Why You Can't Hear The Dialogue in Tenet

After Tenet, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and The Dark Knight Rises, people have complained about not being able to hear or understand some lines of dialogue in Christopher Nolan's films. In this video, I look at the explanations Nolan has given, and who is right, Nolan or the audience.

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00:00 Intro: "What did they say?
00:59 I. "Don't try to hear it, feel it."
03:10 II. Nolan's Response
06:54 III. A Controlling Interest in Snobbery
08:41 IV. Two Sides of The Coin

[FishfaceTheDestroyer]

"Nolan, people are complaining they can't understand Bane."
"I'll give them something to complain about."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
[inaudible]

[crapcase]

"Just use subtitles if you can't hear it"
Subtitles: ["Quiet talking"]

[KailoVT]

i feel like that scene where he's in the art safe room, the music overpowering the speech slowly was like showing us that whatever the guide was saying didn't matter at all, they wanted us to pay attention to the details that were shown instead of listening to what was said.

[milo]

I saw tenet in imax and still couldn't understand far too many important lines. And my biggest issue is that issue of not knowing whether a line is supposed to be able to be heard or not

[frankbauerful]

Nolan is working on a years long meta project to show us the suffering of Beethoven as he gradually lost his hearing.

[forceofnature]

The reason Nolan was so mad about movies coming directly to streaming services was because they would have subtitles by default

[theelephantintheroom]

I think the dialogue in Interstellar and Dunkirk was a realism technique to make you feel more immersed in the scene; there's a lot of loud noises so naturally you should have a hard time hearing the pilots in Dunkirk or Tars and the car passengers in Interstellar. But in Tenet I don't know why they aren't trying to achieve realism or anything like that. The boat scene might make sense if they weren't wearing MICROPHONES THAT INTEND TO HELP EACH OTHER HEAR THEIR VOICES BETTER FOR THIS VERY REASON.

[sergarlantyrell]

I think it should also be remembered that in the mixing process, when they're listinging to a line 10 or 100 times, the people working on the film know what the characters are saying, so it's easier for them to distinguish what they say in the final product. For audiences listening to it for the first time, it's a different issue entirely and I don't think Nolan has yet grasped that.

[kylev.]

Why couldn't Nolan just come out and say "Yo I'm sorry, I just really wanted yall to experience this fire soundtrack"

[therantingboy]

That scene when the art guy is explaining the vault always seemed deliberate to me, like we're concentrating on R Pats thinking about the job and almost zoning out the detail cos he's too busy scoping the layout

[JeJe-mzgg]

That's crazy, I never knew about this because, as a non native english speaker, I watch my movie with english subtitle. I thought I understood it clearly, but I didn't.

You made me realise that I probably have a complete different experience than the people complaining about it.

Thank you for all the amazing video you give us, you realy help expanding my perspective and knowledge about filmmaking.

[hippocheese]

I watched Tenet 3 times in Showcase XPLUS - great 4K laser projector, and excellent speakers with crystal clear sound. The dialogue was incredibly difficult to understand and the repeat viewings did not make it easier.
Why did I watch it so many times? I LOVED the score lol.

[AllegoryGar]

That scene with Robert Pattinson is just beautiful, it reminds me of that feeling when you are just zoning out on something else and just slowly stop listening halfway into a conversation. It’s so good.

[pachicore]

"Dialogue is a sound effect"

*super loud score plays whilst people talk in a quiet building*

[thecuddlysatan]

The biggest irony is, I can hear the sound better at my home compared to the theatre - where Nolan wants you to watch it.

You're doing a great job of getting people back to theatres, Nolan.

[cesarrocks]

In Sin City there is a word that someone shouts that is vital for the story but you can't hear it because the other character in that scene couldn't hear it, it is later revealed what that word was and in that moment the main character realises they fucked up and that it could have been avoided provided he had understood what was being shouted at him previously

[mauricioruiz]

Nolan: *makes audio inaudible*
Me, a non-native speaker who can't fully understand english: (laughs in subtitles)

[shuckLedurkins]

Because of reverse entropy, the sounds are leaving our ears and going into their mouth

[zlobzor]

Sadly, while mixing things to only work with "top end" cinemas, Nolan is also ignoring another important aspect - People with hearing problems.
Many people have mild to moderate hearing problems, which aren't otherwise an issue to people.
Nolan is effectively deliberately excluding them from the cinimatic experience.

Fair enough, making things specifically difficult to hear for a choice. General dialogue should be audible.

[nimblybimbly]

I appreciate when creators consider how their audience will experience their art. For example, Dave Grohl said about mixing his records that he would get them how he wanted them in the studio and then listen to them on crappy car stereos to be sure they sound good there too, because that's how most people will listen. He acknowledges that not everyone can enjoy his music on studio quality speakers and I would appreciate if Nolan would acknowledge that not everyone can watch his movies in a perfectly aligned Imax theater.