"All The Old Knives:" Will These Hands Ne’er Be Clean?

"All The Old Knives" presents an exciting scenario. An espionage film at its heart, "Knives" is fundamentally bolstered by themes of romance, although the true scope of the distinction is not fully felt until all the pieces come together. The film's action takes place nonlinearly and is predominately centered around one conversation shared between its two stars over dinner in the dreamy (soundstage) setting of the (real-life) California town Carmel-by-the-Sea.

"Knives" is a stylish film, and not only because of the California coastline, romantic Viennese streets, and a classic English pub. The film is pretty to look at, adds enough intrigue through cinematography, and keeps the viewer visually engaged. At moments of high tension surrounding the espionage and intrigue, the cinematography is evocative of classic film-noir visuals. This includes some poignant, cleverly-placed shadows emphasizing calculating eyes.

For a film that predominately features just two actors at any given time, the style is necessary. The pared-down cast is thanks to Covid, as the film was shot from December 2020 through March 2021. Before filming started, significant changes were made to various aspects of production. Among the changes included bringing on director Janus Metz in September of 2020, producing changes including Amazon Prime Video attaching itself to the project, Thandiwe Newton coming on opposite Chris Pine after Michelle Williams dropped out, and casting Laurence Fishburne and Jonathan Pryce a month before filming began. So many changes and decisions being made must have been a logistic and stylistic nightmare.

The integrity of the film's story was never really at risk because screenwriter Olen Steinhauer also penned the novel of the same name, which was published in 2015. Steinhauer's screenplay allows him to retain his original novel's character building, worldbuilding, and plot. Likewise, the screenplay is a compelling medium to explore the nonlinear timeline of the story as told by the two main characters. The plot is so nonlinear, in fact, that the beginning and end of the film mirror the same exact shots but are seen through different points of view thanks to the unfurling of events.

Hiring the original author to pen an adapted screenplay is not always the right call. For a story like "All The Old Knives," the benefits probably outweigh the costs. Probably. The caveat which must be addressed is the sheer banality of so many cliched lines of espionage genre dialogue littered throughout the film. How often can one hear lines such as, "Moscow was brutal...but I liked my job. And you?" "I was living the dream. I had a boss I adored. Knew I was making a difference. And I had you." Or, how about, "I don't want to do this anymore than you do;" "There's one thing I can't figure out about that night;" "How do I know that I'm out of this for good?" And so on, and so on. By using these examples, absolutely nothing about the plot was given away that can't already be gleaned from the film's logline because these few examples are so cliched that they're vague.

However, there is one possible explanation for why the dialogue can be so cliched, yet the story still works. "Knives" is not quite a conventional spy film. The plot is set around one dinner with two characters and follows a nonlinear plot structure thanks to the twists and turns of memory and conversation. Without giving anything away, the plot subverts the espionage genre significantly, which is what makes the investment of watching the film pay off. Perhaps, just maybe, the cliched dialogue can serve as a cheeky, metatheatrical, and very savvy literary tool to serve as a foil to the plot. Perhaps it's a stretch, but perhaps it's a stretch worth making for the sake of the espionage genre film.

"All The Old Knives" may perhaps flip the expectations of the espionage genre in a variety of ways. It is not unusual for the romance genre to imbue itself into an espionage film. However, what seems different about "Knives'" romance is the questioning and answering of the consequences. What doesn't change is the apparent need for a gratuitous sex scene. Although, much like "Crimson Peak" (2015), the bulk of the nudity is given to the male. Although male nudity taking the place of female nudity is not very revolutionary in 2022. Selling the romance of the film sells the twist in the espionage genre and, therefore, must be emphasized, but gratuity is gratuity.

Without giving too much away, "Knives" also questions the espionage drama not just in setting and writing but by challenging the audience to broaden their expectations. For "Knives," the mystery element of an espionage drama is toyed with through an unconventional cinematic mole hunt. For a story centered around an airplane hijacking post-9/11, "Knives" also takes a refreshing approach by subtly questioning America's foreign policy and creating its own enemies, including spies.

The story told in "Knives," and given its predominant setting inside one restaurant, would be a very intriguing and perhaps more medium-appropriate adaptation as a stage play. Hire the same cast, for sure, if they're willing to spend some time on Broadway or the West End. A story like "Knives" would pack such a more brutal emotional punch live, in a theatre, with the audience reaction and raw energy.

Overall, "All the Old Knives" would make an interesting genre case study using many of these talking points in the university classroom. For general audiences, the tone and style of the film may be too slow and just a little too unconventional. However, audiences who are genuinely interested in and can track trends of espionage genre films may find the story and execution of the film interesting. Despite surprising intrigue within the genre, "Knives" will, unfortunately, be relegated to its corner of Amazon Prime Video's streaming void, where it will find a comfortable home.