Knowing

I went into Knowing nervous about how far into silly-dom it would try to take me. And try it did, but Knowing is also scary and beautiful. It tells an intriguing story with a twist on the ever popular apocalyptic themes so popular since the 40s and 50s.

In it, science professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), poses questions to his class regarding Randomness vs Determinism. He asks if things happen randomly, or if they happen because of an unbroken chain of prior events. The theme comes up over and over.

Later, we see him grappling with this idea again when his son is given a paper pulled out of a time capsule. The paper is covered with numerals which seem random, but which quickly reveal patterns to the professor, successfully listing past catastrophes and seeming to prophesy future ones.

Armed with the knowledge of what the pattern forbodes, the professor leads us through a gleefully cataclysmic thriller, attempting to solve the last few numerical sequences and avoid impending disaster. Two fantastic sequences involve a plane crash and a subway train disaster, together worth, in my opinion, the price of the movie ticket.

I paid the price of the ticket, however, because I have long been interested in how we know things, and I wanted to see what the film had to say. We learn because of patterns, and some of them are red herrings. This is the premise upon which the mystery of the movie develops. I did at one point think the movie should have been called "Believing" rather than Knowing; however I quickly changed my mind. The story was so well told that I remembered...no, I knew what the statistics meant. Famous Temple mathematician John Allen Paulos once showed that a 15,000,000 to 1 chance in a Lottery is zero chance, and suddenly I really understood how that could be. I also understood that when John in the movie shows the unfailing number sequence to match world events with validity and reliability beyond a doubt, that he is absolutely correct. I loved that I could still feel excited about that, despite 2 gruelling years of Stats in University!

Even still, the number sequence is a contrived and nonsensical device used to convince the audience there is "Purpose". In the film, an "earth overseer" of sorts telepathically inserts the number sequence into the minds of the children who record it. These children then become sombre and "all-knowing" - another horror movie standard. This idea of earth caretakers is another an old fantasy/sci-fi favorite, better done by Arthur C Clarke in such works as Childhood's End, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. We also guess early-on that the overseers may be aliens, but they more resemble the "Low Men" of Stephen King novels. Other symbols provide the audience a comfortable shorthand of ideas, including the dilapidated old mansion from horrow films, and rabbits as symbols of fertility, changing of seasons, and rebirth.

But the story is presented with sumptuous camera work, color, and flawless arrangements in the frame. It is stunning to look at. My favorite scene among so many of beauty is near the end when Cage is photographed in the woods on a flat bed of black stones, which, themselves, provide visual connections throughout. I could have stared into that scene for much longer with great satisfaction.

So you must come to your own conclusions about the randomness of events, and what mankind might become in the future. But the movie left me on a very optimistic note. It promises that, at least in this movie world, when our species re-invents itself and begins anew, we will all be vegetarians. How wonderful that new world would be!

Knowing is a Summit Entertainment release directed by Alex Proyas.