The Howard family is not as harmonious as it seems, everyone has a secret, everyone wants to get the inheritance, is this murder a suicide or a homicide? Everyone seems to be suspicious.
Recently, Time Magazine selected the top ten movies of 2019: "Pain and Glory", "The Irishman", "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", "Marriage Story", "Little Women", "Parasite", "Knives Out", "My Name is Dormai" Special", "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood", and "The Dancing Thief". One of the well-received masterpieces, "Knives Out", landed in major domestic theaters on November 29, 2019.
The film brings together "Captain America" Chris Evans, "007" Daniel Craig, "Moonlight Panic"'s Jamie Lee Curtis, "The Feud"'s Toni Cole Wright, Don Johnson in Django Unchained, and Rian Johnson from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. What kind of story can attract such a strong lineup?
An anti-Agatha suspense movie
"Knives Out" takes the death of plutocratic mystery novelist Howard as a clue. On the day after his 85th birthday, he was found mysteriously dead in his room, leaving behind a huge legacy. Detective Blanco, hired by an anonymous person to investigate the case, comes to the manor. When he talked with the family members, he found that things were not as simple as he thought. They testified for each other from the beginning, and then they demolished each other, just to get rid of their own suspicion.
The daughter-in-law Joni, the arrogant daughter-in-law, the arrogant eldest daughter Linda, the cheating son-in-law Richard, the unsuccessful son Walter, the bohemian grandson Ranson, everyone is suspected of killing Howard, and they will vomit when they lie. Marta has become a central figure in the battle for the legacy.
Marta was Howard's carer and his closest friend; but she was the daughter of an illegal immigrant. In this big family, it seems that everyone likes her very much, but in fact everyone looks down on her. But it is because of the existence of Marta that the truth can be revealed to us step by step. We explore the truth with the different perspectives of different characters such as Marta, Detective Blanco, and the eldest young master, but at the same time you will find that the truth of the matter is not so important anymore, what matters is the fun of reasoning and questioning.
As we all know, director Rian Johnson is an out-and-out Agatha fan, so there are a lot of scenes in this movie that pay tribute to Agatha.
Agatha Christie, British mystery novelist, author of Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha-style suspenseful mystery novels and movies are industry benchmarks, and "Knives Out" is of course indispensable for learning. Such as the big retro castle, the decoration of horror elements, the luxurious pace, and the scene that looks like a murder has happened.
But if you think this movie is just an out-and-out Agatha-esque reasoning movie, you'd be wrong! This is an anti-Agatha film, because the murderer is revealed in 35 minutes of the film, you may be puzzled, how can this be filmed? The truth has been exposed. But behind the truth, another clue appeared. Behind the case is a bigger "secret". Every item, every line, every decoration... there is a hidden mystery.
The film did not keep the revealing of the truth until the last moment like Agatha's novel, but revealed the truth of Howard's death halfway through the movie. However, what is even more surprising is that the revealing of the truth is not in the interest of bad guys, on the contrary. The multiple reversals that followed took the film to a new climax.
If you use the big detective's analogy to the case doughnut, the whole film is a giant doughnut. The first 35 minutes of the plot is a doughnut, and the truth seems to have surfaced, but the whole film is as hollow as a doughnut. On the way to pursue the truth, everyone has a huge difference in their reactions and made different choices. But this is not just the pursuit of the truth, this is the ultimate torture of human nature.
Political Metaphors and Dark Humor
"Knives Out" is the director's original script, without the constraints of the original, and the plot content is more unrestrained. This is simply a suspenseful reasoning drama with American black humor, and there is no lack of criticism and satire on the current American political environment.
The film is full of attacks on the confrontation between the wealthy class of whites and the lower classes of other races, criticism of Trump's immigration policy, dissatisfaction with racial discrimination, etc., American black humor fills every corner of the character dialogue, not only A suspenseful reasoning film, it is a true portrayal of the American social environment.
In addition to the obvious ridicule of the upper class, the film is more of a "discussion" of the current hot immigration issue in the United States. "We treat you as family, but this will never be your home," Playboy Ranson told carer Marta.
The family has different opinions about Marta's origin, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, everything, but we still don't know which country she is from. Because in America, no matter which Latin country you're from, you're a "Mexican." While investigating the case, joining the discussion of these social issues can make the audience more empathetic.
Chris Evans once played the role of "Captain America", he once represented the "American dream" - justice, bravery, to have dreams, hope... But here, Chris Evans plays a word and deed A vulgar playboy, completely subverting the good image of the "American Dream". This is simply an irony of the greater selfishness and greed and endless desire behind the "American Dream".
After alluding to American politics, the film does not forget to pay tribute to "Game of Thrones". The hanging ornament composed of daggers in the living room, the hanging ornament and the chair in front constitute the "Iron Throne" in Sloumby Manor. This "Iron Throne" symbolizes the family's intrigue, everyone is scheming, just like a "Game of Thrones". In the face of interests, everyone insists on their own opinions, and family affection no longer exists.
Some small details in the film all imply that the plot is reversing. The giant portrait of Howard in the film appeared three times in total. The first two times he had a sad face, but the last time he appeared, when the portrait and Marta looked at each other, the corners of his mouth raised a smile, which seemed to be the ending he wanted. And the coffee cup printed with "MY HOUSE, MY RULES, MY COFFEE" originally belonged to this rich family, but in the end the cup was "transferred" to an unexpected person.
The huge inheritance is a sharp blade that pierces the warmth of the family and pierces the sinister heart. Only at the end can I understand the true meaning of the blade unsheathed, not only the "Iron Throne" in the film, but also that the blade pierced the hypocrisy of human nature and pierced the "so-called truth" we saw.
In the author's opinion, "Knives Out" is not only a tribute to Agatha, but also an innovative work of anti-Agatha-style suspense genre. Rian Johnson's excellent arrangement is like an out of the sheath. The sharp edge of the film, innovating new techniques in traditional detective films, and keeping pace with the times into the irony of society.
The movie opens in the classic "Golden Age Detective Story" style, and it's almost exactly the same: In the castle, the servant with the breakfast plate finds the owner dead, the plate falls to the ground, and then the detective arrives, everyone has their own must-haves. The secret of the accuser and the motive for the murder...
Billionaire novelist Howard Sloumby was found to have committed suicide at his 85th birthday, leaving a billionaire fortune. The long-established detective Blanco is suddenly hired by an anonymous person to investigate the truth of the case.
With the unexpected appearance of an inheritance heir, the truth gradually emerges.
different suspense drama
Knives Out is better and more charismatic than the remake of Murder on the Orient Express a few years ago. How is this movie "good" in comparison?
Knives Out is star-studded, but that's not the defining element of a good movie. Before this, there were many similar movies, such as the new version of "Murder on the Orient Express", which were not satisfactory. In comparison, what is the "good" of this movie?
The director of the film, Rian Johnson, is a very well-known director in the United States now. A few years ago, "Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi" came from him, and he also played a role in "Star Wars Story: Rogue One". It is said that he has the hope of directing a new trilogy about Skywalker in the future.
His famous work "Ring Messenger" is a very complex work, which also has Chinese investment. The film has already demonstrated the director's ability to tell a very powerful story. Similar to "Ring Messenger", "Knives Out" has a very fancy narrative, which is the director's personal interest.
Knives Out has a couple of important "supporting" roles, starting with cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who has essentially been the director of photography since Rian Johnson did his student work. In this film, the photography itself is done in a very retro way, creating an atmosphere of classical suspense reasoning for the film. Even though there are many characters in the film, each character has a distinct personality, so when we watch it, we will not feel disorganized, but will enjoy the visual feast that these new and old actors bring us to each other's acting skills. In the film, you can see a lot of backlit composition shots, which are always loved by directors and photographers.
Musical design was also incredibly important and was done by the director's cousin Nathan Johnson. A good movie will ignore the music. The music in "Knives Out" is mainly divided into two categories: the first is jazz, such as the situation of the family gathering in the movie, which is more jumpy and rhythmic, symbolizing a kind of instability. The second category is the Hungarian-style string quartet, because it is more classical; there are also some big scenes, which are made up of retro-style big bands, which are a bit exotic.
In fact, a lot of Hollywood movies are learning from classical movies. For example, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes 3: The Ultimate Battle", which everyone is very familiar with. Knives Out is a modern mystery story, but this modern mystery story is designed in a very classical way. Not only are there a lot of group scenes in the movie, but there are a lot of group scenes in the novels of Agatha Christie's fans. There are also many stories of "Lone Detective" going deep into the castle in classical Hollywood. For example, the mode of this film is very similar to Hitchcock's "Butterfly Dream" or "Psycho".
Especially at the end of the movie, when everyone sees Marta walking into a dark room and finds a dark shadow in the distance, the whole mood will be very tense at this time. At this time, Marta took a picture of her mobile phone, and a sound effect of "bang" sounded, which is a very classical approach. That is, telling the audience through sound effects that this is an externalization of the protagonist's inner horror voice.
This practice also appeared in Hitchcock's "Psycho", when the girl walked into the room and found a person sitting on a chair with her back turned, thinking it was Norman's mother. After turning around, there was a "bang" and found it was a skeleton. Including the whole story taking place in a big house, "Butterfly Dream" is also designed in this way. "Knives Out of the Sheath" can be said to be in the same line.
I believe Knives Out is a "blockbuster" that everyone can understand. There are often two ways to tell a reasoning story. One is that you don't know what's going on in the whole process. Finally, after reasoning, you will suddenly realize: it turns out that the murderer is him.
During the classical Hollywood period, Orson Welles made a film called "The Stranger" in 1947. There was a murder at the beginning. The film was about finding the murderer, and when he finally found this person, the audience would He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. However, the narrative arc of this reasoning method will be relatively long, which is a relatively large viewing test for the audience.
Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer people who can watch such reasoning movies patiently. And contemporary Hollywood cinematography is, as David Bordwell put it in his seminal paper, an "era of intensified cinematographic language"—shot lengths that are increasingly fragmented and faster .
The creators found that people today are less willing to sit for two hours just to see who the murderer is in the end, so the movie needs to find more ways to attract the audience's attention. For example, the creator can unravel the mystery in the middle of the narrative and tell you who the murderer is. In David Fincher's movie "Gone Lover", everyone knows the truth in the middle of the movie, and the audience is more interested It shifted to seeing how the director "unpacked".
In fact, this narrative method, on the one hand, is because the audience now needs a faster-paced reasoning narrative, and on the other hand, it is also in line with the reasoning and narrative methods of the entire classical period, especially Hitchcock's so-called "MacGuffin"-style reasoning. settings related.
For example, in the movie "Reaper of Souls", the movie gave a one-shot shot at the beginning: the murderer killed people, then stuffed them into boxes, and then all kinds of people entered one after another. In the field, just like this "Knives Out", many, many people are in one room. The audience knows who killed the person and where the body is, but what they see is the whole reasoning process, and it also allows the audience to see the reality.
Often behind the truth, is the human nature pierced by a sharp blade.
