The Knot (Li Yin, 2006): China/Taiwan

Reviewed by Alex Descano. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2011.

The Chinese film, The Knot, by director Li Yin was boring to say the least. The only reason I saw this film was because the one I had intended to see was sold out and this one was the only other film playing at the theater. As if missing the film I had hoped to see wasn’t disappointing enough, being forced to sit through nearly two hours of an excruciatingly dull film really put a damper on my evening.

Before the screening of the film began, Li Yin presented himself and explained it was his first time here in America. He said that immediately upon arriving in the country he noticed that Americans talk a lot and use a great deal of dialogue. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this comment would definitely turn out to be a red flag regarding his movie.

The majority of the film had barely, if any, dialogue at all. This fact certainly did not help in my understanding of the film or my ability to realize what was even taking place in it. Being how none of the characters said much ever, it was extremely difficult to determine what was going on in the film. More often than not, I found myself asking “what?” because I was so confused. The lack of dialogue also made for an extremely boring film. Since there was nothing to listen to or follow, I was forced to just watch silent scenes which were easy to lose interest in.

There was also practically no development of characters in the film either. In fact, there weren’t even any introductions of the characters so I was completely oblivious as to whom everyone was and what their purpose was in the film.

After seeing the film, I researched it online in hopes of gaining a better understanding of it. I was extremely surprised to see it was listed as a drama/war/romance film. Perhaps there were times in the film when a few of the characters were romantic with each other or fought with one another, possibly construing it as romantic or dramatic. The altitude of these themes in the film, however, were so incredibly low that is almost impossible to see how it might be classified as either genre. I’m very certain, also, that I did not see any reference to war in the film at all so I was utterly baffled as to why it would be listed under that.

I think it is obvious there was an enormous cultural barrier for me when watching this film. I simply did not understand or enjoy any part of it; therefore, I am assuming the fact that I am ignorant to Chinese culture must be the reason for this. I believe Chinese and American cultures are almost polar opposites, which is why I was not able to appreciate any reference to Chinese culture in the film, or even recognize it for that matter. In fact, certain scenes in the film were rather disturbing to me. For instance, the scene in which the main female character is beaten by her father-in-law really struck me the wrong way. Seeing a small, fragile woman get brutally hit in the face by a man was rather horrifying to see.

If it isn’t clear enough, I would definitely not recommend anyone to go see this film. I actually ended up walking out of it before it was over, so I can say with the utmost confidence it is not worth wasting your money on.