Minimal Knowledge

I heard about this film from a friend of mine who frequents the film festival circuit. He called me up and said that I must see it! I caught the film twice, once at the Garden State Film Festival in April and again at the Miami Latino Festival. I have to say that I was quite impressed! The central theme of reincarnation fascinated me. While Hollywood continues to make the run of the mill action/thrillers, Independents like "Murder Reincarnated" made me ponder not just the reason behind the murders in the film, but is there an after-life? What does this life that we have ultimately mean, the purpose of living each day, etc. Please see this film. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I came away from this film with a feeling that I had seen something at once original and promising. Original in that the story is so refreshingly different to the Hollywood formula. Promising in that under what must have been a challenging budget, the cast and crew did such a great job. Look out for these names in the future. A good film, thoroughly recommended.

I recently saw Minimal Knowledge at SEDONA. The film portrayed Reincarnation, Religion, Action, Love, and Mystery. The editing was solid, the acting was a lot better than I expected, and the screenplay itself was both original and intriguing. If this was done on a higher budget, I could definitely see this premise doing very well. The characters were well-developed and kept us guessing. The filmmakers obviously have some talent taking a script that should be done on a very high-budget and doing it for practically potatoes. And better yet, they pulled it off. I do these festivals quite often and it was finally nice to see something worth while. I highly recommend watching for these filmmakers in the future.

Minimal Knowledge is an ambitious start for these two feature filmmakers. Just from viewing it once, it is clear that the film has been meticulously crafted and cared for since its early stages. This, alone, makes the film standout as an alternative to so many Hollywood films that seem to be careless tossed together with little regard to plot, characters or style.

The film is unique because suggests the idea of reincarnation, but ultimately allows the audience to make up its own mind. It is clear which of the characters' view point the film `agrees' with, but we, as audience members, are given the freedom to take the `facts' presented to us in the film and draw our own conclusion. Thus we approach this film differently from others, because we are constantly trying to assess our beliefs towards the kind of reincarnation suggested (that of Minimal Knowledge), while we watch and also try to unravel the murder mystery. We are engaged in both of Matty's conflicts - but at the end of the film, we still get to take one home with us.

The story line is original and rich, and the characters are well thought-out. For a digital video production, the cinematography was complex and vivid. While there were some elements that could have been altered or omitted to give the film a bit more of a mature look, it is an incredible first attempt at a feature length film. It visually portrays New Jersey as only a homegrown feature can!

As an 'older folk' it was a pleasure to view the April 11th screening of Minimal Knowledge at the Garden State Film Festival. For me action spoke louder than words on the screen. A facial expression, a close-up or long shot, an angle that framed the mood, all giving emphasis to enhance the story. Flashbacks, subtitles, and scenes with an almost black and white look, added to the emotion and gave the film an ease to follow and to stay with. .

I felt the reincarnation angle was treated as an interesting story, rather than an oddity. I was pleased that Izabella Miko's role as a young woman who lived, and was yet to live other lives was acted and directed to be like a 'regular person' rather than making her odd.

I was totally amazed at all the touches that stand out, both verbal and visual and still combine comfortably to create a story.