TENET - Nolan Has An Exposition Problem

The exposition in tenet wasn't an issue for me because I couldn't understand a word they were saying.

Michael Caine is now officially typecast by Nolan as “refined exposition gentleman”

Tenet is seriously flawed but the "that would be bad, right" response to the particles colliding-annhilation was definitely humour not a failed exposition and the delivery made it clear.

TENET: 90% thinking THE ARRIVAL: 90% feeling

"TENET" made me truly appreciate how well "Inception" laid out its rules without drowning us in them.

"I want to focus on three films: Inception (shows Michael Caine), Interstellar (shows Michael Caine) and Tenet (shows Michael Caine),"

This is why Dunkirk is my favourite Nolan film. I don't know whether it's his best, but it's the one most suited to his skills (and which - perhaps more importantly - avoids his weaknesses).

I think the Arthur “paradox” line is just supposed to be a fun callback, not really delivering exposition. But I agree with all of your other points.

The "including my son" line actually made me chuckle in the cinema

It's also getting silly how they often change the scenery to something more exotic when deliver exposition. Like mid sentence a character goes "hey, let's go downtown to the opera house and continue our discussion there".

Many years ago, when The Dark Knight came out, I had a conversation with a friend about how almost every single character in every Nolan film is an exposition machine. I love his filmmaking style, but nearly all of his characters explain what's happening in the movie whenever they're on screen. Which is wild to me, because he's clearly a film buff who gets how film works, and as such should trust his audience to interpret what's happening on screen in the way he intends, without having to have some character explain it. It's at its most egregious in the films he writes himself. I don't think a great deal of him as a writer. His dialogue is bland, too wordy, loaded with exposition, but the man directs a scene and commands the screen like few others. He's great at showing, but so so bad at undermining that with telling, as you say. I'm glad this exists. It chimes with a feeling I've had for a while.

By far the best example of 'pope in the pool' exposition is The Terminator. Reece explaining to Sarah what a terminator is and how it works, as well as huge concepts like time travel and the end of the world, during a tense car chase. It all works SO well.

Thinking about the exposition in Memento. The main character literally has to explain his condition to every person he encounters just so they know what to expect from him, and he often starts explaining it to people he doesn't know he's already met, only to be interrupted. The exposition turns into a running gag, it's great.

This entire video is exposition, it reminds me of my films.

"That would be bad, right?" is so obviously NOT exposition... It's totally in character for TP in Tenet.

I agree, but can we please acknowledge that there has never been a more efficient, sharp, and standalone masterclass in script economy than the line "I ordered my hot sauce an hour ago"

"Everyone who has ever lived will be destroyed instantly" "including my son?" I actually laughed out loud at that line

The "annihilation" thing is definitely him joking because that's just how he is throughout the movie

I've read somewhere that you can't think if you are happy because when you start to think you stop being happy.

Great exposition in cinema: Dr. Emmett Brown = His lines are basically 90% explanations, yet he's still regarded as a very entertaining character. 12 Angry Men = Tell, don't show. You can listen to the dialogue w/ your eyes closed and understand most of the story, but watch the film w/ the sound off and you'll be lost. USS Indianapolis speech in Jaws = Iconic scene despite not even bothering w/ a flashback. Fight Club = Narration galore that conveys lots of personality. Cinema is also an auditory medium, hence the key is execution rather than the approach.