Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Tenet - Christopher Nolen Makes Me Write Again!

I don't know a lot about Christopher Nolen, but every time I see one of his movies I feel compelled to write; proof that he has pressed my thinking button into overdrive.

Every one the following movies have depth and I have found them full thought provoking concepts within fun story-telling entertainment:

The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012), The Prestige (2006), and Inception (2010),  Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), and now...... Tenet (2020).  (all links to wikipedia)

The latest is Tenet.... it is a brain warper for sure. Critics have mostly panned it because it is very confusing.... but I think the enjoyment of the movie is to be willing for some elements to be explained IN TIME and a willingness to accept some elements unexplained.... it adds to the majesty of the concepts to be left wanting... a humble admiration of the possibility that not all things live within our control.

When I particularly consider Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet I am reminded when a PhD in Physics told me that current theories in Physics support the idea of God more than almost any realm of science. "To be honest, Biology is the only holdout" he told me without much fanfare.

The basic story line of Tenet is that some people in the future have decided to wage war on the past and figured out how to make linear time go from Z to A and it creates an alternate, parallel reality that invades or intersects the present reality that moves forward, A to Z.   Objects and actions work in reverse and creates opportunities to observe actions, ;earn, and undo them.

This is a very brief synopsis of the movie, that it doesn't do the complicated plot justice.

There is a depth to Nolen's story telling that makes me think he has a lot to say about human existence, relationships, core values, and meaning... I bet he would be a great dinner conversation.

When I think about Tenet, I think about the reversal of the curse through the gospel.

Genesis Chapter 3 is a tragedy on epic proportions. The failure of Adam and the accompanying curse is a seismic event with centuries of shock waves.... blood, sweat, enmity, thorns, pain, and death result from the rebellion and explains the state of decay and entropy.

The 2nd Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ... took all of that cup of wrath on the cross... He bled, He wore a crown of thorns, He cried and dropped beads of sweat in agony, He bore the weight of enmity, and died on the cross.

And then on His resurrection, he set in action a reversal of the curse that will result in all things being made new in time.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27] For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28] When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:21–28 ESV)