How Does Christopher Nolan Get Unstuck on a Film Cut?

David Senra, reading the book's account, says Christopher Nolan gets unstuck on a film cut by throwing almost everything out and keeping only what the film cannot live without.

A few weeks into a cut, at the point where confidence would normally start to build, Nolan hit a wall. He could not sleep for a couple of days. The fear was that $200 million had been burned in a bonfire. Most problems on a film sit on a sliding scale and get better with a tweak, like tightening the lug nuts on a tire, one and then the next. Every now and again the cut simply will not work and there is no getting past it. The solution was a ruthless cut.

Senra maps that move onto Rick Rubin's ruthless edit, and onto the cut Steve Jobs made on returning to Apple, from 300 products down to four. A band that needs 10 songs and already kind of likes 15 or 20 does not trim 20 down to 10. The cut goes from 20 down to the three songs nobody can live without, and the next song comes back only if it absolutely has to be there. If nothing has to be number four, the rest of that pile will not be used, and more songs may have to be written. When the work is stuck, the move is to cut until only the necessary remains.