Did you ever skip to the end of a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book?
... and creating the mind of Harlan Thrombey on screen in Knives Out...
“The complexity and the gray lie not in the truth, but what you do with the truth once you have it”
Ransom? Are you back again already?
I’m joking, it’s not Great Nana Wanetta Thrombey, it’s me, Em. Back to ask you if you know who murdered Harlan Thrombey? Do you know who did it?
Or should I say Hugh did it?
After making a $1.3 billion indie film called Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson wanted to go back to an idea he’d first had in the mid 2000s - a murder mystery whodunit, based on the Agatha Christie novels he loved as a child, as well as the Choose Your Own Adventure books he also loved.
I used to skip to the end of Choose Your Own Adventure books, find the best ending, and then work back to try to fix the stories. Thankfully, Rian Johnson did not…
Creating Harlan Thrombey and the Thrombey family was a challenge, but creating Harlan’s house (the “ancestral family home bought in the ‘80s from a Pakistani real estate millionaire”) and belongings was an even bigger one. The Ames Mansion was one of the properties used, and it retains its period look and feel to this day. You’ll find all sorts of treasures in the background in key scenes. Look out for the automatons, the moving paintings and… the dioramas!
And finally…
“Its knowledge has reached the limits of this universe, and it must evolve. What it requires of its god, doctor, is the answer to its question, "Is there nothing more"?”
Bye!
Em x
"Verbal Diorama is a must listen for anyone who enjoys the wild world of movies and the "magic" it takes to make them. From the films we all know all too well to the obscure, Em puts love and passion into every episode she puts into the airwaves. One of the best podcasts around!"
Brett, Dissect That Film
