Film Name: 利刃出鞘 / Knives Out
There’s no doubt that Knives Out is a success: the box office is still too slow to tell (it’s going well), but the word-of-mouth has proven that it’s one of the best films of the year.
The biggest selling point of this “deduction and detection” drama is, of course, the mystery in the story, and with a very typical look and a solid enough script, Knives Out has a very compelling magic: as the poster says, “Anyone can commit a crime, everyone lies. lies.”
I’ve watched very few works of deduction, and I don’t know much about the Agatha Complex, besides, there are already many professional interpretations of it …… Therefore, this article does not intend to talk about the deduction of the case or the details of the story, but only wants to talk about the various characters in the film.
The quality of the actual film “Knives Out” gave me a lot of surprises, the all-star cast contributes a wealth of wonderful group scenes, acting, costumes, make-up, props and other primary and secondary elements of the entire online, so that the film has more of a stage play style texture and beauty – for film and television, compared to the difficult to “replicate the effect” of the film. For film and television creation, this is perhaps a more meaningful advantage than the “replicable effect” of the reasoning plot.
[Friendly reminder: there will be some spoilers below].
The design of the film is typical, even retro:
The main stage is a mansion far from the city, the dead man is world-renowned speculative fiction writer Harlan, the time is after his 85th birthday, the characters are the Slumby family, and the questions and doubts are “Is Harlan a suicide or a murderer? And who will get his hundreds of millions of dollars?”
The mystery genre may have an inherent advantage in characterisation, as the characters all have important ‘functions’ to perform, especially in an environment where ‘everyone has a secret’, and their traits and temperaments have to be shown with greater urgency and precision.
Each of the main characters in Knives Out is representative of a certain type of person in society, and they come to life in a way that makes “profiling” a positive word in this film.
Let’s start with Harlan’s eldest daughter, Linda.
On the face of it, Linda is the most successful of Harlan’s children. Like her father, she has built a successful business from nothing, making her a “father’s daughter”, and as the oldest child, she is also half a “parent”, and when she realises that the detective, Blank, is prying into the family’s secrets, she takes her daughter in her arms. When she realised that Detective Blank was prying into the family’s secrets, she bared her fangs with the attitude of “family scandal must not be exposed” …… But we all know that Linda’s image of a strong woman is all pretended, the start-up capital is given by her father, and she is always trying to prove herself at all times, which just shows how much pressure she is under! –She is the most colourful one.
Then there is Linda’s husband, Richard.
Richard seems to be elegant, Harlan’s good son-in-law, but in essence, the Slombie family into his family, the psychological pressure is not less than Linda, or to say more than his wife, so he was “unbearable” cheating, and compared to the cheating of the truth is exposed, he is more afraid of being kicked out of the family, chewing on the root of the problem, adopt a roundabout strategy, etc., are all Richard’s anxiety and trepidation is evident – he is the one who is most anxious.
Next is Harlan’s youngest son, Walter.
Compared with other pretending peers, Walter is obviously much more honest, “I’m just eating my father, living off my father”, usually in charge of the publishing company, all day long thinking about how to use his father’s work to make more money (such as selling the adaptation rights to Netflix), if we lose Harlan’s patronage, Walter will seem worthless, so when his father kicked him out of the company, he was instantly like a dead man walking, so when he was kicked out of the company, he was instantly like a dead woman. When his father kicks him out of the company, he is instantly devastated and devastated – he is the most cowardly and incompetent of them all.
And then there’s Joni, the wife of Harlan’s deceased son.
Netflix with goods small da person, mother of God invincible white lotus flower, Joni looks silly, in fact, the most able to pretend, in the loss of the biggest bond with the Sloaneby family, she can still maintain close contact with the family itself can illustrate the problem, such as the birthday party despite Linda’s disgust and had to pull her dance, such as the Harlan pinched off her “stealing money” behaviour, and then went upstairs to ask for goodbye. The fact that Joni carefully maintains her persona because it’s what allows her to take advantage of all sorts of things – she’s the one who’s most in the pocket of the rich and powerful – is also telling, as is the fact that Jacob, Walter’s son, is the only one who’s ever been in the pocket of the rich and powerful.
And then there’s Walter’s son Jacob.
Known as the “Little Nazi”, he spends his days with his mobile phone on the Internet, absorbing all kinds of rebellious and extremist thinking, no one in his family likes him, and he is indifferent to this, “There is everything on the Internet, just don’t interfere with me in the real world.” …… Interestingly, the only two times Jacob communicates effectively with his family are whispers about his grandfather’s will and how Google is disinheriting Marta – he’s one of the most coldly realistic people around.
The Great Grandmother (nana) is a rather special presence in the film.
She is the mother of 85-year-old Harlan, and no one knows how old she is, and no one really wants to make the effort to talk to her, because she is so old that she is almost impossible to talk to, so much so that Ransom and Marta don’t think of her as a “threatening” witness, but she’s the breakthrough through which Detective Blanks can find out the truth! –She symbolises the ancient perspective of a bygone era, but also the countless voices of society that have been ignored, neglected and forgotten.
If the aforementioned characters are too typical and formulaic, take a look at the supporting character I remember most from Knives Out, Joni’s daughter Meg, as she is the closest thing to an ordinary person we have.
Relying on her grandpa to fund her tuition, she studied a major that didn’t amount to much in everyone’s eyes, is a little naive, a little kind, a little formal, and crucially, she’s the best person in the Sloaneby family, other than Harlan, who treats Marta, the carer, the best.
As a granddaughter who is not very prominent and not very pleasant, Meg’s status in the family is not very high, coupled with her mother’s influence, she is more than others, she can understand Marta’s feelings, for Marta’s sake, for Marta to share her worries, the two said that it is not too much to say that they are friends, and they think so themselves, that’s why Marta is in a state of confusion, the only one who answered the phone call from Meg… …
But Meg, pretending to plead as a “friend”, actually pleads on behalf of the whole family to give up her inheritance – because it’s in her own interest to do so.
Finally, there is Ransom.
Ransom is, in a way, the most supreme of the Slumbys. He doesn’t have to work, he spends all his time idle and drunk, because Harlan favours his eldest grandson because “Ransom is exactly like me when I was young, smart and stupid”.
Harlan is very sensible, he knows that continue to shelter, Ransom will sooner or later be abolished; Harlan and concern is chaotic, can not help but change the will of the matter told Ransom …… and this precious grandson did “live up to expectations”, made other people do not dare to do it and can not be done! The first thing that I want to do is to make sure that I can do something.
Have this kind of mind, courage and wisdom, after leaving the nest can be like grandpa to break into a big career – the difference is, Harlan that year in the case of no way back can only start from scratch, let go of the fight, and lazy Ransom, at the crossroads towards the evil way … … …
Harlan’s assessment of Ransom is indeed very spot on, one thought of heaven and one thought of hell, no more than that.
Although the Slumby family usually has some rivalry and deceit, they are surprisingly consistent on fundamental issues because they have a common enemy, Marta, the carer.
The discussion of immigration at Harlan’s birthday party is a microcosm of their “condescending” attitude: regardless of whether or not they support foreign immigrants coming to the United States, and how they support these foreign immigrants, the Sloanbys have a default premise of consensus, that is, “the power is in our hands! “.
Marta is very hard-working and professional, and gave the old man enough care, we approve of you (which is what you should do), and we can even accept you as a “family member” at our discretion – but if you in the old man’s moment of confusion to take over the nest, turn over to be the master, then it is a mess! But if you take over the old man’s house in a moment of confusion, that’s a mess and a bad thing.
Putting themselves in their shoes, the Slumbys were not wrong in their thinking. Isn’t it natural for children and grandchildren to inherit the property of their elders? However, Harlan, who has the whole book in his hands, is a “deviant” person who values hard work and sincerity rather than bloodlines.
The blades that turn the world upside down in Knives Out are Marta and Blank.
Marta and the Slumby family live in two worlds, even lie she can not even in the eyes of others is a harmless sheep, no threat …… She is like a bowl of water, no matter how to cut more than poke through the walls of this family, but the only thing that has washed away the core character of the heart Harlan’s heart so that the wall began to start from the The wall began to crumble from the inside.
Marta is more like a soft, unassuming knife that seeps silently into the cracks of the wall – but it’s not enough to bring it down.
Blank, on the other hand, is the man from heaven who sharpens the knife and delivers the killing blow. Together, the two of them are the real “sheaths”, tearing down the masks of hypocrisy, cutting through the pipes of parasitism, and slicing up a cake that may not be so pretty… …
What will the Slumbys think when they look at Marta, the new owner of the mansion?
That’s what’s left for the audience after the film’s conclusion.
Even if we don’t talk about the deductive plot of Knives Out, the “melting pot of humanity” is already quite outstanding (I should say the former is for the latter), rich in details and accurate performances make these characters stand in front of the audience, and when the characters stand, the story naturally stands halfway.
Please give a round of applause to this “retro and enlightening” film.
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