Everybody Knows, also known as Todos Lo Saben, is a Spanish-language film.
This thriller-themed psychology film was written and directed by Asgar Farhadi, an Iranian filmmaker who is known for his film works often being subscribed to an Oscar winner and other film festivals such as; The Salesman, The Past, A Separation, and About Elly. This film stars famous actors and actresses such as Javier Bardem who was previously famous for his antagonistic role
Laura returned to the village where she came from after all this time in Argentina to attend her sister’s wedding. The husband cannot come with work reasons. But he was not alone, he was accompanied by his two children including his eldest son who had been a teenager Irene. There Irene was attracted to teenage boys his age who told Irene a secret. The secret is that his mother had long-standing love with a man who was considered a family by Laura’s extended family, Paco. He said it was not entirely confidential. “Todos lo saben”, everyone knows that.
Asghar Farhadi’s narrative style does not change nor does he maintain the attention of the audience so that we remain interested in the stories and situations he creates such as making all characters suspect and should not only be in the minds of the audience, the characters also openly accuse each other each other even though they are family. Yes, if you have ever watched the film Asghar Farhadi, you would know very well that he is an expert when it comes to family dramas that lead to accusing each other. He thought, Everyone has a dark side. Everyone has a motive. Everyone knows. Games Online dan Offline
But when teenage daughter Laura Irene was kidnapped, Farhadi used the figurative genre of thriller to explore dynamics between characters, reveal their secrets again and explore their past, but revelation unfortunately was unattractive, the dark side of the character unattractive, as well as an explanation of the crime, was not explained, far from deep words so that when all that is known to the audience there is no impression felt, the audience will assume it is a must-have element, not special.
In the end, the point is more than just kidnapping and money. EVERYBODY KNOW has a strong layer of a melodrama which is handled well by the appearance of the actors and the director’s directives. And there are, sometimes, issues that make sense. What makes this film so captivating is the confidence of the game ensemble cast, presented in a more honest and indirect way indirectly to puzzles like Farhadi’s previous work. There is something that can be watched carefree and fun like the big wedding scene, with traces of Coppola or Cimino in its scope.
At the end of almost all of his films, Farhadi solved everything, so there was no real mystery left in the minds of viewers. The reality of human life is partial, inaccessible, and mysterious, but in Farhadi’s so-called “realist films”, every action is also carefully planned. The same thing happened to the secrets of Everybody Know – about Laura and Paco and the kidnapper’s motives, but perhaps no one would remember or care about the film a few hours later.
But fortunately Farhadi has very powerful actors. Javier Bardem continues to emit a positive aura even though his character is in a situation of hopelessness and extraordinary dilemma, with a resounding he continues to maintain it even until the film ends. Ricardo Darin is also an expert in processing facial expressions so that his character keeps diligently injecting and turning the wheel of conflict. And Penelope Cruz shines from beginning to end as the leading role at the center of intimidation, so there is no harm in including him as the next Best Actres Oscar candidate. But there is one thing that should not be forgotten is Barbàra Lennie who plays Paco’s wife. He managed to become a realistic center of the chaos of this situation, throughout the film he became a council of viewers who also played an active role in playing conflicts, especially in the character of Paco.
Overall, EVERYBODY KNOW did fulfill his duty as the film Asghar Farhadi, one of the most influential directors at the moment. In terms of camera setup, story types, to conflict types and concepts, all are Farhadi’s. These elements still work well, attracting the attention and admiration of the audience for the visual beauty and storytelling that are presented. But maybe this is the weakest film. It’s a bit unfortunate that when he has actors like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, he actually declines in terms of quality. Speeches that tend to spin. Rotating scenes, overly draging, and unattractive character backgrounds (which should be an important point) make the duration which reaches 2 hours as if not utilized as perfectly as usual. Everybody knows that EVERYBODY KNOW, so far from Oscar.