Unknown

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2012)

Unknown
"That he may discover the worlds inside love," a quote displayed in Unknown, insignificant to the movie just as Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neelson) is in this film. Directed in 2011, by Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, Orphan), Unknown follows the story of a Botanist, who travels to Berlin with his wife (January Jones) in order to attend a convention, though the excursion gets short-lived when Dr. Harris gets into an accident, inducing him to a Coma and wakes up to find out his identity has been stolen. Filled with unpredictable yet foreseeable events, this plot twisting thriller uses technique and symbolism known as the Dutch tilt/oblique angle and foreshadowing.
Even though the movie is shot in Berlin, Germany director Jaume Collet-Serra uses the Dutch tilt thrice in this film, to enhance the psychological tension in all three scenes. The first scene expresses the confusion Dr. Harris is feeling when his wife doesn't "know" who he is, the handling of the Dutch tilt in this scene suggests the disorientation of reality that he is facing. A subsequent scene in the film unfolds a picture that the alleged Dr. Harris presents to Liam Neelson's character, to show proof that he is the "real" Dr. Martin Harris. Neelson's figure views the photograph, the Dutch tilt is slightly used to add the emotional effect of shock, and lead Neelson's character to faint. The last use of the Dutch tilt comes in a scene when Dr. Harris (Neelson) is drugged by an unidentified man, when Harris escapes his confines he starts to make his approach out of the hospital. What I like most about this specific scene, is as Harris hurriedly stumbles his way to freedom, the Dutch tilt is used to show the drowsiness caused by the drugs inserted in him.
The technique used to emphasize psychological distortion is well used, just as exceptional as the symbolic meanings in the film. Looking carefully, most thrillers and plot twisting movies throw in a bit of symbolism to allow the audience to play around with what could happen later in the film. Whether the symbolism is the setting of season or a certain object in the film that could lead to foreshadowing. The season in Unknown is Winter, the season of death, which allows the audience to guess that a certain type of death or killing will be arising in later events. Matching the season is the white and light blue tone of color the film uses to apprehend the dull lifeless setting of the confused Dr. Harris. One aspect of foreshadowing is actually in the first ten minutes of the film, when a close-up of Dr. Harris' briefcase is shown alone in a luggage carrier, to suggest that he left his briefcase at the airport and will go back and attempt to reclaim his belonging, in which he does.
Captivating and mind twisting in every aspect, Unknown is an eye absorbing original thriller that everyone should witness, especially if looking for a brain twister. Liam Neelson. yet again, gives a vigorous performance leeching off of his hit movie Taken. Neelson may have a hard time trying to find his daughter and identity, but in the end it won't be hard to find this movie on DVD.

Marcel Urena

3.5/5