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Michael Caine

Tenet: I am the [Protagonist] of My Fate

August 28, 2020 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

It takes a lot for a director to become a brand unto themselves.

Having made some of the biggest blockbusters of the last two decades, writer/director Christopher Nolan continues to create ambitious worlds that also look to maintain depth to their stories. With the release of his latest epic adventure Tenet, Nolan offers all of the originality and spectacle that fans of his are looking for in their films. 

As the world [slowly] moves back to the multiplex after the global pandemic, the scope of Tenet alone earns the right to be the first major blockbuster to be seen in cinemas. Though the cast does a solid job embracing the script (especially villain Kenneth Branaugh, who positively snarls onscreen), what audiences will appreciate most are the film’s excellently orchestrated set pieces. Rumoured to have used less than 300 digital effects—most blockbusters today usually use thousands per film—Tenet is a visual treat that dazzles the eye. Through his use of inverted time, Nolan creates something so unique that it will demand repeat viewings. Though the narrative is incredibly high concept, it also moves and operates well within the rules for the world that it creates (which is vital for any film about time travel). While admittedly the dialogue can suffer at times due to muffled sound and an overpowering soundtrack (think Bane from Dark Knight Rises), the film always demands your attention and is an entertaining ride from start to finish (and back to start again).

Tenet follows an unnamed secret agent (John David Washington) who is literally referred to as ‘the Protagonist’. After thwarting a terrorist bombing, The Protagonist is enlisted by the Tenet organization, a covert government group committed to stopping World War III. During his training, he learns that fragments from the future have been discovered by terrorists in the present, allowing them to create inverted time loops which threaten to unravel the fabric of all reality. Teaming up with his new partner, Neil (Robert Pattinson), The Protagonist sets off on a mission to retrieve the fragments in order to save the both the present world and time itself.

Though Tenet is drawing comparisons to Nolan’s other mind-bending original, Inception, in truth the film is a natural progression for him over the course of his career. From Memento to Interstellar, Nolan has always been interested in the way that we perceive time and its impact on how we understand the world. (In fact, through its fractured narrative and varying portrayals of time, even his historical WWI epic Dunkirk played with this notion as well.) In Tenet though, Nolan really dives into the concept of time looping and its effect on the fate of mankind. Though he tells his story in a linear manner, there is enough interplay backwards and forwards to bend minds (and, yes, cause some confusion at times).

Like Nolan’s boldest projects, Tenet is also rooted deeply in philosophy. Echoing projects like Interstellar and Batman Begins, he uses this film as an opportunity to explore man’s role in the universe. Initially locked in his own perceptions of reality, Tenet’s Protagonist is a man who realizes that he needs to change the way he understands the world in order to have an impact upon it. His experience with the Tenet Organization not only loosens the underpinnings of his knowledge of reality but forces him to re-examine what can ultimately be changed, even when it has ‘already happened’. [Warning: Minor Spoilers ahead] In this regard, it’s interesting that the film attempts to bring the element of faith as The Protagonist moves forward within his timeline. Despite the fact that what ‘is’ remains ultimately unchangeable, there’s a certain element of hope in the future that Nolan clings to in this film. However, instead of having confidence in some greater power, The Protagonist is challenged to put his faith in the physical realm. (“Have faith in the natural order,” Pattinson’s Neil reminds.) [Minor Spoilers End] 

Interestingly, Nolan appears to have a sense of hope in the linear nature of time. Whereas Memento spoke of clinging to the past, Tenet leans into the idea that new perspectives help provide light in the future. Though the fate of the world may be predetermined, Nolan emphasizes the importance of the individual and their actions in what is to be. (In this way, while never quoted directly, the film almost feels like an homage to Henley’s famed poem Invictus which says, “It matters not how straight the gate… I am the captain of my fate. I am the master of my soul.”) As a result, Tenet argues that, while unchangeable, the role of The Protagonist continues to matter due to the fact that it remains unknown to them.

In the end, Tenet serves as a suitable next chapter in Nolan’s ever-growing catalogue of complex puzzles that both satisfy the eyes and challenge the mind. Through his use of linear time looping, the famed writer/director wants desperately to explore not just the nature of the universe but man’s place and responsibilities within it. More importantly though, even if one has no interest in exploring the complex philosophy that holds the film together, Tenet’s stunning visuals and action-heavy story should also thoroughly entertain audiences as well.

Especially when it’s seen in a theatre.

Tenet is in Canadian theatres now and premieres in US markets on September 4th, 2020. 

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Christopher Nolan, Elizabeth Debicki, John David Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine, Robert Pattinson, Tenet

Tenet: Christopher Nolan is Back (and Backwards)

August 26, 2020 by Jason Thai Leave a Comment

The [only?] blockbuster of the summer is finally here. 

In Christopher Nolan’s next hit film, Tenet, the director brings us another trippy, mind-blowing Inception-style movie. Tenet stars John David Washington as “The Protagonist” (which is not subtle at all), a special agent recruited into the mysterious Tenet organization. Tenet’s goal is to prevent World War III through a time-disrupting apocalypse that would end all life (and all time). Featuring mind-blowing special effects, Tenet uses time travel in a way that has never been explored on the big screen before. (In fact, it’s not time travel at all… It’s inversion!)

[Caution: Spoilers] Let’s breakdown Tenet‘s method of “time travel”, easily Nolan’s most confusing plot device within the movie (like Inception‘s wild dream sequences). In Tenet, time travel is actually the ability to move something (or someone) through time inversely. By doing so, one is able to move backwards and reverse time, while the entire world is moving forward around them. By doing so, the film explores time uniquely through the theory of determinism, a philosophy that all events all actions are set already. For Nolan, time is non-linear. It’s a circle that exists in a loop. In Tenet, the past, present and future all exist at the same time and interact with each other. This idea once again interacts with determination theory, by arguing that events are set and the idea of freewill both is [and isn’t] real. As Neil says multiple times in the film, “It happened.” Tenet believes that time is fixed and unchangeable. (Incidentally, this idea should have been fairly obvious in hindsight considering that the film is called Tenet, which means a belief or philosophy, referencing the determinism. What’s more, the title is also a palindrome, symbolic of time’s never-ending loop within the film.) [Spoilers End] 

Personally, I loved Tenet’s use of “time travel” in this movie. Nolan is able to cleverly tell a story that was non-linear, able to loop and connect the story with the forward timeline with its inverse as well. Without question, this is no easy task to do as a story. Very rarely do you see paradox-free time travel, and it’s amazing how the story interacts with the other fragments in time. Fans of Nolan’s Inception will appreciate that the action was incredible. Watching people fight in normal time against someone going in the inverse is trippy and mesmerising, featuring bullets that fly into guns, people that seem to fly and even coming back from the dead. Incredibly exciting from start to finish, the film really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Overall, Tenet is a must-see movie. Not only is Christopher Nolan back, but this is also a strong film to return us to theatres. As bizarre as it is beautiful, this action film is backed by one of the cleverest time travel stories that you’ll ever see.

Tenet is available in Canadian theatres now and opens in the US on September 4th, 2020.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Christopher Nolan, John David Washington, Michael Caine, Robert Pattinson, Tenet, time travel

Going in Style – Senior Robin Hoods

August 1, 2017 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

Theodore Melfi wrote St. Vincent (which starred Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy) and Hidden Figures (for which he received nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay). But this year, he tackled his oldest stars to date, as Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin headlined the cinematic adaptation of his screenplay Going in Style.

Think Grumpy Old Men meets Night at the Museum (the guards, not the talking animals).

Joe Harding (Caine) gets evicted when a loophole in his mortgage sends him hurtling toward homelessness, with his daughter and hilariously intelligent granddaughter (Joey King) in tow. His two best friends aren’t doing any better. Willie Davis (Freeman) needs a kidney immediately, but his insurance, health, and age are stacked against his finding a donor; Albert Garner (Arkin) has to take gigs teaching kids with no musical talent to make ends meet, and can’t seem to fully connect with the absolutely available grandmother of his worst student (Ann-Margaret).

But as the hits keep piling up in begrudgingly humorous style, and startlingly realistic blows, the three old timers begin to realize that there’s a chance they hadn’t consider before: they could steal the money they need. (It’s loosely planted in their minds when Caine’s Harding is inside a bank when it’s robbed and he has more of a clue on how to find the robbers than the police (like Matt Dillon) do.)

While the script might not always make sense – seriously, these three are going to rob a bank?- it has the panache to play like a more saccharine version (and somewhat.. aged) version of Hell or High Water. We can see the earmarks of a set of life lessons coming, how the men will find their purpose and reconnect with their families, but along the way, we’re laughing at the natural exchanges of these old actors hamming it up. Even Christopher Lloyd looks enthusiastic!

Warner Bros.’ special features on the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD combo pack include commentary with director Zach Braff and deleted scenes. 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Alan Arkin, Ann-Margret, Christopher Lloyd, Going in Style, Matt Dillon, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Zach Braff

Youth: Looking to a Shorter Future

December 10, 2015 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

SET DEL FILM "LA GIOVINEZZA" DI PAOLO SORRENTINO. NELLA FOTO MICHAEL CAINE E  HARVEY KEITEL. FOTO DI GIANNI FIORITO
“I’ve grown old without understanding how I got here.”

Youth is a meditation on what it means to have grown old. Writer/director Paolo Sorrentino (who won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for The Great Silence) says in the production notes, “The question I asked myself was, how does one look to the future when one is no longer young?” That kind of existential pondering leads to a film that deals with life as an intersection of past, present, and future, but each has its own pains, joys, and meanings.

Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is a retired composer and conductor who is spending time at a lavish Swiss spa. He is accompanied by his assistant and daughter Lena (Rachel Weitz) whose marriage is breaking apart. Also at the spa are Fred’s longtime friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel), a film director trying to write (with a group of young writers) a script; Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano), a young actor who wants to be taken seriously, but of whom everyone only remembers his early role playing a robot; and an aging former soccer player whose body has betrayed him. The mixture of the aging and the young (including the spa staff) provides contrasts of what life is like at various ages. Much of the film plays out at a leisurely pace but there are stories being told.

The key conflict for both Fred and Mick is to try to understand their place in the world when so much of their life is behind them and the end of their lives seem to be growing closer. It isn’t so much a question of mortality, but of meaning. When an emissary of the queen comes to ask Fred to conduct his most famous work for her, he refuses. He doesn’t give a reason, but he is adamant. That is a part of his past that he does not want to bring to the fore. We later learn that it has a special meaning to him that he is not willing to part with. (Even when we first hear the reason, we still do not really understand. Sorrentino saves full knowledge for later.) He doesn’t seem to be concerned so much about the future as he is about the past. In fact, it bothers him that the past is abandoning him as well. He can no longer remember what his parents looked like. When memories have become what you value in your life, the natural loss of memories becomes depressing.

Michael Caine as "Fred" and Paul Dano as “Jimmy” in YOUTH. Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Mick, on the other hand, is looking to the future. He wants the script he’s working on to be a “testament”—the culmination of his career and a special vehicle for his longtime muse Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda in one high powered scene). He has a wonderful scene with his young protégés where he has one look through the two ends of binoculars and relates that to the past and future. The future is very much pressing upon him. To lose that future would be to lose any sense of meaning in his life.

This film may not be quite as Felliniesque as The Great Beauty, but there are still similarities. The visual sense of the film still focuses on things of beauty and wonder, including the grandeur of the Alpine setting. Like The Great Beauty this film centers on searching for meaning during later years—a time when one’s attention may shift from seeking fame and fortune to remembering past glories. That takes us back to the question that Sorrentino pondered in this film: looking to the future when one is no longer young.

Michael Caine as "Fred" in YOUTH. Photo by Gianni Fiorito. © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

But while the film may spend its time with those who are growing old, its message is really for those who still look to the future whether they are young or old. That is also a theme that is spoken to in Ecclesiastes:

Even those who live for many years should rejoice in them all; yet let them remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.

Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11:7ff, NRSV)

Ecclesiastes can be seen as a dark wisdom that seems to find life meaningless. But often that darkness is where meaning reveals itself. In Youth there is both darkness and light. And in the interplay between the darkness and light, and the past and the future, the search for meaning goes on.

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Ecclesiastes, Harvey Keitel, Michael Caine, Paolo Sorrentino, Paul Dano, Rachel Weitz

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