The film follows a CIA agent who joins a mysterious organization to stop a madman in unleashing the end of the world through time travel as he learns how to manipulate the flow of time and help the madman’s wife in retrieving her son. It is a film that is filled with complexities as it play into the idea of time paradoxes and the flow of time where this agent finds himself dealing with not just these mysterious figures including another agent but also other people whom he has to battle. Christopher Nolan’s screenplay is filled with a lot of complexities but also a narrative that explores this unnamed figure that is known mainly as the Protagonist (John David Washington) who is first seen in a mission at a concert hall in Kyiv to retrieve an object and then he sees something where it was largely a test for him where he joins this secret organization. He meets his handler Neil (Robert Pattinson) who is often vague about what he knows as they target this Russian oligarch named Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh).
In order to get to Sator, the Protagonist and Neil approach his estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) to get close to him in the hope she can regain regular contact with their son whom she is unable to see often. She agrees to help them as it involves all sorts of objects that they need to retrieve yet the script is also filled with a lot of exposition into the world that these characters are in as it relates to inverted objects that rewind into an object and all of these ideas of time paradoxes. It is an aspect of the film that isn’t just overwhelming but it does drag the story at times as there are moments where scenes are recreated from another perspective in its third act as it play into the idea of past, present, and future but Nolan does make it confusing at times.
Nolan’s direction is definitely vast as it is shot on multiple locations such as Oslo, Mumbai, the Almafi coast in Italy, Estonia, Denmark, Britain, and the U.S. including some studio-created sets shot in Los Angeles. Nolan creates a world that is vast as it opens at a music hall where a concert performance is happening and then a group of terrorists come in and terrorize everyone leading to a battle between terrorists and the military yet the Protagonist is part of a group that is trying to do something else and fight off whoever they can. It is definitely a great way to start the film as there is a lot happening but it also reveals what the Protagonist is encountering when he sees a bullet hole disappear all of a sudden as if it never appeared. Nolan also include a lot of wide shots of buildings and these large windmills as it play into the world that the Protagonist is a part of where he goes to India to meet a mysterious arms dealer in Priya Singh (Dimple Kapadia) who serves as the mastermind of her business with her husband Sanjay (Denzil Smith) as its face. The film also feature these dazzling stunts and fight choreography in the way Nolan presents this world where things move forward and backward as if it is a dance of sorts. Even in some of the intimate fights where Nolan uses medium shots and close-ups as there is a lot of attention to detail in what is being shown.
Nolan’s usage of wide and medium shots play a lot into the scope of the film as well as how big the world the Protagonist and his cohorts encounter as well as in some of the locations that include coastal ports and windmills in the middle of the sea. The close-ups do play into some of the intimate moments but also in some suspenseful moments but the film does drag in scenes that do involve lots of exposition as it does get overbearing and confusing at times. The film’s third act is essentially a recreation of scenes from the first half of the film but it play into a different perspective for the Protagonist as well as others as it play into the ideas of fate and reality. Even for those who feel trapped by their own reality and need a way to make sure that they can control the future without having to control the future of others. Overall, Nolan crafts an exhilarating yet clunky film about a secret agent going on a mission that involves time paradoxes and the fate of the world.
Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its wondrous approach to natural lighting for some of the daytime exterior scenes of these vast locations as well as some stylish usage of lights for many of the scenes at night. Editor Jennifer Lame does brilliant work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts, montages, and other stylish cuts to play into the sense of confusion and chaos that looms throughout the film. Production designer Nathan Crowley, with set decorators Emmanuel Delis, Kathy Lucas, and Anna Pinnock plus art directors Toby Britton, Rory Bruen, Eggert Ketilsson, and Jenne Lee, does amazing work with the look of some of the places that the characters go to including some of the factories that Sator owns as well as buildings and such for some of the film’s elaborate set pieces. Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does fantastic work with the costumes from some of the stylish clothing that Kat wears to the tailor-made suits that the Protagonist and Neil wear as well as some of the clothes that Sator wears.
Special makeup effects artists Toni Bisset and Melanie Askamit do terrific work with some of the scars and such for some of the characters in the violence they encounter. Special effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher, along with digital/visual effects supervisors Andrew Jackson, David Lee, and Andrew Lockley, does excellent work with the visual effects in its emphasis to look and feel real in the highway chase scene as well as the battle scene in its third act. Sound designers Richard King and Kathie Talbot do superb work with the sound in the way objects sound though it often clashes with the score as it overwhelms the dialogue at times. The film’s music by Ludwig Gorransson is wonderful for its mixture of hypnotic electronic music with bombastic orchestral swells to play into the suspense and drama though it could’ve been mixed down as the soundtrack also features an unnecessary and awful piece by Travis Scott in the film’s final credits.
The casting by John Papsidera is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Denzil Smith as Priya’s husband Sanjay who is the face of an arms trafficking business, Laurie Shepherd as Kat and Sator’s son Max, Jack Cutmore-Scott as a storage facility manager named Klaus, Yuri Kolokolnikov as Sator’s bodyguard Volkov, Martin Donovan as the Protagonist’s CIA boss Fay, Clemence Poesy as a scientist named Barbara who introduces the Protagonist to the concept of inverted bullets, Fiona Dourif as a military officer who is part of a task force as she also does some exposition, Himesh Patel as a wise-cracking fixer named Mahir, and Michael Caine in a one-scene appearance as a British intelligence officer in Sir Michael Crosby who provides some information to the Protagonist as well as what he would face.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is excellent as the military commander Ives who knows about the idea of time paradoxes and such where he helps out the Protagonist and Neil while also having some motives of his own. Dimple Kapadia is fantastic as Priya Singh as an arms trafficker dealer who is part of a secret organization as she gives the Protagonist clues on what he will face but also has her own interests into Sator’s plans in the hope that she can benefit from whatever the Protagonist does to stop Sator. Kenneth Branagh is brilliant as Andrei Sator as this Russian businessman who deals in illegal businesses as he also has the power to manipulate time as he is hoping to profit from this as he has extremely personal reasons to end the world no matter the cost.
Elizabeth Debicki is amazing as Sator’s estranged wife Kat as a woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage as she decides to help the Protagonist and Neil in stopping her husband in the hopes she can see her son much more as it is a performance full of complexities and emotional gravitas. Robert Pattinson is incredible as Neil as the Protagonist’s handler who helps the Protagonist with the missions while also knowing things that the Protagonist doesn’t know as it relates to time paradoxes and such where Pattinson brings some wit into his performance. Finally, there’s John David Washington in a phenomenal performance as the Protagonist as this unnamed CIA agent who takes part in a mission where he finds himself learning to manipulate time but also deal with all of these complexities as it is a performance full of intensity and determination despite some of the confusing aspects of the script.
Tenet is a remarkable yet overwrought film from Christopher Nolan. While it does feature some incredible visuals, amazing stunt work, a great ensemble cast, and some chilling music pieces. It is a film that has a lot to offer in terms of its action and suspense yet it tries to be complex for its own good where its emphasis on exposition tends to drag the film as well as be confusing. In the end, Tenet is a marvelous yet flawed film from Christopher Nolan.
Christopher Nolan Films: Following (1998 film) - Memento - Insomnia - Batman Begins - The Prestige - The Dark Knight - Inception - The Dark Knight Rises - Interstellar - Dunkirk - Oppenheimer - The Auteurs #13: Christopher Nolan
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Based on the autobiographical novel Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth, BlacKkKlansman is the real-life story about detective Ron Stallworth who manages to infiltrate a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white detective as its face. Directed by Spike Lee and screenplay by Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charles Wachtel, and Kevin Willmott, the film is a look into how an African-American detective in Colorado somehow infiltrated a local chapter of the white supremacist group and eventually be a head of one of its chapters with John David Washington starring in the role of Stallworth Also starring Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Corey Hawkins, Robert John Burke, Harry Belafonte, and Alec Baldwin as Dr. Kennebrew Beaureguard. BlacKkKlansman is a rapturous and witty film from Spike Lee.
Set in 1972, the film is about the real-life story of rookie cop Ron Stallworth who becomes the first African-American officer to work for the local precinct at Colorado Springs, Colorado where he would move up to intelligence where he finds himself making contact with a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. It’s a film that play into this man who would find himself be part of the notorious white supremacist group as he and another undercover officer in Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) would both play this man wanting to join the KKK in Stallworth’s name. The film’s screenplay does take a few dramatic liberties as the real-life events took place in 1979 yet given the context of the times and the struggle for black identity in the early 1970s. The script does play into this tension that is looming with Stallworth in the middle as a man who just wants to be a good cop and protect all kinds of people.
While he would encounter some racism from a fellow cop who likes to bust other African-Americans in Colorado Springs, Stallworth knows when to not say anything as he is given an opportunity to make a difference in the local precinct. While he knows when to keep his mouth shut, Stallworth would eventually get some serious work as an undercover officer where he first attends a student rally where civil rights leader Kwame Ture (Corey Hawkins) was speaking to see if Ture is planning something that could cause trouble. Stallworth would get his first serious assignment when he answers an ad from the Ku Klux Klan where he talks in a Caucasian accent as he would fool several leaders but knows that he needs a white face to get in. Zimmerman does it despite the fact that he’s Jewish as he takes Stallworth’s name as he would meet the local chapter’s leader Walter Breachway (Ryan Eggold) as well as the psychotic Felix Kendrickson (Jasper Paakkonen). Through their frequent contacts, Stallworth would eventually get to chat on the phone with KKK’s grand wizard in David Duke (Topher Grace).
Much of the film’s second and third act has Stallworth and Zimmerman play as the former to the meetings with the latter having to attend meetings and at shooting ranges as well as the ceremony during the film’s third act. The film does have elements of humor in some of the dialogue as the script doesn’t just play into this idea of how idiotic some of the people in the KKK are but also how it parallels with events that are happening in the 21st Century including this rhetoric of making America great again. It would play into a moment in the film as its climax involves Duke’s appearance at this event but also plans to disrupt an event nearby held by Colorado College’s black student union president Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) whom Stallworth is embarking on a relationship with.
Spike Lee’s direction is gripping for the way he plays up this idea of white power as it opens with a scene of Dr. Kennebrew Beaureguard making a scientific explanation about the dangers of racial integration while using images from films like Gone with the Wind and Birth of a Nation as examples as it would inspire these ideas of white supremacy with African-Americans, Jews, and other racial/ethnic groups as inferior. Shot on location in Ossining, New York as Colorado Springs with some exteriors shot at Colorado Springs, Colorado, the film does play into this small town that is like any other town in America but with this undercurrent of rampant racism that is emerging. Lee would use some wide shots for the locations but also create something that is also intimate with the medium shots and close-ups. Even in some striking compositions and stylistic shots in the way he play into people meeting with one another as well as some of the humor that is created in scenes that has Stallworth talking the KKK on the phone as if he wants to join.
Lee’s direction also play up into the idea of Blaxploitation as an idea of African-American identity as well as the fascination of African-American culture from a few of Stallworth’s colleagues including Zimmerman who is a big fan of Willie Mays. While the character of Dumas is someone who has legit reasons for her disdain for cops, she is forced to listen to reason from Stallworth as well as be aware that not all white cops are bad. Especially as someone like Zimmerman has to listen to anti-Semitic rhetoric from Kendrickson and take it though Zimmerman admits to not acting Jewish or practicing Judaism yet does feel the need to stand up to this idea of hate. The film’s climax is unique in the way Lee presents these two different meetings where one involves the KKK and the other meeting involving black students as there’s a great contrast to how they conduct themselves and such.
The film does have an epilogue as it relates to the KKK and how it’s managed to transform into something bigger and more dangerous where despite Stallworth’s effort to make fools out of them and reveal what they’re about. Little has changed with more now trying to stop this idea of hate and bigotry from a group of people who have nothing good to offer to the world. Overall, Lee creates an entertaining yet gripping film about an African-American police officer who would find his way into the Ku Klux Klan and discover the inner-workings of the hateful organization.
Cinematographer Chayse Irvin does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it emphasizes on low-key colors for many of the film’s interior and exterior settings with much of the former using some stylish lights to play into the look that is similar to 1970s cinema. Editor Barry Alexander Brown does brilliant work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts, dissolves, and some split-screen cuts to play into Stallworth’s conversation with Duke on the phone as it help create some comic effects into their conversations. Production designer Curt Beech, with set decorator Cathy T. Marshall and art director Marci Mudd, does amazing work with the look of the police building interiors as well as some of the local places including the home of Kendrickson with his collection of guns and stuff including a lie detector machine as well as the look of the hall where Duke has his ceremony. Costume designer Marci Rodgers does fantastic work with the period costumes that is set in the 70s from the stylish look of Dumas and other students as well as the more ragged look that some of the KKK members wear aside from the KKK robes.
Hair stylist Shaun Perkins, along with makeup artists Janine JP Parrella and Yasmina Smith-Tyson, does wonderful work with the hairstyles and look of the characters as it play into the world of the 1970s including the look of David Duke in the 1970s with his mustache. Visual effects supervisor Randall Balsmeyer does terrific work with the visual effects as it is appears on a few set pieces including in the montage of close-ups during Ture’s speech. Sound editor Philip Stockton does superb work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of some of the meetings and rallies as well as some of the intense moments at Kendrickson’s home and in the film’s climax in how the meetings are presented. The film’s music by Terence Blanchard is incredible for its usage of jazz and funk with elements of soul as it help play into the times as it also includes an orchestral piece that play into the drama while music supervisor Rochelle Claerbaut provides a soundtrack that features an array of diverse music from Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, the Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the Temptations, Looking Glass, and a traditional music piece performed by Prince.
The casting by Kim Coleman is great as it feature some notable small roles from Isiah Whitlock Jr. as an African-American official in Mr. Turrentine who works with the police to meet with Stallworth, Nicholas Turturro as a bomb maker named Walker, Frederick Weller as the racist cop Landers, Ashlie Atkinson as Kendrickson’s wife Connie who also hates African-Americans, Michael Buscemi as a cop in Jimmy Creek who helps out Stallworth and Zimmerman, Ken Garito as Sgt. Trapp whom Stallworth and Zimmerman report to as he gets a kick out of Stallworth’s conversations with Duke, and Robert John Burke as Chief Bridges as the Colorado Springs police chief who wants to ensure that Stallworth stays out of trouble as he wants to make sure things go well. The cameo appearances from Alec Baldwin and Harry Belafonte in their respective roles as Dr. Kennebrew Beaureguard and Jerome Turner are superb to play into some of the historical context in what is at stake as Baldwin’s performance is sort of played for laughs while Belafonte is more reserved in how he talks about what African-Americans endured after the Civil War with lynching being common in those days.
Ryan Eggold is terrific as Walter Breachway as the local chapter head of the KKK in Colorado Springs who would be the first to contact Stallworth unaware of his true identity as he’s a more level-headed person who wants nothing to go wrong. Paul Walter Hauser is fantastic as the dim-witted Ivanhoe as a KKK member who often says dumb things while always saying some unintentionally funny stuff. Jasper Paakkonen is excellent as Felix Kendrickson as a wildcard member of the KKK who is always suspicious of those who want to join the KKK as it’s a darkly comical performance that is full of energy and wit. Corey Hawkins is brilliant in his small role as civil rights activist Kwame Ture as a man who wants to help his community though he is aware of the police brutality that he and others are dealing with but also hoping to make some kind of change. Topher Grace is amazing as David Duke as the infamous Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who is trying to make the organization look friendlier but also has this dark idea of what he wants America to be like.
Laura Harrier is marvelous as Patrice Dumas as a student union president for Colorado College as she is trying to get people together to rally against some of the oppression other students face while starting to become less political upon meeting Stallworth as she shows a more human side. Adam Driver is incredible as Flip Zimmerman as a Jewish cop who becomes Stallworth’s face in his infiltration of the KKK where he gets a closer look to what he sees as well as be disturbed by its idea of hate. Finally, there’s John David Washington in a phenomenal breakthrough performance as Ron Stallworth as an African-American rookie cop who finds an ad from the KKK and ends up infiltrating the KKK via phone as it’s a charismatic and grounded performance where he provides some humor but also an idea of what is at stake for himself and everyone who just wants to bring good to the world.
BlacKkKlansman is a tremendous film from Spike Lee that features great performances from John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace. Along with its ensemble cast, stylish visuals, compelling script, and an incredible music score and soundtrack. It’s a film that captures a moment in time when an African-American would find himself in an organization that provides hate and fear in the hope he can put a stop to them even if it’s something small despite the fact that it would escalate into something far worse. Notably as it’s a film that showcases what hate can bring and how a man is willing to put a stop to it for the good of the world. In the end, BlacKkKlansman is a magnificent film from Spike Lee.
Related: Birth of a Nation
Spike Lee Films: (She’s Gotta Have It) – (School Daze) – Doing the Right Thing - Mo' Better Blues - Jungle Fever - (Malcolm X) – Crooklyn - (Clockers) – (Girl 6) – (Get on the Bus) – 4 Little Girls - (He Got Game) – Freak - Summer of Sam - (The Original Kings of Comedy) – (Bamboozled) – (A Huey P. Newton Story) – 25th Hour - (Jim Brown: All-American) – (She Hate Me) – (Inside Man) – (When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts) – (Miracle at St. Anna) – (Kobe Doin’ Work) – (Passing Strange) – (If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise) – (Red Hook Summer) – Bad 25 - Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth - (Oldboy (2013 film)) – (Da Blood of Jesus) – (Chiraq) – Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall - Da 5 Bloods - (American Utopia)
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