10 Annoying Flaws That Stop Great Directors Being Perfect

Having a grievance with Christopher Nolan and his films is almost blasphemous, but some things have to be addressed.

As one of the few filmmakers out there with the clout to command films with a $200 million budget, the movie-making perfectionist has got one giant flaw that couldn't be more apparent than his latest film, Tenet.

Without spoiling too much detail, an early scene in the film that takes place at a train yard is all but ruined by the background noises screaming over the quieter (and explaining) dialogue. The ambient sounds, coupled with a bombastic score immediately grip audience members in their seats, but the moment a character starts talking alongside the preceding sounds, it feels like you're overhearing a conversation in a nightclub.

This example has descended across some of Nolan's other recent films, and sadly there's a realisation that the one thing Nolan has a bad ear for sound. From the original audio of Bane's voice in The Dark Knight Rises, through Dunkirk and landing on Tenet, there's a genuine concern that Nolan might not be aware of how bad his sound mixing capabilities are.

Given how cerebral and complex Nolan's storytelling is, and that most of his dialogue is characters explaining the world in which they inhabit, Nolan needs his films to be as crystal-clear as possible. Something he's lost track of since his Memento and The Prestige days.