“You’re not supposed to understand everything”: Christopher Nolan looks back on his most complicated film

When it comes to Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s penultimate feature film, there are two categories of spectators: those who loved it, who took undisguised pleasure in dissecting the film in its smallest details, and those who are left on the side of the road, incapable of becoming passionate about such a nebulous work.

Tenet, too complex?

It must be said that this science fiction thriller carried by John David Washington and conceived as a palindrome (like its title) is very probably the richest and most demanding film of its director, already known for training his audience in real mazes at the cinema (an ambition assumed from the labyrinthine logo of its production house Syncopy).

Sometimes criticized for being too complex, Tenet has put off certain spectators, annoyed at the idea of ​​having to watch the film several times to fully appreciate it. Passing through on Stephen Colbert’s Late Showthe British filmmaker recently responded to them, explaining that they had probably misunderstood his film.

“You’re not supposed to understand everything.”

“You’re not supposed to understand everything in Tenet. Not everything is understandable”he declared, specifying that the most important thing was not to grasp the work in every aspect, but to experience it as a cinematic experience.

“If you experience my film as an experience, then you understand it. I believe in that very strongly. I feel like when people have been frustrated with my storytelling in the past, sometimes they may have moved on to side [de l’essentiel]. It’s not a puzzle to be unpacked, but an experience to be had, preferably in a cinema, but also at home.”

Nolan also added that among all his films, Tenet was undoubtedly the one that most directly addressed the experience that a spectator could have when discovering a feature film.

(Re)discover all the blunders in the film…