Spring Break
Lackluster 'Knowing' fails to impress
By: Ben Johnson
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Features
In 1959, the students of William Dawes Elementary placed their visions of the future in a time capsule to be opened 50 years later. One particularly reclusive student,
Lucinda (Lara Robinson), makes her contribution to the time capsule in the form of a page with a series of numbers scrawled on it. When the time capsule is opened, John Koestler's (Nicolas Cage) son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) receives the mysterious page. Believing the numbers to be a warning, Koestler plots out the sequence and finds each series of numbers predicts the date and place of major disasters. The predictions also include the number of lives lost in each tragedy.
Unable to explain these numbers as mere coincidence, he sets out to find the mysterious woman behind the prophetic page. What he discovers is the secret to predicting what could be the end of the world.
Director Alex Proyas has dabbled in dark themes before. His most notable work, "The Crow," gained him critical acclaim and subsequent pieces like "I, Robot" and "Dark City" have continued his sinister aesthetic. "Knowing" is no exception. Though the majority of the film takes place at night, even scenes taking place during the day feature a high contrast lighting, thus deepening the darker colors. Many scenes are almost completely obscured by the dark and give the film a deeply terrifying overall gloom.
To give credit where credit is due, Marco Beltrami contributes arguably the best score of his career. Passages of blaring bellicose brass and shrieking woodwinds create a musical soundscape that shakes the audience to its core. Even quieter pieces feature ominous overtones and dark qualities. One of Beethoven's famous funeral marches weaves into the score at key moments, emphasizing a certain sense of doom.
The last good thing to be said about the film is its cinematography. One particularly outstanding sequence features Koestler watching a plane crash in a field nearby and wandering through the burning wreckage as people die around him. The shot begins as the plane crashes and follows a bewildered Koestler into the carnage without cutting. This continuous shot not only exemplifies Proyas's outstanding ability as a cinematographer and director, but also creates the illusion of actually being at the crash site. Beyond being an astounding technical achievement the scene brands its horrific images into the audience's memory, creating a disturbing sense of shock.
Lucinda (Lara Robinson), makes her contribution to the time capsule in the form of a page with a series of numbers scrawled on it. When the time capsule is opened, John Koestler's (Nicolas Cage) son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) receives the mysterious page. Believing the numbers to be a warning, Koestler plots out the sequence and finds each series of numbers predicts the date and place of major disasters. The predictions also include the number of lives lost in each tragedy.
Unable to explain these numbers as mere coincidence, he sets out to find the mysterious woman behind the prophetic page. What he discovers is the secret to predicting what could be the end of the world.
Director Alex Proyas has dabbled in dark themes before. His most notable work, "The Crow," gained him critical acclaim and subsequent pieces like "I, Robot" and "Dark City" have continued his sinister aesthetic. "Knowing" is no exception. Though the majority of the film takes place at night, even scenes taking place during the day feature a high contrast lighting, thus deepening the darker colors. Many scenes are almost completely obscured by the dark and give the film a deeply terrifying overall gloom.
To give credit where credit is due, Marco Beltrami contributes arguably the best score of his career. Passages of blaring bellicose brass and shrieking woodwinds create a musical soundscape that shakes the audience to its core. Even quieter pieces feature ominous overtones and dark qualities. One of Beethoven's famous funeral marches weaves into the score at key moments, emphasizing a certain sense of doom.
The last good thing to be said about the film is its cinematography. One particularly outstanding sequence features Koestler watching a plane crash in a field nearby and wandering through the burning wreckage as people die around him. The shot begins as the plane crashes and follows a bewildered Koestler into the carnage without cutting. This continuous shot not only exemplifies Proyas's outstanding ability as a cinematographer and director, but also creates the illusion of actually being at the crash site. Beyond being an astounding technical achievement the scene brands its horrific images into the audience's memory, creating a disturbing sense of shock.
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