The Secrets of Tenet: Inside Christopher Nolan's Quantum Cold War

by James Mottram, John David Washington (Contributor), Kenneth Branagh (Contributor)

Discover the secrets of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet with this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at 2020’s most anticipated film. 

In 2020, director Christopher Nolan returns with Tenet, an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage. This deluxe book takes fans through the full creative journey that brought Tenet to the screen, from the genesis of Nolan’s uniquely imaginative script to the cutting-edge techniques used to realize the film’s innovative action sequences. Featuring exclusive interviews with the director and his crew, including producer Emma Thomas and production designer Nathan Crowley, The Making of Tenet is a can’t-miss companion to Nolan’s thrilling new masterpiece.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

156 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2020

Reviews

[Space · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was super cool to get a look behind the scenes of this movie and see how much effort went into making some of the magic happen. Like flipping the differential on the Audi and sending the computer chip to the manufacturer to have them remove all the safety features so they could drive the car in "reverse" at 60+ MPH? Wow. Little secrets like that make me put books down and just think deeply about what I just read for a few moments. The fact that the megayacht they used at Sator's yacht cost upwards of a hundred million dollars? Two rooms'-worth of carpet were over a million? Dear God.

Anyway, there are a ton of really crisp, beautiful pictures, and a lot of little anecdotes and quotes from the actors and crew throughout. It's well worth the read. I read it over a vacation my wife and I took. More of a weekend getaway after my birthday. We were holed up in this little bed and breakfast for a few days while I recovered from a cold, so I just sat and read most of the time. I was happy to have this book there.

The reason I wanted it was because Chris Nolan is my favorite director. I love his films and have watched them all many times. I love the way his mind works, and always look forward to seeing his new projects come to life. Tenet was no different. When I caught wind of its coming out, I started getting excited. I planned to take my dad with me to see it on opening night - July 17 - for my dad's birthday. Of course, the pandy got in the way and shut all the theaters down. So I had to wait until September. That was tough.

I took my girls to see it with me instead. And two showings cost me a hundred dollars. Which is fine. It's supporting the filmmakers. And the theaters. I don't want theaters to go out of business. I really don't. So I like to spend money to support the things I believe in and hopefully keep them cranking out more entertainment for years to come. It's my small contribution to the art. Well, this book is in keeping with that. I know that its purchase helps Chris Nolan and his team to recover a lot of that cost he incurred making the film - and then had to sit back and watch the theaters all close down.

If you like mind-bender movies, definitely give this one a watch, or two. Or three. I'm on my fourth viewing now, and think I'll have to see it several more times to really grasp everything that's going on. It's incredibly complex. But this book opened my eyes to a lot of small details that I can watch out for on my next few viewings.

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best movie ever!!!!

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m in the very small minority of people who regard Tenet as one of the great movies of the decade. I disliked it the first time I saw it, loved it the second, and continue to admire it more and more with each viewing. So this book was a treat for me, getting a glimpse into the making of the film. It goes basically chronologically through the lengthy, complicated process of creating the movie. I already enjoyed the practical effects in Tenet, but the book revealed more of the extent of how much was practical, some of which was very surprising. Details about the freeway chase scene were especially fascinating. In most of the movie, there’s a lot more going on than simply playing footage in reverse to portray the inverted chronological flow. The many solutions the crew devised to visualize complex ideas about time are really fun to learn about.

As with all behind-the-scenes books about movies, I wish for even more content. But The Secrets of Tenet is an excellent start to going further into this wonderful film.

[alexander shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenet surprised me. The trailer made it seem like the generic action movie, with some cool new film effect stunts, or like a very mind-bending, confusing, movie, like Interstellar (needless to say the 'aha' I felt when I read that Christopher Nolan was the director for that movie and this one). But I finally caved and watched it, and actually really enjoyed it. Granted I didn't follow every bit of it, but the concept in general and Nolan's execution of it was really neat, to the point that I want to watch the movie in reverse and see if everything still tracks.

This book explains the hardships they faced in creating a movie like this, especially with the timeline and the large effects like the plane running into the building. A lot of what you would think was CGI actually wasn't, and the amount of money and negotiating they had to do to be able to use real things was astronomical. A neat look into the making of the movie, so not your typical 'art of' book where it focuses on concept art and the like.

I think the only thing I was hoping for was a little more background on the movie; it's said this has been an idea existing in Nolan's brain for years, in vague form that finally coalesced into this project. But it would have been neat to have more of Nolan's process as he wrote the script itself, in addition to the making of the actual movie. A lot of things in here are also brushed over as being difficult/hard, "but eventually it worked out"--but how? So many roadblocks and issues come up that, especially on a movie like this, I wanted to know how they solved it.

[Luke McGartland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tenet is arguably the most technically sophisticated film ever to be made with "traditional" film-making techniques (think the exotic locations, enormous sets, practical effects/stunts, and the process of shooting and editing over 1.6 million feet of 65mm film itself). While this book doesn't go much further beyond the snippets of interviews with the cast and crew you can find already find online, the bits that do highlight and explain the craftsmanship that went into perhaps Nolan's most inaccessible, erudite film.

Notes on the hardcover edition: While the title of this book on the jacket is gibberish marketing, the book binding and foreward/backward are nice thematic touches. Will be mesmerized by the art described here and Ludwig Goransson's score until I can safely rewatch Tenet (hopefully in IMAX as it deserves to be seen).

[Elien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read my share of behind-the-scenes books, and this one was very informative and detailed, and certainly within a movie like TENET that's exactly what I wanted. Every major sequence and production department gets the deep dive, and I loved that.

[Bello · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Nolan film and his most ambitious yet. It was great to see the bts of the filming of this masterpiece. From all the locations to the explanations of brilliant decisions made by Nolan and his whole team in terms of directing. Brilliant book and film.

[Zachary Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally, a book that explains tenet. just kidding.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esperaba más sobre el trabajo de planificación. Es cierto que la escena del trailer está muy bien explicada pero esperaba más.