Oscar Nominee Rian Johnson Cuts a Sharp Figure at Philadelphia Film Festival’s Knives Out Screening

Lights, Camera, Action … with a heavy on the lights!

Story, photos by Sharon Kozden

“We must look a little closer. And when we do, we see that the doughnut hole has a hole in its center. It is not a doughnut hole, but a smaller doughnut with its own hole, and our doughnut is not holed at all!” – Benoit Blanc (Knives Out)

The 2019 Philadelphia Film Festival (PFF) wrapped with yet another successful year (its 28th!) in the can. Running 11-days through October, the festival showcased 110 films at the Philadelphia Film Center. I had the distinct honor of attending the red-carpet premiere of the critically acclaimed Knives Out written, produced and directed by Rian Johnson.

Phillywood and Hollydelphia… I’ve heard both iterations of word play as Philadelphia continues its ascent as a major filmic contender on every level. According to the Philadelphia Film Society’s website, “PFS’s artistic team scours the world’s most prestigious film festivals from Sundance to Berlin, Cannes to Toronto for the year’s most highly anticipated, critically acclaimed, and thought provoking films.” Philly’s status as an industry powerhouse is precisely why I wasn’t the least bit surprised on the evening of his movie’s screening to spot Johnson walking outside the Film Center with several others, most of whom could be heard discussing a topic familiar to so many locals … the oft-debated Pat’s King of Steaks vs. Geno’s Steaks cheesesteak rivalry. Some jawns never change.

Cheesesteak digression aside, it was after having directed 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, when Johnson became keen on making a modern-day version of the classic whodunit murder mystery a la Agatha Christie, wherein post-murder, an assemblage of diverse characters become potential suspects until a whip-smart detective (think the fictional Hercule Poirot) interrogates them before proclaiming the guilty party in melodramatic, climatic fashion. Johnson felt it was high time to resurrect this whodunit genre, so when erstwhile spy-guy James Bond’s Daniel Craig signed on as the film’s suave, piano-plinking and wise-cracking detective Benoit Blanc, he of the confounding utterances (see above quote), other notables including Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, Ana de Armas and Don Johnson committed, and a stellar ensemble cast emerged.

Since the Philadelphia Film Festival preview, where it tied with “Come As You Are” for the prestigious and coveted Audience Award, “Knives Out” has had an incredible cinematic trajectory of awards’ bestowment from major Critics’ Associations to Golden Globes, BAFTA and the ultimate distinction … an Oscar nomination (Johnson’s first!) for “Best Original Screenplay.” The category also includes “Marriage Story,” “1917,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Parasite.” Not too shabby, this his competition. Far from it. The Academy Awards were not even on Johnson’s radar when his project to update the murder-mystery first began fomenting. According to the film maker, “This came from wanting to do something I love that audiences would have a great time watching. I never thought we’d be in the conversation. It’s surreal, I can’t wrap my head around it. We all grew up watching the Oscars on TV with our parents, and the notion of just being part of that somehow is just so surreal to me.”

I had wanted to begin this article by solving what I jokingly referred to as the film’s “real mystery” … the correct pronunciation of Johnson’s first name. But since the screening, with both motion picture and its writer-producer-director having been catapulted into the proverbial big leagues of critical and public acclaim … the household-name arena … no pronunciation guidance is necessary. If, however, there are a scant few readers who remain clueless, Rian is pronounced “Ryan.” Case closed, and you’re welcome. Super sleuth Benoit Blanc has nothing on my reportorial investigative skills!

After arriving at the Film Center and securing my press pass, I headed to the red-carpet area to ensure that my designated space was front and center, all the better to meet, greet and congratulate the proverbial Man of the Hour. Johnson appeared, sharp-looking in a suit and with hands pants-pocketed, which gave the impression that he was glad to be hanging with us, chatting amiably and providing thoughtful answers to the intelligent questions posed to him about his film(s), his craft and any future plans. No one asked who he was wearing. If I’m ever in a position to saunter along a red carpet, I have my prepared clever reply for that commonplace sartorial question. To wit: “I’m wearing my smile … an original moi.”

Once the filmmaker exited the red carpet, having graciously extended himself for photo ops and interviews, I nipped into the theatre, where Greater Philadelphia Film Office Executive Director Sharon Pinkenson was about to announce that the Alfre Woodard-helmed “Clemency” had won the Festival’s annual Pinkenson Award for Best Local Feature. Soon enough, the house lights dimmed as the audience settled in to watch the film that reviewer Olly Richards describes as “a daft, but also very clever, murder-mystery, packed with big stars, big laughs and – from Daniel Craig in particular – some very big acting.” And, he says, “Johnson’s control of so many characters and so many plot twists is extremely impressive, even more so for being so unshowy. He gets out of the film’s way and lets his story go haring off in all sorts of directions until it winds up at an ending that makes sense of a whole lot of madness that precedes it. And his script is as cool and oomphy as a well-made martini.“

Admittedly, I’d never before saw a script referred to as “oomphy.” My word-loving self had to know its meaning. According to Lexico, the adjective is slang for “strong, powerful; (especially of a woman) sexy and glamorous.” As Murray Franklin tells Arthur Fleck in JOKER, “I like that. I like that a lot.” Matter of fact, it would make a right smart vanity plate. When I’ve got my game on, I can oomph with the best of them.

Oomphy out.

PFC … where the annual Philadelphia Film Festival shines brightly.