This article contains major spoilers for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.Viewers of Rian Johnson's latest murder mystery Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery were likely caught off-guard by a rather explosive plot point near the end of the film. Featuring a faulty fuel source and the unfortunate fate of a timeless piece of artwork, the climax has inspired many new fans to wonder just how much of the finale was done for real rather than with computers. Well, those familiar with Johnson's work and his dedication to his craft should know the answer to that.
No, they didn't burn the actual "Mona Lisa" when the painting is set ablaze in the middle of billionaire Miles Bron's (Edward Norton) mansion in Greece. As devoted to authenticity and subverting expectations as Johnson is, even he wouldn't torch Leonardo da Vinci's most famous creation just to further reinvent and restructure the murder mystery genre. But it also wasn't just some computer-generated simulation. There was definitely a fire, and there was definitely a destroyed painting. It was just a different painting.
During an appearance on The Empire Spoiler Special Podcast, Johnson revealed what went into that particular plot point in Knives Out 2. It turns out that he and his team went above and beyond in their quest for authenticity. "We got a very talented local Belgrade artist to do a recreation of the 'Mona Lisa' and it was kind of extraordinary having it on set," Johnson explained. "I didn't realize this, but if you get a recreation like this, you have to destroy them when you're done filming, if it's a famous work of art, you actually have to document yourself burning the canvas because of the counterfeit market. Daniel [Craig who plays detective Benoit Blanc] was a bit worried that we were 'killing the puppy' by upsetting people as we destroyed the 'Mona Lisa,' but the scene in Bean where he destroys 'Whistler's Mother' is one of the funniest scenes in cinematic history, so I figured we'd get away with this. That scene is so good."
That's right, Johnson took inspiration from none other than Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean character, who famously defaced the similarly-renowned painting 'Whistler's Mother' by artist James McNeill Whistler after sneezing on it in the 1997 comedy film Bean. Naturally, the scene in Glass Onion was less about playing for laughs and more about Janelle Monáe's Helen Brand effectively destroying Bron's reputation to strike back at him for murdering her sister. But the idea that depicting the destruction of a famous work of art is somehow taboo was demolished thanks in part to that hilarious original scene, paving the way for Glass Onion's finale.
In fact, Johnson actually almost backtracked on that whole plot point, as he also revealed when he mentioned a deleted post-credits scene. "We also shot a little coda which we decided not to use," he continued, "with Blanc on the phone speaking French and getting a little affirmation of 'ah, oui, oui, merci' and cutting to an office in the Louvre where the real 'Mona Lisa' is, with the security guards saying 'well, back to work.' But that pulls a punch, I like that the real painting gets destroyed in the movie."
It's probably best that the scene was cut, as it definitely lessens the impact. Bron used his vast wealth to acquire the most famous painting in the world only for the product he put his entire business into to destroy it. There's real poetry that deflates considerably if it turns out he didn't incinerate the original. Johnson doesn't do things halfway, after all.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: The Empire Spoiler Special Podcast (via Collider)