What really happened? How did this University of Washington student get arrested and then set free for a crime that has no evidence of her involvement? Amanda Knox answers most of the questions for the Italian court case with facts that never cease to astonish throughout the whole film. The film has a stark tone for the case that created so many mixed emotions among the public. Different sides of the story are constantly revealed as justifications for the case outcomes are created by many different parties. With a story this complex, it is amazing to see it masterfully handled by the direction of Brian McGinn and Rod Blackhurst. The two directors attract the audience's eyes with clear visuals in a fuzzy situation.
Crime documentaries need multiple perspectives in order to grant the full story to the audience. Amanda Knox makes sure that all sides of the story are told. This is hard to do in the short 1 hour and 32 minute runtime of the film. Still, we get to hear how the original court case was blown out of proportion by the media through the retelling by a journalist. We get to hear how the original court case was justified by a public prosecutor named Giuliani Mignini. And of course, we hear from Amanda Knox and her boyfriend at the time of the crime. All of these perspectives mesh together to give the audience a full view of the crime case. I can gladly say that I learned a lot from this documentary.
The writers choose to tell the story in a well-done chronological order. It is hard to retell a story that lasted about a decade. Yet, I never felt overly rushed through the documentary. A part of the credit must go to the beautiful shots throughout the film. Found footage combines with new clear imagery to maintain a fresh view for the film. The color palette maintains the dark tone that often comes up in modern crime documentaries. Yet, flashy headlines scatter across the screen to make sure that our eyes are always on-target. These types of innovations create a quick-paced film that feels short, but well-rounded.
The Bottom Line: Amanda Knox covers a lot of quantity in its story, yet maintains its quality through superb visuals and multiple perspectives.
Score: 9.6/10
Image credit: By Scott335 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17217794
Crime documentaries need multiple perspectives in order to grant the full story to the audience. Amanda Knox makes sure that all sides of the story are told. This is hard to do in the short 1 hour and 32 minute runtime of the film. Still, we get to hear how the original court case was blown out of proportion by the media through the retelling by a journalist. We get to hear how the original court case was justified by a public prosecutor named Giuliani Mignini. And of course, we hear from Amanda Knox and her boyfriend at the time of the crime. All of these perspectives mesh together to give the audience a full view of the crime case. I can gladly say that I learned a lot from this documentary.
The writers choose to tell the story in a well-done chronological order. It is hard to retell a story that lasted about a decade. Yet, I never felt overly rushed through the documentary. A part of the credit must go to the beautiful shots throughout the film. Found footage combines with new clear imagery to maintain a fresh view for the film. The color palette maintains the dark tone that often comes up in modern crime documentaries. Yet, flashy headlines scatter across the screen to make sure that our eyes are always on-target. These types of innovations create a quick-paced film that feels short, but well-rounded.
The Bottom Line: Amanda Knox covers a lot of quantity in its story, yet maintains its quality through superb visuals and multiple perspectives.
Score: 9.6/10
Image credit: By Scott335 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17217794
