‘Knife’ review: Documentary follows Salman Rushdie’s survival after 2022 attack

Alex Gibney’s documentary “Knife” follows Salman Rushdie’s life up to and after the 2022 attack on him in New York. The film is based on Rushdie’s memoir and is narrated extensively by the author, presenting his account of survival and recovery.

The documentary uses intimate video footage recorded by Rushdie’s wife, the poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths, including scenes filmed at his hospital bedside. The review notes that the film contains explicit images of Rushdie’s damaged eye and scenes of the attack.

“Knife” also traces Rushdie’s earlier life, from his childhood in Mumbai and years at an English public school to Cambridge, London and a job in advertising. It covers his work on fiction and the breakthrough success of “Midnight’s Children,” as well as his public appearances at awards ceremonies.

The review describes the film’s central focus as Rushdie’s courage and his calm defense of literature, freedom of expression and the life of the imagination. It characterizes the documentary as a story of how he survived and thrived after the attack.