Jump to content

Knowing (film): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
bolding, last good version
Line 28: Line 28:
In 1959, a competition is held amongst the students of a new elementary school to celebrate its opening. The winning plan, from student Lucinda Embry, is to bury a time capsule containing the students' drawings of the future to be opened 50 years later in 2009. She is prevented from finishing her image, which is actually a series of seemingly random numbers, and goes missing during the ceremony. Her teacher later finds her in a gym closet, frantically scratching the remaining numbers into the wood of the door. Fifty years later, the time capsule is opened and the pictures are handed down to the new generation of students. Caleb, the son of [[MIT]] professor and [[astrophysics|astrophysicist]] John Koestler, receives Lucinda's envelope. While initially dismissing them as random numbers, John accidentally discovers that the numbers have accurately predicted the dates, death tolls, and locations of every major disaster in the last 50 years; three of the events have not yet occurred.
In 1959, a competition is held amongst the students of a new elementary school to celebrate its opening. The winning plan, from student Lucinda Embry, is to bury a time capsule containing the students' drawings of the future to be opened 50 years later in 2009. She is prevented from finishing her image, which is actually a series of seemingly random numbers, and goes missing during the ceremony. Her teacher later finds her in a gym closet, frantically scratching the remaining numbers into the wood of the door. Fifty years later, the time capsule is opened and the pictures are handed down to the new generation of students. Caleb, the son of [[MIT]] professor and [[astrophysics|astrophysicist]] John Koestler, receives Lucinda's envelope. While initially dismissing them as random numbers, John accidentally discovers that the numbers have accurately predicted the dates, death tolls, and locations of every major disaster in the last 50 years; three of the events have not yet occurred.


When the first event occurs, a commercial plane crash which kills 81, the legitimacy of the numbers is confirmed. As his wife died in one of the past events, John starts to believe his son was chosen to get Lucinda's prophecies for a reason. After Caleb receives a vision of future global catastrophe from a silent man, John tries to contact the late Lucinda's daughter, Diana, to gain more information, but is rebuffed. But when John also predicted the second event, a collision between New York Metro trains, killing people on both trains and on the platform, Diana and her daughter, Abby, visit John and Caleb. They investigate Lucinda's old mobile home in the woods, discovering walls of news clippings of the events and a drawing of [[Merkabah]] (Ezekiel's Wheel). During their investigation, the group encounters the silent man and three others, who vanish in a flash of light when John confronts them. Later Caleb is found writing numbers very similar to the ones that Lucinda wrote without realizing what he is doing. This may suggest that those numbers are predictions for future events. As a result of the confrontation, Abby is revealed to have been contacted by the "whisperers."
When the first event occurs, a commercial plane crash which kills 81, the legitimacy of the numbers is confirmed. As his wife died in one of the past events, John starts to believe his son was chosen to get Lucinda's prophecies for a reason. After Caleb receives a vision of future global catastrophe from a silent man, John tries to contact the late Lucinda's daughter, Diana, to gain more information, but is rebuffed. But when John also predicted the second event, a collision between two [[New York City Subway]] trains, killing people on both trains and on the platform, Diana and her daughter, Abby, visit John and Caleb. They investigate Lucinda's old mobile home in the woods, discovering walls of news clippings of the events and a drawing of [[Merkabah]] (Ezekiel's Wheel). During their investigation, the group encounters the silent man and three others, who vanish in a flash of light when John confronts them. Later Caleb is found writing numbers very similar to the ones that Lucinda wrote without realizing what he is doing. This may suggest that those numbers are predictions for future events. As a result of the confrontation, Abby is revealed to have been contacted by the "whisperers."


Initially believing that the last event will kill only 33, John eventually re-examines the numbers after Diana's mention on how her daughter used to write numbers and letters backward. He discovers that the final digits are not "33", but actually "EE" written backwards, and the upcoming event is a massive [[solar flare]] that will be so strong, it will kill "Everyone Else". As Diana prepares to travel to a system of caves she believes will save them, John breaks into the school to steal the door Lucinda scratched the numbers on. At his house, he begins to scrape the paint off the door, but Diana refuses to wait for him, and leaves with the kids. As the solar flare begins to reach Earth, it begins to disrupt cell phone signals, preventing John from contacting Diana. She finally is able to contact John through a gas station pay phone, and he tells her that the coordinates are those of her mother's house, which he believes is safe, while the caves won't protect them from the solar flare's radiation. When panic erupts at the gas station following the government's announcement of the solar flare, two of the "whisperers" hijack Diana's car with the two children. Giving chase in another car, Diana is killed trying to run a red light, dying exactly at midnight, on the very day her mother predicted.
Initially believing that the last event will kill only 33, John eventually re-examines the numbers after Diana's mention on how her daughter used to write numbers and letters backward. He discovers that the final digits are not "33", but actually "EE" written backwards, and the upcoming event is a massive [[solar flare]] that will be so strong, it will kill "'''E'''veryone '''E'''lse". As Diana prepares to travel to a system of caves she believes will save them, John breaks into the school to steal the door Lucinda scratched the numbers on. At his house, he begins to scrape the paint off the door, but Diana refuses to wait for him, and leaves with the kids. As the solar flare begins to reach Earth, it begins to disrupt cell phone signals, preventing John from contacting Diana. She finally is able to contact John through a gas station pay phone, and he tells her that the coordinates are those of her mother's house, which he believes is safe, while the caves won't protect them from the solar flare's radiation. When panic erupts at the gas station following the government's announcement of the solar flare, two of the "whisperers" hijack Diana's car with the two children. Giving chase in another car, Diana is killed trying to run a red light, dying exactly at midnight, on the very day her mother predicted.


Arriving back at Lucinda's mobile home, John discovers the children are safe and comfortable in the presence of the "whisperers." The "whisperers" are revealed to be ethereal angel-like beings who invite the children to escape the destruction "to help everyone start over." At first, Caleb is very reluctant to go when his father is not invited to come along; John successfully persuades him to go, saying that they will be together again eventually. The group of "whisperers" leave Earth on their "ship," a massive structure resembling Ezekiel's Wheel, as other ships also depart Earth. As anarchy reigns in New York, John arrives to be with his father, mother, and sister just as the solar flare strikes the Earth and kills everyone. In the last scene, Caleb and Abby are dropped off on what appears to be a new Earth (albeit with at least two moons) as the other ships drop off their passengers. The movie ends as the two children, dressed in entirely white clothing, run toward a large white tree, possibly being the [[Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian)|Tree of Life]].
Arriving back at Lucinda's mobile home, John discovers the children are safe and comfortable in the presence of the "whisperers." The "whisperers" are revealed to be ethereal angel-like beings who invite the children to escape the destruction "to help everyone start over." At first, Caleb is very reluctant to go when his father is not invited to come along; John successfully persuades him to go, saying that they will be together again eventually. The group of "whisperers" leave Earth on their "ship," a massive structure resembling Ezekiel's Wheel, as other ships also depart Earth. As anarchy reigns in New York, John arrives to be with his father, mother, and sister just as the solar flare strikes the Earth and kills everyone. In the last scene, Caleb and Abby are dropped off on what appears to be a new Earth (albeit with at least two moons) as the other ships drop off their passengers. The movie ends as the two children, dressed in entirely white clothing, run toward a large white tree, possibly being the [[Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian)|Tree of Life]].

Revision as of 01:44, 24 March 2009

Knowing
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlex Proyas
Written byAlex Proyas
Stuart Hazeldine
Juliet Snowden
Produced byTodd Black
Jason Blumenthal
Steve Tisch
StarringNicolas Cage
Rose Byrne
CinematographySimon Duggan
Edited byRichard Learoyd
Music byMarco Beltrami
Distributed bySummit Entertainment
Release date
March 20, 2009
Running time
121 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million[1]

Knowing is a 2009 science fiction/disaster film directed by Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage. The project was originally attached to a number of directors under Columbia Pictures, but it was placed in turnaround and eventually picked up by Escape Artists. Production was financially backed by Summit Entertainment, which also distributed the film. Knowing was filmed in Melbourne, Australia, using various locations to represent the film's setting, Boston. The film was released on March 20, 2009 in the United States and Canada.

Plot

In 1959, a competition is held amongst the students of a new elementary school to celebrate its opening. The winning plan, from student Lucinda Embry, is to bury a time capsule containing the students' drawings of the future to be opened 50 years later in 2009. She is prevented from finishing her image, which is actually a series of seemingly random numbers, and goes missing during the ceremony. Her teacher later finds her in a gym closet, frantically scratching the remaining numbers into the wood of the door. Fifty years later, the time capsule is opened and the pictures are handed down to the new generation of students. Caleb, the son of MIT professor and astrophysicist John Koestler, receives Lucinda's envelope. While initially dismissing them as random numbers, John accidentally discovers that the numbers have accurately predicted the dates, death tolls, and locations of every major disaster in the last 50 years; three of the events have not yet occurred.

When the first event occurs, a commercial plane crash which kills 81, the legitimacy of the numbers is confirmed. As his wife died in one of the past events, John starts to believe his son was chosen to get Lucinda's prophecies for a reason. After Caleb receives a vision of future global catastrophe from a silent man, John tries to contact the late Lucinda's daughter, Diana, to gain more information, but is rebuffed. But when John also predicted the second event, a collision between two New York City Subway trains, killing people on both trains and on the platform, Diana and her daughter, Abby, visit John and Caleb. They investigate Lucinda's old mobile home in the woods, discovering walls of news clippings of the events and a drawing of Merkabah (Ezekiel's Wheel). During their investigation, the group encounters the silent man and three others, who vanish in a flash of light when John confronts them. Later Caleb is found writing numbers very similar to the ones that Lucinda wrote without realizing what he is doing. This may suggest that those numbers are predictions for future events. As a result of the confrontation, Abby is revealed to have been contacted by the "whisperers."

Initially believing that the last event will kill only 33, John eventually re-examines the numbers after Diana's mention on how her daughter used to write numbers and letters backward. He discovers that the final digits are not "33", but actually "EE" written backwards, and the upcoming event is a massive solar flare that will be so strong, it will kill "Everyone Else". As Diana prepares to travel to a system of caves she believes will save them, John breaks into the school to steal the door Lucinda scratched the numbers on. At his house, he begins to scrape the paint off the door, but Diana refuses to wait for him, and leaves with the kids. As the solar flare begins to reach Earth, it begins to disrupt cell phone signals, preventing John from contacting Diana. She finally is able to contact John through a gas station pay phone, and he tells her that the coordinates are those of her mother's house, which he believes is safe, while the caves won't protect them from the solar flare's radiation. When panic erupts at the gas station following the government's announcement of the solar flare, two of the "whisperers" hijack Diana's car with the two children. Giving chase in another car, Diana is killed trying to run a red light, dying exactly at midnight, on the very day her mother predicted.

Arriving back at Lucinda's mobile home, John discovers the children are safe and comfortable in the presence of the "whisperers." The "whisperers" are revealed to be ethereal angel-like beings who invite the children to escape the destruction "to help everyone start over." At first, Caleb is very reluctant to go when his father is not invited to come along; John successfully persuades him to go, saying that they will be together again eventually. The group of "whisperers" leave Earth on their "ship," a massive structure resembling Ezekiel's Wheel, as other ships also depart Earth. As anarchy reigns in New York, John arrives to be with his father, mother, and sister just as the solar flare strikes the Earth and kills everyone. In the last scene, Caleb and Abby are dropped off on what appears to be a new Earth (albeit with at least two moons) as the other ships drop off their passengers. The movie ends as the two children, dressed in entirely white clothing, run toward a large white tree, possibly being the Tree of Life.

Cast

Production

Knowing was originally written by novelist Ryne Pearson, and the project was set up at Columbia Pictures. Both Rod Lurie and Richard Kelly were attached as directors, but the film eventually went into turnaround. The project was picked up by the production company Escape Artists, and the script was rewritten by Stiles White and Juliet Snowden. Director Alex Proyas was attached to direct the project in February 2005.[2] Summit Entertainment took on the responsibility to fully finance and distribute the film. Proyas and Stuart Hazeldine rewrote the draft for production,[3] which began on March 25, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.[4] The director hoped to emulate The Exorcist in melding "realism with a fantastical premise".[5]

The film is set in Boston, and to represent the city, filmmakers used Australian locations such as Geelong Ring Road, Melbourne Museum, Mount Macedon, and Collins Street.[1] Filming also took place at Camberwell High School, which was converted into William Dawes Elementary, set in Boston circa 1958.[6] Interior shots took place at the Australian Synchrotron to represent an observatory.[7][8] Filming also took place at the Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts.[9] In addition to practical locations, filming also took place at the Melbourne Central City Studios in Docklands.[10]

Proyas used a Red One digital camera, making the film the first time the director used digital cameras.[11] He sought to capture a gritty and realistic look to the film, and his approach involved a continuous two-minute take in which Cage's character sees a plane crash and attempts to rescue passengers. The take was an arduous task, taking two days to set up and two days to shoot. Proyas explained the goal, "I did that specifically to not let the artifice of visual effects and all the cuts and stuff we can do, get in the way of the emotion of the scene."[12]

Reception

Knowing was commercially released in 3,332 theaters in the United States and Canada on March 20, 2009,[13] grossing an estimated $24.8 million in its opening weekend, placing first at the box office.[14] Rotten Tomatoes reported that 24% of critics gave the film positive write-ups based upon a sample of 78, with an average score of 4.4/10.[15] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 39 based on 25 reviews.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Ziffer, Daniel (April 7, 2008). "Night at the museum". The Age. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  2. ^ Laporte, Nicole (February 16, 2005). "Proyas digs 'Knowing' gig". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  3. ^ Fleming, Michael (December 10, 2007). "Cage to star in Proyas' 'Knowing'". Variety. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Byrne Set for Sci-Fi Thriller Knowing". VFXWorld.com. AWN, Inc. March 4, 2008. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  5. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (July 24, 2008). "SDCC 08: Knowing When to Push". IGN. Retrieved November 26, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  6. ^ Metlikovec, Jane (March 30, 2008). "Nicolas Cage goes back to school". Herald Sun. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ Bernecich, Adrian (October 28, 2008). "Powerhouse for research". Waverly Gazette. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "International Film Shot at Australian Synchrotron" (PDF). Lightspeed. Australian Synchrotron Company, Ltd. April 1, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  9. ^ Minch, Jack (September 23, 2008). "Hollywood coming to Westford". The Sun. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Wigney, James (April 27, 2008). "Nicolas's golden cage an empty shell". Herald Sun. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  11. ^ Fischer, Paul (August 6, 2008). "SDCC Interview: Alex Proyas for Knowing". Retrieved December 13, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ Minnick, Remy (August 12, 2008). "Alex Proyas: And Knowing Is Half The Battle". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 26, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Knowing (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 21, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 22, 2009). "'Knowing' tops weekend box office". Variety. Retrieved March 22, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Knowing Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved March 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. ^ "Knowing (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved March 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Template:Box Office Leaders USA

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowing_(film)&oldid=279282518"