The Best TV Series Of The Decade (That You Didn't Watch)
3. It's Beautifully Shot
Arguably more worthy of note than the series' cast, writing and performances in what sets The Knick apart from other works is its aesthetic and directorial style. There is, for the most part, an assumed style and process when it comes to period dramas - steady camerawork, period-appropriate music and a lack of over-stylisation are key to grounding a work in its place in time. The Knick, however, flips the script in some utterly unique ways.
Almost every single shot in the series is handheld, lending an intimate, almost documentary style feel at times to its blisteringly uncompromising content. Add to this Soderbergh's use of extremely wide lenses, uncomfortable framing, stylised lighting which is frequently limited to single colours for entire scenes and use of the ultra-modern Red Epic Dragon camera, and The Knick looks downright surreal - a twisted inversion of the photography of the era.
Complementing the distinctive cinematography is the show's musical score, composed by frequent Soderbergh collaborator Cliff Martinez. Eschewing the stately orchestral music common to period work and a far cry from the music hall hits that would have been common to The Knick's world, Martinez instead channels the likes of John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream. Pulsing analog synths, theremin wails and ethereal, echoing guitar lines underpin the action, and the result lends an urgency to every scene, akin to a racing heart.
The effect achieved by these stylistic choices is that The Knick, in a sense, ceases to be a period piece. Instead, as has been interpreted by several critics, it veers into the realm of science-fiction. And as strange as this sounds, it is more than appropriate for the show's subject matter. Science and medicine is seen by these characters as a new frontier to explore, and there are endless possibilities ahead of them.
Whilst set in the past, it is a show about the future, viewed through the lens of its historical setting.
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