Glass Onion goes from recording studio to screen
Glass Onion is a song recorded by The Beatles in 1968. A perky, rock ‘n roll tune, it is included in the sumptuous While Album where it shares space with the likes of Back in the U.S.S.R, I Will, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Blackbird and other goodies. It was composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Glass Onion was meant to be Lennon’s rejoinder to fans who kept finding hidden meanings in the songs of the Beatles. So, in a cheeky mood he peeled off some layers from Strawberry Fields, Lady Madonna, The Fool on the Hill, the Walrus and others to show them up as the simple tunes that they were and to put some myths to rest.
Fifty-four years later, Glass Onion is now also the title of a Knives Out mystery movie showing on Netflix. It was a no-brainer that I would sit down to watch this one. Not only because it has an interesting title, concocted by Lennon and McCartney but because the first Knives Out movie, which starred Christopher Plummer and Jamie Lee Curtis, was so good. And Knives Out writer and director Rian Johnson with his quirky mind is also on top of Glass Onion.
There is also Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc once more effectively out on a lark with his take on Columbo but with a Continental flair leading an all-star ensemble — Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, and Madylyn Cline.
And then, there is the beautiful Janelle Monae who is one great singer, hers is the voice you hear on We are Young by the group fun, and also one fantastic actress. Check her out in Hidden Figures, Moonlight, Dirty Computer and Harriet. Memorable films all, but the Monae performance that everybody will enjoy and remember happens in Glass Onion.
Johnson once more hews close to the Agatha Christie whudunit formula. You know, gather all the suspects and possible victims in one room or one place. Then, start unraveling the clues while they are unable to escape. In this case, the place is an island paradise in Greece where the tech billionaire Miles Bron played by Norton has built an elaborate estate with a mansion topped by a huge Glass Onion.
Bron’s guests are supposedly his friends from his pre-billionaire days when they used to hang out in a bar named Glass Onion. They call themselves the Disruptors. Initially, they all seem glad to see one another and are looking forward to a nice weekend where they would play at solving a murder mystery concocted by Bron. But it turns out that they all harbor dangerous secrets and carry axes to grind.
Given that situation, what are they to make of two unexpected guests. The seemingly clueless detective Blanc, uninvited but armed with the coveted invitation card and Monae, invited and ready to disrupt everything but not expected to be there.
A lot of peeling and revealing happens in Glass Onion and this is all done with a cleverly written script that explodes with witty dialogue; with the eye-popping photography of the wondrous scenery, the lavish sets, the dazzling costumes; and in the background a killer soundtrack of music by the Beatles, the Bee Gees, the Little River Band, David Bowie even Nat King Cole all sewn together by an exciting score.
Johnson peels this stylish glass onion in a most entertaining manner. The result is so much fun. It is so enjoyable that Glass Onion has become a very strange whudunit picture. It is the kind you will want to watch again although you already know all the answers.
I have. Well, I wanted to get another look at those chic raffia straw bags that Monae is lugging around and then to watch the tension build-up into that spectacular, cathartic climax. I say WOW!
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