liked it (and usually coupled with this one: "I want to see it again.") 

Here we go. I think this may be the most common reaction. At least it's the most common reaction amongst my peers who are the target audience. Are you a white (I know you're not actually white, but c'mon...you're white), American male born after 1980 that enjoys action but also would like to think of yourself as reasonably intelligent? From a marketing perspective, you are the target audience of this film. Congratulations. (By the way, you are not the target audience for Christopher Nolan but rather the marketers of this film. The target audience for Christopher Nolan is Christopher Nolan.) We'll refer to a person from this target group as...Steve...for the following story that sounds like a lazy algebra problem. Steve surely represents many young males, like me, at home, affected by quarantine, hoping for more thoughtful, quality entertainment. 

The Story of Steve 

Steve hears about Tenet coming out. Great! It will cost 20 dollars to buy.* 

Ooo...That's a lot, but that's ok. Why? Because it's Nolan! He's got a good record. Christopher Nolan made movie X, Y, and Z, and they were all great. In fact, although those movies costed (x), I got (x)^2 entertainment value out those movies! In other words, there's a high possibility that I'll get more than my 20 dollars value out of Tenet.
Steve watches Tenet.
Enter reaction: "I didn't understand it. But I liked it. That inverse fight scene? That was ridiculous!" "But, there was so much I didn't understand. I think I need to watch it again." To oversimplify, Steve thinks: "You know, I think I got about 10 dollars of value from that movie, but in order to get the full 20 dollar value, I need to watch it again and again. Maybe after the second time watching it, the overall return will go up to 20 dollars worth of entertainment or more!

*Footnote to the asterisk above: Even if you don't buy Tenet, it still costs you the time of watching it. Would you watch Gone with the Wind if I paid you 20 dollars to do so? Of course, you wouldn't, and that would be a good decision. That movie is long, boring and horrible. (End of story)

I gotta say, Steve is a really nice, likable and humble guy. He's really saying "I choose to focus on the good elements of the film instead of the confusing elements." And regarding the confusing elements of the film, he is saying: "Yes, there were confusing parts, but I think it's my fault that I didn't understand those parts. I'm not smart enough to understand this complex movie the first time. I'm sure Nolan did a good job, so it must be me." Also, he may think: "This movie is probably like a compisition by Mozart. I think it's good and listenable as background music on my Stress-Reducing Spotify Playlist, but I don't understand classical music enough to realize it's a masterpiece. Tenet is probably something like the movie version of a Mozart symphony. It's a masterpiece, but I have to be a physicist and/or film buff to truly appreciate it as such. I, instead, just think it was 'good.' It's not you. It's me. Also, I was always last picked during recess, but that's ok because [insert self-deprecating joke]." Anyway, many Steves watch Tenet a second time. (By the way, many of them didn't really rush to get back to watching it a second time) After the second time watching it, the total value they have got out of the film is now about 15 dollars. That's up 5 from the initial 10! Ahh, but it still doesn't match my initial 20 dollar evaluation. Let's watch it one more time! Now were up to 17 out of 20, but you also realize, one key flaw about Tenet. Steve (you) says, "Dang it. This a is a film of diminishing returns upon rewatch. I thought it would be a film of high returns upon rewatch like the Prestige or Inception. Steve's formula was too simple: Prestige/Inception = Complex also Prestige/Inception = Excellent re-watchability Therefore maybe, hopefully, the following is true Tenet = SUPER Complex also Tenet = SUPER Excellent re-watchability It wasn't true. However, the value did go up from 10 to 15 and then from 15 to 17. Where did that extra 5 or 7 come from? Most of it came from being able to understand what's happening in the movie.

This leads me in to my reaction to the film. 

• "I understood almost everything in the film and came to the realization that the base movie under all that complexity is a good movie but probably not a great one. Tenet is an average to above average looking girl that is wearing a lot of makeup." 

Before you jump ahead, and say "Who do you think you are by saying you understood everything?" You're like that guy that said before that you hated. I want to clarify. I cheated to understand it. I went down the YouTube rabbit hole of "Ending Explained" videos and after much rewinding and rewatching (much to the annoyance of my wife) I was able to finally understand it. Great. Now what? 

Here's what I mean: Imagine someone showed you a movie like the masterpiece Babbette's Feast in the original Danish without subtitles. There's a great movie there playing on the Roku, but you don't speak Danish. And so you watch the movie several times in a row and you're able to pick up on the Danish language. You also go down the YouTube rabbit hole of learning Danish. You finally learn Danish and watch the movie and understand it. And you realize that the movie is great. Ok...so here's a question: 

WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT! JUST FIND ENGLISH SUBTITLES you Fool!!
The subtitles example above is what Nolan has done to you, the movie goer. The problem isn't that it's complex. The problem is it does too poor of a job helping the layman understand enough of it's complexity upon first viewing. If you watched Babette's Feast without subtitles, I think you could still enjoy it just like you could like Tenet with all its confusion. But with Babette's Feast, you can turn on the subtitles with a simple click and the movie becomes much more enjoyable. With Tenet, you have to go down the rabbit hole and spend much time understanding its "subtitles" and even once you do, you only understand the mechanics of what's happening better in the film. In other words you only get marginal gains by finally understanding what's going on.
Ok. Enough!
I'm getting bored with my own essay.

Applause to you for getting this far. I'm just going to go ahead and rush the last bit.

What the film gets right: Aggressive creativity Aggressive attention to detail Unforgettable and unique sequences Cinematography/World building Oh yeah...the wardrobe. It was amazing! I want the suit I liked the hot sauce joke

What the film gets wrong: How confusing it is. It's arrogance. It's almost as if the movie thinks it's more important than it really is. (You know that guy in your life that guy in your life that's really good at chess but not as good as he thinks he is at chess...but he's good enough to beat you every time. Agh. Dang that guy is annoying! That guy is Tenet in human form. He's not so bad.) Once the film is finally understood, the value of the film increases only marginally.

So there it is. There are my thoughts...and not all of it's there and not all of it makes sense--hmm...kind of like Tenet. Also, in case you disagree with much of what I've said above, I think I do too. Not even joking. It's like my opinions about the movie are changing as I write this article. My opinions are last year's perfectly good iPhone, and now I just got the new one in the mail. My wife is sitting next to me on her iPad, drawing a flower. She just said, "You know, whether Tenet is a good movie or bad movie, I don't know. But when was the last time that a movie got you to sit down and write?" She hasn't said anything for the whole hour, and then she says that one line and goes back to drawing while I'm here blabbing away on my scissor-switch keyboard.

I guess she's got a good point and honestly, with regards to Tenet (and my relationship with the film), it's the point that matters most.