TENET trivia | 60 facts about Christopher Nolan’s movie

TENET is the new Christopher Nolan’s movie that has just premiered in the cinemas.

So, let’s find out more about the film that everyone seems to be talking about- TENET!

1. Tenet is a 2020 spy film.
2. Tenet is written and directed by Christopher Nolan.
3. Nolan is also the producer of the movie along with Emma Thomas.
4. A co-production between the United Kingdom and United States, it stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh.
5. The plot follows a secret agent who must manipulate time in order to prevent World War III.
6. Nolan took more than five years to write the screenplay.
7. Actually, he conceived the idea over the last 20 years, but focused on writing it the last 6-7.
8. The title is a palindrome, reading the same backwards as forwards.
9. The word ‘Tenet’ presumably originated from the Sator Square – a word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome that dates back to the ruins of Pompeii.
10. The puzzle is a five-by-five square made up of five 5-letter words written in five lines: SATOR, AREPO, TENET, OPERA, and ROTAS. In every direction the square is rotated, these five words appear both horizontally and vertically – a property that fits the time inversion feature of the film.
11. It is also notable that Kenneth Branagh’s character is named Sator and the opening sequence takes places in an opera house.
12. Nolan made a conscious effort to abstain from any influence of the spy genre other than his own memory.
13. Spaghetti Western Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) inspired his screenwriting.
14. Special effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher watched World War II movies and documentaries to find reference points for realism.
15. Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who worked with Nolan on Interstellar (2014), was consulted on the subjects of time and quantum physics.
16. Casting began in March 2019.
17. Principal photography, involved a crew of 250 people^.
18. It began in May 2019 and took place in seven countries^.
19. The countries were the following ones: – Denmark, Estonia,India,Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and United States.
20. Filming in Estonia happened in June and July, with the Linnahall, Pärnu Highway, and adjacent streets closed to facilitate it.
21. Kumu Art Museum doubled as the fictional “Oslo freeport”
22. Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart expressed concerns about potential disruptions as the original shooting schedule required that the arterial Laagna Road be closed for one month.
23. Production eventually reached a compromise involving temporary road closures and detours.
24. Scenes were shot in Ravello, Italy and Hampstead, England at Cannon Hall late August^.
25. On the roof of the Oslo Opera House and at The Thief hotel in Tjuvholmen, Norway, and in Rødbyhavn, Denmark at Nysted Wind Farm were filmed in early September.
26. A five-day shoot occurred later that month in Mumbai, where Nolan had traveled in February and April for location scouting.
27. He decided on Breach Candy Hospital, Cafe Mondegar, Colaba Causeway, Colaba Market, Gateway of India, Grant Road, Royal Bombay Yacht Club, and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. A restaurant set named “Chaand” was built near the hotel,  but never used, serving only as an alternative.
28. Forty boats were positioned at the Gateway of India, where the crew also rescued a man who had attempted suicide.
29. A stunt where someone jumps off a building was done in Grant Road, and a helicopter was applied for aerial footage of the hospital
30. They proceeded to Victorville, California soon after, disguising it as Oslo, and worked with more than ninety extras.
31. Instead of using miniatures and visual effects (VFX) for a plane crash sequence, Nolan determined that purchasing a Boeing 747 proved more cost effective.
32. October saw them in a desert outside Palm Springs, where an abandoned city had been constructed and hundreds were clothed in military camouflage uniforms.
33. Segments that concerned “time inversion” were captured both in backward and forward mobility.
34. The windfarm vessel Iceni Revenge was brought into play in Denmark, Estonia, and Italy for a total of three months.^[57]
35. The principal photography took place in Denmark, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and United States, starting in May 2019.
36. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot on 70 mm and IMAX.
37. Its premiere was delayed 3 times. due to coronavirus pandemic.
38. Tenet was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2020, and is scheduled to launch in the United States on September 3, 2020, in IMAX, 35 mm, and 70 mm.
39. The film received positive reviews from critics.
40. Critics compared it to Nolan’s Inception and praised the cast’s performances, though some lamented the confusing plot and impassive tone.
41. Tom Cruise attended the premiere of the movie in London, and later posted on Instagram a video writing the following caption: Big movie. Big screen. Loved it.
42. Robert Pattinson told USA Today that he was only allowed to read the script once, in a locked room at Warner Bros. studios.
43. His co-star Michael Caine wasn’t even allowed to read the entire script. He was only given his scenes to read before shooting. Prior to the film’s release, Caine told press that he had no idea what the movie was about, despite being a close friend and a frequent collaborator of director Christopher Nolan.
44. Composer Ludwig Göransson was about to begin orchestral sessions for the film’s score when the United States shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
45. As a result, the soundtrack was completed by putting together individual recordings of the musicians in their homes.
46. Robert Pattinson stated that he took inspiration for his character’s accent, intonation, and mannerisms from English-American author and journalist Christopher Hitchens.
47. After being offered the lead role in the film, John David Washington read the screenplay in director Christopher Nolan’s locked office at Warner Bros. studios.
48. It took him around five hours to finish reading it because he kept flipping back and forth “in pure amazement.”
49. The eighth film directed by Christopher Nolan to feature Michael Caine, including a voice cameo in Dunkerk(2017).
50. In addition to performing stunts backwards, the main cast actually learned how to speak in reverse for their roles.
51. Kenneth Branagh not only had to learn to speak backwards, but also had to do it with a Russian accent while he is Irish in real life.
52. One of director Christopher Nolan’s filmmaking traditions is to gather his cast and crew together before production begins and screen movies that served as inspiration to the project they’re working on together. For this film, however, Nolan intentionally broke his longstanding tradition and didn’t host any screenings.
53. He did that because he wanted the cast and crew to work from a feeling and memory of the spy genre (including the James Bond films), as opposed to trying to recreate them.
54. Composer Ludwig Göransson incorporated Christopher Nolan’s own breathing as part of the score used around Kenneth Branagh’s villainous character.
55. The sound was achieved with Nolan breathing very heavily into a microphone, and Göransson manipulating it into uncomfortable and raspy sounds.
56. The initial meeting between director Christopher Nolan and Robert Pattinson lasted three hours.
57. Robert Pattinson explained that by the end of the meeting he had a massive blood sugar drop because they had been talking so much and he had been concentrating so hard. He asked Nolan for a chocolate that was on the table in front of them, and then the director immediately ended the meeting. Pattinson thought that he had ruined his opportunity to have a part in the film.
58. Elizabeth Debicki insisted on auditioning for her role, despite director Christopher Nolan offering her the part without one. It was important to her to know that she could do what he was looking for, and according to the director she came in and blew everyone away.
59. A 40-second long surprise teaser trailer was shown in select US cinemas before IMAX screenings of Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) starting on August 1, 2019. The teaser was later attached to Joker (2019) in October. Filming had begun in May and would not wrap until November 2019.
60. Although many film productions were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Christopher Nolan was able to complete post-production in more or less the same way he normally would. A rough cut of the film was finished before the lockdown came into place, and further editing was completed in Nolan’s edit suit in his Los Angeles home.