Noise around. Review of ”A Quiet Place”
Horror creators from year to year transfer the usual sets of stamps and cliches to movie theaters. The last somewhat original solution was shown in "Paranormal Activity", released more than ten years ago, where the entire film was based on the visual absence of the very phenomenon. Perhaps it is this genre of cinema that most of all needs talented creators and fresh ideas. Moreover, in our time you can't just scare anyone: terrible and sinister monsters have remained in the last century, and new means of intimidation have not yet been invented.It was in this environment that the first talk about "A Quiet Place" by John Krasinski, known for his work on the series "The Office", appeared. And the closer the date of the premiere got, the wider the information field around the tape seemed. Critics wondered whether the framework would be extended and whether something new would appear in the genre. After the world release, the reviews of famous film publications were full of praise. Finally, a month later, the USA premiere took place.  According to the plot, due to the invasion of monsters that happened in the near future, which left the planet almost without population, a small number of survivors are in permanent danger. The main guarantee of survival in the new realities is the ability to produce as few sounds as possible. This is because the monsters are blind, but they have a very receptive hearing, which serves as their guiding feeling. The surviving married couple with children settled on a country farm and are engaged in growing vegetables and fishing. It would seem like a happy epilogue after the end of the world, but still ahead: a chain of random events puts the safety of the heroes at risk.  The main feature of "Quiet Place", as the name implies, lies in the sound design. The main motive is the absence of sounds, and their rare appearance, as expected, will be extremely bright and eloquent. The ideal solution, for example, would be to completely eliminate verbal dialogues in order to allow the character to utter one phrase at the very end. Such a contrast would cause a grandiose audience catharsis, and the film, like a work of art, would have an elegant yet loud ending. In reality, the denouement, although it represents something similar, is filled with such pathos that cannot always be found even in major Hollywood action films. And it absolutely does not tie in with a rather simple and unassuming plot.  The outset is also disappointing: there is no acquaintance with the world as such - no prehistory, no explanations, not even snippets of information from the past preceding the events of the film. Where did the monsters come from? What has become of humanity? Of course, a modest budget does not allow you to be scattered over the prefaces, but you can always come up with something, because it is not without reason that it is said that the need for invention is cunning. For example, George Romero's Land of the Dead, which has a budget of $ 2 million less than A Quiet Place, has a beautifully laid out backstory in the opening credits. Zack Snyder used a similar solution in Dawn of the Dead. In defense of the painting by John Krasinski, we can say that the main thing in it is the relationship of the characters, but belonging to the genre still requires a certain completeness.  Besides the background, the film lacks overall integrity. There are often no causal relationships between episodes; the logic of some decisions and actions of the characters contradicts common sense. At times, the drama becomes so cheap, like an almost expired stock item in a supermarket. All this together makes it difficult to empathize with the characters and immerse yourself in history.So, did "Quiet Place" bring that very novelty and did it go beyond the usual boundaries? Probably not. The main method of exposure is still the old, familiar screamers. On the other hand, it's impossible to imagine horror without them at all. The ringing of silence, forcing to listen to the slightest rustle and hold your breath, did not fill the space of the tape as often as we would like. Instead, the most ordinary soundtrack was played, of which there was even too much, which made the place no longer so quiet as musical. Therefore, there is almost no opportunity to listen to the beat of your own heart, accelerated from tension.  Despite the listed disadvantages, the tape cannot be called a failure. The fact is that the buzz around the premiere raised the bar of expectations to an unreasonably high level. In fact, we have a high-quality and interesting picture, but without the originality that everyone is talking about. The acting of the actors is above average, the carefully worked out relationships between the characters and the dynamic rhythm do not let you get bored within the chamber and space of the film, and the verified visual solutions cause some satisfaction with the picture.  If you look at the horror film from a different angle and imagine the monsters in the form of dangers and obstacles that face a young family in raising children, a certain meaning rises to the surface. The parental share is always a great responsibility both to children and to society, and the director reminds us of this once again. By no means low-quality, but just not living up to the high expectations "Quiet Place" in style and presentation can be compared with last year's "It" by Andres Muschetti. Perhaps they will be the harbingers of a new school of horror, in which, instead of an abundance of mysticism and bloodshed, an emphasis is placed on the depth of the drama and the personality of the characters. Krasinski does not rethink the old order and does not yet bring the notorious novelty into the genre, but he is already starting to pave the way for this. The Topic of Article: Noise around. Review of ”A Quiet Place”. |
