Film Name: 不速来客 / Knock Knock
A new film with a small body count and a bright cast was released this week, and has already amassed a moderate wave of word-of-mouth after several days of mass screenings: the suspense film Knock Knock.
If you want to label the film, words like “secret room,” “Rashomon,” “scripted kill,” “reversal,” and “black humor” can all be used-
For movies, these words are usually on the positive side, and you can see that Knock Knock has certainly passed the basic selling point, but in terms of the actual viewing experience, the movie still hasn’t managed to break through the usual problems of this kind of work: small, spare and lackluster.
It’s true that it’s produced by Tian Zhuangzhuang and starring Fan Wei, Dou Snap and Zhang Songwen, but given that it’s the debut of newcomer Liu Xiang (not the hurdler, but a young filmmaker who used to work as a cameraman), I’m willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt.
[WARNING: Spoilers to follow]
Ninety percent of Knock Knock’s attractions and selling points depend on the story script and narrative style, and if you can enjoy the process of peeling off the threads of its cocoon, true and false, and advancing layer by layer, then it is considered a success.
The main “suspense” of the film has always been slowly release material, trying to find ways to make the story panorama layer by layer to reveal the true face, try to let the audience’s “curiosity” to get the maximum degree of delayed gratification.
The film makers themselves have also given a teaser character relationship speculation chart, without substantial spoilers, all the main characters are focused on the room around 307, combined with the order of appearance of the film’s various characters, from the thief Lao Li, to the unidentified Yan Zheng and Lili, to the deliveryman Ma Mingliang, until the original ready to make a deal with You Dacheng and Zhang, shrimp hair, the sense of hierarchy is very good.
Frankly speaking, the truth of Knock Knock is not complicated, and most of the watchability stems from the non-linear narrative that is not completely regular, i.e. “focusing on the process”, which is meaningless when it is spread out, so I suggest that those who are interested in watching it should block the news about the movie and go to see it as soon as possible.
That’s why I’m not going to talk about the plot anymore, but rather some of the movie’s side issues.
The film’s production costs were very low, basically set in a small apartment building, and most of the scenes are concentrated in room 307, but many of the details of the film on the idea of a good effect, for example, the use of red, green and other colors of neon light in the background of the night scene, and the room’s low-brightness of the environment of the two against the background, very much a kind of “forgotten corners of the city! It has a very “forgotten corners of the city” feel to it.
Another example is the transitions between each scene, although the main use of black curtains or flashback intervals of the traditional approach, but there are still some eye-catching tricks, such as sudden sound and movement, with the corresponding BGM, quite a “heart-stopping” effect.
As for the cinematography, which is related to the director’s old profession, “Knock Knock” is not so outstanding, and some parts of the film are also suspected of “showing off but not scoring points”, for example, the use of slow-motion and moving camera, which delays the already slow pace.
Interestingly, “Knock Knock” has a “comedy” genre in addition to “suspense” …… Personally, I think it doesn’t quite fit, not because of Fan Wei’s starring role + individual funny scenes + iffy black humor core, it’s a comedy – of course, in terms of market reality, this kind of film does sell better as a comedy promotion. Individual funny shots + if the black humor of the core, that it is a comedy film – of course, from the market reality, this type of film is really when the comedy film publicity to sell better, we are not short of a variety of hanging sheep’s head to sell dog meat case.
However, this is more or less a flaw of the film: in terms of the main content, Knock Knock is quite serious, more purely “black”, and there is not much room for “humor”, and in this context, some of the tongue-in-cheek sequences only serve to add insult to injury. In this context, some of the witty moments will only have the opposite effect of adding to the problem.
For example, when Lao Li and Ma Mingliang interrogate You Dacheng, the latter is wearing an eyepatch with a funny expression printed on it, the sense of contrast is there, and it does produce some “laughs”, but this is largely contrary to the atmosphere of death and fear of the unknown that accompanies it at this time; another example is Lao Li’s slightly trembling and cautious tone of voice as He pretends to be You Dacheng when he is making a deal with Mr. Zhang, how is it possible for him to be so cautious? The tone of caution, how to listen to and Fan Wei in the past played a lot of comedy roles are very similar, always feel out of the drama …… But then again, Mr. Fan Wei’s performance is still very good.
The script of Knock Knock was never very well thought out, and when examined in detail, it still has a number of flaws, and when combined with these minor flaws, the overall quality of the movie naturally comes down.
In addition, there is one thing that makes me feel bad about the movie, that is, the “black” is not thorough enough – strictly speaking, the seven characters in the movie are not good people, Lao Li is a thief, Ma Mingliang is a murderer, Lili is a fraud, Yan Zheng is a retired police officer who is a scoundrel, You Dacheng, Zhang, Shrimp, and other people are not good people. You Dacheng, Mr. Zhang, shrimp three people are doing child trafficking hook, if dealt with as “all the villains” of the black death will be more powerful, the final ending before the rapid light and softened (not to mention some of the off-site factors that we all know).
Of course, it is not that the filming of the bright side of the characters can not, but the overall filming process did not take this part of the “persona” fully into account, and so the story is told stage by stage or even the conclusion of the coffin, only to rush to add the old Li for his son to arrange for a kidney transplant surgery before stealing, Yan Zheng for the rescue of captured daughters before committing crimes, Ma Mingliang is a miserable laborer and other information. Miserable laborer and other information, for the structure of suspense, more or less understandable, but for the texture of the film, more raw and abrupt.
To put it bluntly, a movie like “Knock Knock” that focuses on “small scripts” has a very low lower limit, but the upper limit is very difficult to raise, and the movie is flexible enough to ensure that at the same time, unfortunately, it fails to break through the corresponding limitations, which doesn’t prevent it from being a good, watchable suspense movie, but that’s about it.
PS: The fact that many young viewers are now saying “script kills” is also a sign that the audience is getting more and more sophisticated when it comes to relying solely on “centralized plots” to make a name for themselves.
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