For “Tenet”, a spy film with a backdrop of time travel and the announced end of the world, Christopher Nolan was inspired by the Sator square, a “magic square” formed by a Latin palindrome.
Christopher Nolan, between James Bond and SF
With tenet (2020), Christopher Nolan has once again produced a fascinating and complex work. A spy film to which the director adds a fantastic part with time travel. A way for him to continue his primary obsession with time, and to make a real James Bond, in his own way. The story is that of a CIA agent (John David Washington) who must investigate Sator (Kenneth Branagh), an arms dealer who manages to manipulate time.
More precisely, the antagonist has machines allowing reverse the entropy of objects. By entering such a device, he can then “walk in time” to return to a specific moment: hours, days, even weeks in the past. With the help of Agent Neil (Robert Pattinson), the protagonist will also use this technique to try to counter Sator, and the mysterious people from the future who aid him in his attempt to destroy the world.
At first sight, tenet has something particularly complicated. However, the film remains appreciable by letting itself be carried away without wanting to define everything. As Clémence Poésy so aptly puts it, it’s necessary “to feelwithout trying to understand. Nevertheless, for those willing to dig deeper, there are some details in the film that can help better understand the work of Nolan. Names in particular, which refer directly squared Sator.
What is the Sator square?
The Sator square is a combination of five-letter terms that form a Latin palindrome: Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas. A set that can therefore be read in both directions. In the form of a square (with the five words one below the other), the magic operates and one can read the same thing in all directions. Starting from the beginning, horizontally from left to right, or from the end, from right to left. And the same vertically.
It is difficult today to know when this enigma dates back. The oldest was nevertheless found at Pompeii and would therefore date back at least to the year 79. Concerning the meaning of these terms, again there is no no perfect translation and many hypotheses exist. But we already note that Arepo does not exist in Latin. Father Beauvois would nevertheless have proposed (via writing-art) whether it is the acronym ofAETERNUS REX EXCELSIS PATER OMNIPOTENSmeaning “Almighty Father, Eternal King of Heaven“. Also, the term exists in Gaulish and means “plow”.
For the other terms, Sator means “sower or creator”, Tenet would mean “he holds”, even “he holds in his power”, while Opera refers to “work, work”, and Rotas is “a cycle, a rotation or wheels”. We could then obtain two sentences: “the sower holds the plow” for Sator arepo tenet, and “the wheels drive the work” for rotas opera tenet.
The clues in tenet
We find all these elements in Christopher Nolan’s film. Tenet is the title of the film (and its concept) and Sator the name of the antagonist. Moreover, the first sequence takes place in an operawheras’Arepo is a character referred to in the film, the art dealer who made a copy of a painting sold to Sator. Finally, Rotas is none other than the name of the antagonist’s company. Without forgetting that Pompeiiwhere the oldest Sator square was found, is mentioned several times in tenet.
Obviously, it is no coincidence that we find these terms in Christopher Nolan. The filmmaker uses both their supposed meaning, and an imagery that goes with it. For example, Sator Arepo reverses to Opera Rotas via Tenet. Or more precisely, by the N. This letter is somehow a representation of machines of the film that reverse the entropy of objects or people. This is the turnstile which allows you to go in one direction or another.
The wheel of Rotas also seems to be important because the plot of tenet is basically locked in an endless loop. Christopher Nolan’s characters keep repeating that what is unfolding before our eyes has already happened and will not change. So there is a real link between the Sator square and the film. But the director lets the public imagine what they want without answering. So this is all hypothetical. For more interpretations, we recommend Pauline Darley’s excellent thread on Twitter (below)which notably goes further on what could hide Neil’s namea character played by Robert Pattinson.
