Thursday 24 November 2011

'We Need To Talk About Kevin'


I haven't read the book which has been turned into the movie and therefore came to 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' without any preconceptions. The film is hard work. Very hard work, in fact. It provides no easy clues as to what is occurring, it jumps around in time, the photography occasionally is deliberately out of focus and the dialogue - often sparse - sometimes trails away or is only partially audible as whispers.

It is an eerie tale. A mother struggles to bond with her son as a baby, child and then teenager. The son seems slow to develop at first, distant and antagonistic. Yet to it's father, his GP and others the son is a bright and typical child. The film early on hints at some terrible occurrences which are only revealed towards the conclusion.

The film is highly and unusually atmospheric. The acting is exceptional. Tilda Swanton plays the mother with typical ambiguity. Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller are both superb as the troubled and troubling Kevin.

It is a disturbing story and I was relieved to learn afterwards that it is not based on true events as I had assumed. The film will not suit all tastes. Two women in the audience today only lasted ten minutes before walking out.

3 comments:

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  2. I'm halfway through the book at the moment, trying to finish it before I see the film! The film sounds very different to the novel(as is often the case), the novel moves along quickly, I can't put it down!

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  3. Evol - I'll be interested in how you think the movie compares with the book. I'm glad I saw the film which is very good in many ways but it's not one I can describe as 'enjoyable'.

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