Tenet

Year of Release:  2020
Director:  Christopher Nolan
Screenplay:  Christopher Nolan
Starring:  John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh
Running Time:  150 minutes
Genre:  Thriller, science-fiction, spy

The Protagonist (Washington) is a secret agent who finds himself embroiled in a bizarre adventure involving weapons that are "chronologically inverted" meaning that they move backwards in time, and the effect comes before the cause.  These weapons have the potential to destroy the world due to entropy.

This film has had a difficult road to the screen, despite being one of 2020's most anticipated films, having been delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Is it worth the wait?  Yes and no.  Tenet is almost textbook Nolan, for better and worse.  It features some incredible action set pieces, and much of it is really exciting, it also has some great performances, with John David Washington, in particular, impressive as the suave super-spy.  However the plot is extremely confusing and it is often hard to follow.  You really need to keep your wits about you the entire time, there is not much humour, and the dialogue is full of complex exposition.  It also has an air of coldness and detachment about the whole thing, which makes it hard to engage with the characters.  It is still worth seeing, though,  because when it is good, it is very very good, and there are times when it is an extremely exciting, complex thriller.

Robert Pattinson and John David Washington in Tenet 

Dunkirk

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Christopher Nolan
Screenplay:  Christopher Nolan
Starring:  Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy
Running Time:  106 minutes
Genre:  War

This Second World War film deals with the Dunkirk evacuation where 400,000 Allied soldiers were rescued from the beaches of France in 1940.  It deals with three narratives set over three different time frames.  British soldier, Tommy (Whitehead) is one of those waiting for rescue, constantly under threat from bombs and torpedoes. Civilian sailor Dawson( Rylance), his son and employee make the dangerous crossing across the English channel to help with the evacuation.  Two Spitfire pilots try to fend off enemy bombers.

This is a gritty, visceral, intense experience.  It's more like an experimental film with very little dialogue or even story.  It's all about the viewing experience, and this is a film that needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible.  The cast, which include pop singer Harry Styles in his first major acting role, are impressive with very little to work with.  Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance provide the noble stiff-upper-lip speeches. This is an unusual war film in that the enemy is barely glimpsed, aside from a fighter plane you never see a German soldier, or catch a glimpse of Nazi imagery.  The characters are under threat from an unseen enemy, with attacks coming out of nowhere.  Also the soldiers are not selfless heroes.  In fact, they are often decidedly unheroic and often unlikable.  I couldn't say I enjoyed this film, but I admired it a great deal.