KNOWING

Director: Alex Proas

Running Time: 122 minutes.

Rated PG-13 (for disturbing images and brief language).

It's been a long time since I saw a movie that I wish I had directed.  KNOWING hits all cylinders with me.  It was poignant in its message and powerful in execution.   One can’t help but be sympathetic to the character of John Koestler (Nicolas Cage).  John has, in a sense, stopped living as he continues to mourn the death of his wife.  If it were not for his son Caleb, (Chandler Canterbury) he would not have purpose to go on.  The death of his wife contributes to his beliefs that the universe is made up of random events. As acounterpart professor of philosophy at MIT, John’s ideas are soon challenged.  A series of events follows involving his son.  Caleb’s elementary class will be opening up letters from their counterparts from 50 years ago placed in a time capsule.  This time capsule is buried underground.  John arrives just in time to watch the children each take a letter at random and read the message from students back in time.  The letter that Caleb opens is just a series of numbers in a random sequence.  Caleb dismisses this letter as his bad luck because there was no message.  It is not until that evening after Caleb is tucked in bed that John examines the numbers to figure out if there is any meaning in the pattern.   What follows will remind fans of the X-Files television show.   Fox Mulder in the series had a poster in his office which said "I want to believe”. The filmmaker allows John to uncover the possibility of meaning and significance.   He goes further by defining those meanings, suggesting that there may be a relationship between science and religious phenomenon;  that religion, science and mathematics are not mutually exclusive in our universe.  The growing debate of Darwin’s “The Origin of Life” and the discussion of Intelligent Design is at play in this film.  A good movie should challenge our thinking by showing us varying view points.  KNOWING Is refreshing in that it boldly takes a stance on Intelligent Design Theory.   The filmmaker creates a portrait of universe where there is meaning for the human existence.    When I first saw the film I was very interested in what the critics had to say. Roger Ebert gave it four stars.  I was delighted and very much agreed with his review.  However many of my friends did not share my enthusiasm.   I fail to understand why they missed it.  I went to see the movie the a second time and it held.  Convinced that I was right from my second viewing I decided to write this opinion.  I believe the film is masterful and underrated.  Great works are sometimes not celebrated by their contemporaries but gain respect in time.  Roger Ebert felt the same way and started a blog(Ebert’s Blog) to get a response from viewers.

    The movie is weak in one respect.  It is does not take a true Biblical interpretation of the end times.  The scriptural references are vague at best.  There are images referencing the book of Ezekiel.  The movie deals with the apocalyptic prophecies and boldly demonstrates how they will happen.  According to the Bible, the Earth as we know it will be destroyed by fire.  Salvation from that destruction is only through faith in the one Savior: The Christ.  (From here there will be spoilers.  IF you haven't see the movie be advised! )  The two children and the others who are spared from the catastrophe of the earth’s destruction  through fire seem to  have been raptured however they did not demonstrate a faith in Christ Jesus,   which is the scriptural prerequisite for salvation.  The fact that those who received the smooth stone were somewhat  randomly chosen suggests “Election”. .  The filmmaker suggest that there is a connection between faith and salvation however, faith in what?  Because the movie makes much of Biblical references we can only judge them in that light.  The reference  to the  smooth black stones  makes some sort of connection to the “rock of salvation”.  When Diana (Rose Byrne) dies we feel her death was in direct relationship to her panicked state and her lack of faith.  As she dies she holds in her hand one of the smooth stones suggesting that she was one of the chosen.  If the stone reflects a person’s faith, Diana did not demonstrate any faith at all.  The ending scene is fascinating to me.  We see an image of a young Adam and Eve being brought to a new world.    This is a picture of a new beginning in a golden wheat field.  In the distance is a large sparkling tree, another Biblical image.   In the scene we also see the space ship dropping off other chosen subjects.  As much as I applaud this great cinematic effort, I was disappointed it the lack of clarity at the end.  I believe it does not diminish its brilliance. 

    Every good movie deals with important life issues;  death, love, the fantastic, adventure, and enlightenment. KNOWING is thought-provoking and powerful and will in time find its place in the halls of great movies.    QuickTime Player is needed to view the following trailer;

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