S.crypto and directed by Rian Johnson, Murder Dinner – Knives Out just arrived on Netflix, and it is already at the top of the list of the most viewed films. We tried to trace the reasons for its success starting from the fact that it is a film that makes you feel at home – and what a home! – even the most savvy spectator. Not because it is predictable, far from it. But why does it provide that feeling of comfortable thrill that we have left in the attic since the days of Hercule Poirot and Jessica Fletcher.
The incipit of the film draws on the greats crime classics: the elderly and eccentric crime writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) comes found dead in his studio with the throat cut. Everyone, in the family, they have a reason to wish its departure, by second son Walt (Michael Shannon) freshly fired from the publishing house founded by his father, al Machiavellian grandson Ransom (Chris Evans), from penniless son-in-law Richard (Don Johnson) to Joni (Toni Collette), daughter-in-law in difficulty.
A brilliant stands out above all Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of the eldest daughter Lindavery witty and self-confident efficient businesswoman. Nobody has a alibi except Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), the young woman caretaker of the old writer. The police arrive at the scene together with the private detective Benoît Blanc (Daniel Craig) conducting a parallel investigation. Because it is immediately clear that it could be a homocide and not a suicide, as appears from the first clues. And, above all, there is a recently changed will of which very few have news.
1. Dinner with crime a classic and old-fashioned investigation
Inserted among the 10 best films of 2019 by Stephanie Zacharek in the ranking of TimeDinner with crime is a meta-operation in which the director returns to the great classics crime of the golden years, giving awaiting comfort-zone. Go back to the past makes you feel protectedespecially in times like ours, when everything seems liquid and fluctuating.
No hyper-technological concession but one cozy space where anything can happen, yes, but within a reassuring opulent and mysterious structure. A real structure mystery. A temptation for fans of the genre, but also for those who want to spend two hours of absolute pleasantness. Rian Johnson himself has mentioned several thrillers how source of inspirationfrom A puzzle for the killer (1973) ad Murder on the Orient Express (1974), from Invitation to dinner with crime (1976) ad Murder in the mirror (1980) and Gosford Park (2001).
Daniel Craig is the private detective Benoît Blanc in the mystery film “Dinner with a Crime – Knives Out”. (01 Distribution)
2. A charismatic detective and the secrets of the upper class
In Dinner with crime situations, atmospheres and quotes return in which you can smell the scent of Agatha Christie as well as the pleasure ofinvestigation old style, footprint of mud on footprint of mud. It’s a detective – Benoît Blanca deliberately literary name that does not fail to arouse ironies from the other characters – discreet and brilliant, interpreted by a Daniel Craig from the expression sly. A presence fascinating And charismatic which contributed to the success of this bright vintage cocktail.
The colorful tribe of the Thrombey familywith its tics, its congenital rudeness, thearrogance as a way of lifethe striking paternalism, the moments passive-aggressive or just plain aggressive, it’s a masterpiece of upper-class hypocrisy. Remember the mechanisms common to all families but every defect is magnified byhabit of power. The viewer is attracted to it as if by a beautiful (poisoned) cake.
The way delicate social and racial issues are faced punishes the strong and for once rewards those who are disadvantaged: Marta Cabrerathe caregiver of the iron alibi, comes from a family Ecuadorian and the mother is an undocumented immigrant.
Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ana de Armas. (01 Distribution)
3. Nice ink and a lot of irony
An exceptional cast is not necessarily synonymous with a successful film, but in this case every actor has a little or big secret to hide, a secret that will be promptly revealed by history itself. Or from another character, perhaps posthumously and with the help ofcute ink. Is there anything more vintage than arsenic and old lace?
So Linda learns from a post-mortem note from her father Harlan that her husband Richard is cheating on her. And what about Nana ThrombeyHarlan’s very old mother, whose age no one knows but who is witness of every deception, of any disguise? The only one that cannot tell lies is Martawho suffers from a curious psychosomatic disorder: can not lie if not at the price of vomit copiously soon after. The body does not lie never: a grotesque detail that contrasts with the pretty look of the girl and who will be decisive for the detective’s investigation Benoît Blanc.
Moreover, he has already understood everything from the beginning. L’irony that captures the viewer it lies precisely in this: i Machiavellian plans of the family are defeated fromhonesty and from the inevitable transparency of a good soul. From one good person flanked by a valiant detective.
Katherine Callan as Wanetta “Nana” Thrombey in “Dinner with Murder” (01 Distribution)
4. Knives out, but the good guys win
It is important to point out that Dinner with crime she has not a dinner how main theme. It is only the fatal opening, that is the party for the 85th anniversary of Harlan Thrombey. The Italian title it is slightly misleading although it captures it spirit of history. The original title, Knives Outis much more raw and refers to brutal family conflicts that are unleashed in the presence of a conspicuous inheritance.
But that “Knives outIs also a precise reference to a symbolic object which appears as (questionable) piece of furniture in numerous scenes of the film. An armchair similar to a baroque thronebehind which, as in a post-modern installation, there is one wire mesh which are hung radially hundreds of daggers of all shapes and sizes. Paradoxically, the metaphorical Game of Thrones it will go to those who have never asked for it, but they deserve it.
And perhaps even in this lies another reason for which like the movie so much. After so many stories in which cynicism and opportunism triumph as inevitable traits of the real world, Dinner with crime takes us to a world where a detective – hired by the family themselves! – puts what is morally right above simpler mercenary considerations. A world in which the innocent they win. A small dose of justice and humor that doesn’t hurt.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Don Johnson and Michael Shannon. (01 Distribution)
5. The setting as a board game
Also there location plays a fundamental role inappeal. There mansion by Harlan Thrombey, similar to a castle and crammed with objects, carpets, windows that look everywhere, game boards, paintings and revolving walls is labyrinthine and as complex as the mind of its owner, who is at the same time crime writer and director of what happens.
If it’s true that the killer doesn’t have to be the butler, there active nature of the house it is openly declared: «But look! This it looks like the house of CluedoObserves a police officer addressing Benoît Blanc.
For fans of the famous Hasbro game and of British atmospheres (although shot in Massachussetts), Dinner with crime it turns out to be a delicious bite that does not disappoint and refreshes memories pre-Covid, with all the fun of discovery and taste of the mystery without worries existential.
Ana de Armas in the role of the caregiver Marta and, in the background, the large Thrombley Mansion, home of the writer Harlan Thrombley. (01 Distribution)
6. Soon the sequel
But for Benoît Blanc the work is only just beginning: in sequel coming soon, by title Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery for Netflix, our detective will go in Greece to solve a another mystery between new and extravagant suspects.
Also written and directed by Rian Johnson, produced by Johnson himself along with Ram Bergman, too Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery counts a luxury cast that includes Daniel Craig, Edward NortonJanelle Monáe, Jessica Henwick, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Madelyn Cline, along with Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. See you next time!
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