Tenet’s Christopher Nolan and cast reveal filmmaking journey

Tenet’s intricate world explained by cast

Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet, one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, is finally coming to the big screen next week. We were invited to a press screening and a virtual press conference in advance of the film’s upcoming release in theaters on August 26, 2020. Tenet is a mind-blowing espionage thriller that will stay with audiences long after the movie ends.

Nolan built one of the largest scale outdoor sets of all time and his film really brings together these massive action set pieces that leave you in awe. It’s certainly the kind of film that needs to be seen on the big screen to fully engage in the immersive cinematic experience. It takes you on a wild, wild ride.

Christopher Nolan, John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kenneth Branagh talk about their characters and their filmmaking experience. Don’t worry, there are no spoilers.

The birth of Tenet

The concept of time is a key player in the film, with the concept of time inversion explained. But where did the idea come from? Nolan responds, “There are certain images and devices in the film I’ve been thinking about for a long time, decades really. People who know my earlier work will recognize some of the tropes like bullet coming out of the wall and going back into the gun — it’s something that’s portrayed metaphorically in Memento but here we try to make it concrete, make it a real thing.

“I’ve been playing with some of these ideas for a very long time. This particular script and the idea of taking the spy genre and really trying to use it as a vehicle for taking the audience on this journey through all these bizarre concepts of time — I’ve been working on that for about six or seven years.”

John David Washington as The Protagonist

Giving an outstanding performance in the film is lead actor John David Washington. He plays the Protagonist, who’s on a mission to stop a scenario akin to World War III. But what really drives the Protagonist? According to Washington, “I led with faith, belief in humankind… the ability for human beings to evolve. He was willing to die for that belief….I imagine him being recruited at an early age because he had that drive and that love for people. I think he uses his vulnerability as a strength, as a weapon.”

This was the first time Washington had worked with Nolan. So we asked him how does one prepare to work on a Nolan film? Washington explains that his immense training really informed him personally, as well as the character. “We were getting ready for Christopher Nolan universally. It was the training and stunt coordinator, which was able to inform me a lot about the character. I’d never really worked that way before. Letting the physicality of the man dictate how I would feel or how I would approach it. It gave a me a lot of information about myself personally and about what the feelings would be after learning how to fight like this… just to become a professional neck snapper. That was an interesting process for sure for me.”

Robert Pattinson as Neil

Robert Pattinson plays an incredibly layered character, one that he rather had fun playing. He laughs as he tries to talk about playing Neil, without giving too much away. “There are so many layers to the character that you kind of have to… make it a part of the character’s consciousness. He’s strangely aware of the layers of his own character which is quite an unusual thing to play. It’s fun.

“I’m trying to figure out a very complex and difficult character and also within a very complex and intricate world. I think once I sort of realized you can play Neil as someone who enjoys the chaotic situations he’s in — that seems to be the touchstone for the rest of the characters.”

Elizabeth Debicki as Kat

Elizabeth Debicki stands out as the strong female lead in the spy thriller. She is an art dealer who is married to Kenneth Branagh’s Andrei Sator, an abusive arms dealer. It’s rare to see a female character fully fleshed out in an action-heavy spy film. To her credit, Debicki relished this role. “She’s kind of many contradictions woven into one. When I first read her on the page, I found such a note of authenticity with how Chris had written her.

“I felt I opened the script up to a woman who was sort of at war with so many pieces of herself. I also loved the complex psychological journey that she goes on through this film. It’s a journey of discovery of her own resilience, which I loved. I also loved that within this genre we get to see a woman really fight for her own freedom but also learn that she has agency within the story line as well, which I loved playing.”

While the plot gets complex at times, it’s the journey that really was a “joy” for her. “The story takes us to really dark places at times, and my character psychologically goes into some really dark places as well, but the experience of making it because of this cast was actually a joy. There were a lot of challenges. I did a lot of things I had never done before.”

Kenneth Branagh as Andrei Sator

Kenneth Branagh really digs his claws into playing a horrifying and abusive arms dealer. He’s the villain of villains. Describing him with such flair, he says, “He’s a man who plays fast and lose with his own soul and the consequences for humanity are absolutely appalling. He strikes a devil’s bargain and it grants him this terrifying power, but also curses him with this terrifying loneliness. I didn’t have to find any of that. It was all on the page.”

The final word: Christopher Nolan’s influences

If you want to know what really inspires the brilliant filmmaker’s movies, the answer is simple. His first and favorite spy film, James Bond. “The first James Bond film I remember going to the cinema to see is The Spy Who Loved Me with Roger Moore. That, still, is a great favorite of mine. I was seven years old, I went with my dad to see it. What I remember and what I’ve tried to retain from that experience is the feeling of possibility if you could jump through the screen and go anywhere in the world and see the most amazing things.

“It had such scale and such possibilities. It was pure escapism. An excellent fantasy component to it as well. I think I spent a lot of my career trying to get back to that feeling and trying to give that feeling to audiences… take you back to that sense of wonderment about the possibilities of what movies can do and where they can take you.”

That’s exactly what Tenet does. This is a classic Christopher Nolan film in every way — riveting, original, entertaining, and at times, complex. Click here to read our spoiler-free review. ~Marriska Fernandes

Tenet releases August 26 in Canada, and it will make its way to the U.S. on Sept. 3.

Originally published on Tribute.ca