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The visionary abilities and audacity of Christopher Nolan are known to be highly rare in directors. Having directed groundbreaking movies like Inception andThe Dark Knight Trilogy,he has cemented his reputation as one of the most important directors of our day. However, even creative geniuses like him are not immune to the critical eye of critics. One such criticism leveled at Nolan is his “inaudible” dialogue in his films, while others claim the music is too“loud”.
It is no secret that Nolan frequently pushes the limits of traditional storytelling in his films, and this also applies to the way he uses sound. Sound is a narrative device that he used inInterstellarandTenetto lead the audience through the complexities of his intricate storylines. However, some argued that the sometimes overwhelming sound design gets annoying. However, Nolan would never entertain such criticism because, in his opinion, it draws audiences into his painstakingly created worlds.
Also read:“It’s literally the most successful film I’ve ever made”: Christopher Nolan Makes an Encouraging Statement For Fellow Directors After $953 Million Success With Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan Defended ‘Inaudible’ Dialogue Criticism AgainstInterstellar
One of the most common complaints aboutChristopher Nolan’s movies is that the sound sometimes makes the dialogue difficult to understand. For instance, one of the strongest arguments made against Nolan’s sound design decisions inInterstellarwas the difficulty some viewers had following the dialogue over the loud music and sound effects.
Nolan disclosed inThe Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolanthat he received“a lot of complaints” regarding the sound mixing inInterstellarfrom other directors. He revealed that several filmmakers complained, claiming, “The dialogue is inaudible”.But he gave his reasoning behind that decision of the “whole enchilada”:
“We got a lot of complaints. I actually got calls from other filmmakers who would say, ‘I just saw your film, and the dialogue is inaudible.’ Some people thought maybe the music’s too loud, but the truth was it was kind of the whole enchilada of how we had chosen to mix it. It was a very, very radical mix.”
To be honest, Nolan was “a little shocked”to learn how sound-conservative people can be. He believed that “people get up in arms”if you use specific subfrequencies or mix the sound in a particular way.
“I was a little shocked to realize how conservative people are when it comes to sound. Because you may make a film that looks like anything, you can shoot on your iPhone, no one’s going to complain. But if you mix the sound a certain way, or if you use certain subfrequencies, people get up in arms.”
Also read:“I am not quite sure if I would want to make The Dark Knight version”: James Wan Had a Clear Agenda for Aquaman That Went Against Christopher Nolan’s Vision for Superheroes
The movie received a four-and-a-half star rating fromAt the Movies, who also criticized the sound for“being so loud” that it rendered parts of the dialogue “inaudible”.
According toForbes,Interstellar“has a lack of flow, loss of momentum following the climax, clumsy sound mixing”,and “thin characters”.Nevertheless, the movie garnered largely favorable reviews from critics and made over $681 million in total revenue worldwide, ranking it as the tenth highest-grossing movie of 2014.
Tenet’s Sound Mix Left Critics Perplexed and Frustrated?
Critics of Christopher Nolan’s blockbusterTenethave voiced complaints about difficult-to-understand dialogue in key scenes. The $365.3 million flick was a spy thriller centered around the idea of time inversion, starring Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Pattinson, and John David Washington.
Entertainment.iestated that dialogue was“often” rendered inaudible when watching it on 35 mm film and that the issue could be mitigated by watching it on Digital Cinema Package files.Tenetwas also described as“difficult to understand”and“even worse, it inspires little desire to understand it” by theSan Francisco Chronicle.
In an interview withInsider, Nolan partially attributed the dialogue sound problems in his films to artistic decisions. In an honest statement, he said he would never use additional dialogue recordings (ADR) in post-production, preferring to record dialogue live rather than have actors rerecord lines in a soundproof booth at a later phase.
“I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor revoice it later. Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that’s their right.”
Also read:“I wasn’t able to get a handle”: Christopher Nolan Became Anxious Over Heath Ledger After Trying to Base His Joker on a Stanley Kubrick Character
Nevertheless,Tenetearned $365 million worldwide on a $200 million budget, making it the fifth-highest-grossing movie of 2020.
StreamTeneton DIRECTV, whileInterstellaris available on Amazon Prime Video.
Siddhika Prajapati
Senior Journalist & Content Head
Articles Published :3310
With over 3,300 articles carved into the digital walls of FandomWire, Siddhika Prajapati excels at creating, curating, and elevating engaging stories. She takes pride in giving these stories a home and, of course, she’s got a Google Knowledge Panel to prove it!Whether it’s reviewing the latest drop on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Apple TV+, or analyzing the cultural echoes of a streaming hit on Paramount+ or Max, Siddhika is always writing three steps ahead of the discourse.
