Washington: Sci-fi intricacies of ‘Tenet’ benefit from more than one viewing
choose. The movies and directors seem wildly different, but is there anything those Nolan and Lee share?
A: I think Chris and Spike are obviously different in terms of their styles, but they are both provocateurs. They really challenge audiences, each in his own way. Spike might have a more direct approach, and you always know exactly who and what he’s challenging. But what you see right away is that they both absolutely love movies. They love what they do, love the craft, the production, creating something from the ground up.
Q: Nolan also works social commentary into his movies, but he is sneaky about it. In “The Dark Knight Rises,” there’s a scene of armed people preventing a group of refugees from crossing a bridge to safety, which invoked an ugly incident that happened after Hurricane Katrina.
A: Whoa, really?
Q: Yes, I asked him about it specifically.
A: What did he say?
Q: He said yes! And there are provocative elements in “Tenet” as well.
We all know that things we’ve done in the past inform the present, but “Tenet” — without giving too much away — asks us to consider the ramifications of the person we might become, the impact of things we do down the line, the moral dimensions of our future selves.
A: Well this is very difficult to discuss without getting into spoilers, but I’ll put it this way: It’s about how point of view can change, how time changes motivation. How time can put you on the wrong side of history. How time can make you the antagonist, not the protagonist, even if you think you are the protagonist.
Q: It’s a mind-bender, for sure. And reviewers and fans are understandably fixating on the complexity and implications of time inversion in “Tenet.” But the movie also turns out be a gloriously weird and complex buddy movie, between your character and the agent played by Robert Pattinson. Also there is a substantial storyline built around your character’s effort to protect an abused woman (Elizabeth Debicki) from her husband (Kenneth Branagh).
A: (Laughs) Yes! Thank you. That’s a great compliment. Unfortunately, we can’t really get into specifics, but I didn’t realize how heavily Chris leans on that — performances and chemistry — to help take the audience along, even if they are not understanding the rules of inversion or the intricacies of the sci-fi element. They can be entertained by the explosions and the big set pieces, which is why we are all there and eating our popcorn, but ultimately we have to invest in the characters in order to care about the other stuff.
Q: At the same time, “Tenet” IS quintessential Nolan, like “Inception,” or “The Prestige” or “Memento,” the kind of feast that is difficult to consume and digest in just one sitting.
A: It’s worth seeing more than once just to see Kenneth Branagh speak backwards in a Russian accent. The movie is definitely intended to be viewed more than one time. And the fact that it’s being released now may be a blessing. It’s the kind of movie people can sit in a theater and enjoy on a second and third viewing, because there will be discussions, and they will be a lot of fun.
Q: You’re also doing press for the movie right in the middle of the terrible news about Chadwick Boseman. Did you know him, and how did the news hit you?
A: It was kind of the same way I took the Kobe Bryant news. It was devastating. I couldn’t believe it. He stood for so many great things — historically black colleges, the historical figures he played so well. And T’Challa. An exceptional talent, a humanitarian, a kind and decent man. I got to know him at a Vanity Fair shoot, and he was so warm and lovely.
It makes you appreciate life, the need to take care of ourselves and the people around us. Watch what we say to people. Tell them we love them more often. It’s a reminder of that. My prayers go out to his friends and family.