Wednesday, January 11, 2012

We Need to Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin opens with an image unlike any I’ve seen. The camera, initially raised to a bird’s eye view, slowly descends toward a red, clumpy sea. Look closer and the clumps of waves are not motions of the ocean, but people. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of people, swimming on top, through, and underneath each other. Look closer and the red sea isn’t blood, as one might expect (too bright, too red, too thin), but rather… what?

The closer the camera gets, the more confounded the viewer becomes. In short, I wasn't sure what I was looking at, or why, but I couldn't take my eyes off it. Which is a perfect way to describe the whole of Lynn Ramsay’s chilling, remarkable new film.

From the moment of his birth, Kevin has been a nightmare. He cries ceaselessly, his horrendous moans gurgled with tears and snot. Doctors say he is perfectly healthy, so, essentially, he’s crying for no apparent reason. Once he gets of age to know better, Kevin decides to always do the worst. He screams, he acts out, he punches, destroys, refuses to be potty trained – the acts of defiance are endless.
And that’s pretty much how it is for Eva (Tilda Swinton), Kevin’s mother, who, after Kevin’s birth, is anything from the once-carefree city girl she used to be. Eva and her kind, aimless husband, Franklin (John C. Reilly) used to live that life. That New York City loft life. Creating, dining, drinking, loving. The life of dreams. When Eva got pregnant, Franklin, despite Eva’s staunch opposition, suggested they move to the suburbs. They moved, Kevin was born, and the rest is hell.

We Need to Talk About Kevin, as you may suspect, isn’t a fluffy teenage angst picture. The kind where the arguments are forced and the resolution is happy-go-lucky. Every little thing is not gonna be all right. When you sit down for this film, you buckle into an intense, gut-wrenching, borderline agonizing experience. Gold for me, and hopefully for you too. Here’s why.

Say what you will about the film’s content, but We Need to Talk About Kevin is technically flawless. Its disjointed narrative scope, chiefly, lends itself seamlessly to the overall power of the film. The non-linear narrative has been all the rage since Tarantino resurrected Vincent Vega from the dead. It’s a tool I love and admire greatly. But it is also one that is horribly overused. In feeble hands, a jumpy narrative structure crumbles a film, but in editor Joe Bini (who cuts most of Werner Herzog’s films) and Ramsay’s hands, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a film propelled by its style. When we first meet Kevin, he’s played as a teenager by Ezra Miller, but we see the character at many different times in his life, and never in order. It’s a tactic that requires concentration, but it’s also one that, in this case, helps reveal the characters better than if the film was told in order.
In our jumping around, we sense very early that Kevin (as a grown teen) has done something horrible. Eva visits him regularly in prison; little is said, but volumes are spoken. I have no interest in revealing what Kevin has done, but believe me, the crimes he has committed are equally as horrifying as how Miller plays the role.

Two years ago, I stumbled across a film called Afterschool via OnDemand. I sat, watched, and by the time the credits rolled, I was unable to speak. The film was, and remains, the single best movie I’ve ever seen about teenaged angst. I gave at an A+, which can be credited to many things, namely the film’s star, Ezra Miller.

 I’ve seen Miller once since then (in City Island, where he was given nothing to do), but 2011 was really his year. As Kevin, Miller is as stoically haunting as any teen character you’re likely to find on film. He’s alone, misguided, intelligent to the point of intimidation, and probably a bit psychotic. His Kevin is as chilling a portrayal of a teenager since, well, Miller’s role in Afterschool. (For the record, Miller had another brilliant performance last year, in Another Happy Day, which will be reviewed here shortly.) The kid is going places.
I’ve loved most every Tilda Swinton performance I’ve seen. Highlights include I Am Love, Julia, The War Zone, The Deep End, Michael Clayton, and so on. She’s got that perfect… thing. That Tilda Swinton thing. That regret and anguish. That torment and anger. Her role as Eva is her finest accomplishment to date. Period. An Oscar, which she certainly will not receive, would be too little praise.

Aside from its incredible performances, including Reilly and the other child actors who portray Kevin, We Need to Talk About Kevin boosts an eerily moving score (by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood), steely camera work, and an overall faultless mise-en-scène.

The only feature I’ve seen by Lynne Ramsay was her nearly-as-disturbing Morvern Callar, about a young woman who, after finding her boyfriend dead on his apartment floor from suicide, elects to do nothing about it. Images from that film have stayed imprinted in my mind since I saw it 10 years ago. I’m sure We Need to Talk About Kevin will do the same. A

18 comments:

  1. I can't wait to see this, but it's taking months to arrive here. I saw the trailer in a cinema and it was very well made and enigmatic rather than revealing everything, and I'd love to see the film. But it hasn't even hit cinemas here yet, so I've got no idea when I'll get a chance.

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  2. @Tyler That is just the worst feeling: you want to see something so bad, but have no idea when it's coming your way. Serious bummer. You're really going to dig this flick.

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  3. *Claps* So glad you dug it dude and I'm so glad you brought attention to the film's structure, which I thought was incredibly concise for such a dense narrative. It is technically flawless (from the mise-en-scene, to the photography, to the score, to the editing). And Tilda should win Best Actress right? It's the best female performance I have seen this year. But she won't - and it's likely to be the only accolade coming the film's way. Such a shame. Top 10 of 2011?

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  4. @Andy Buckle Man, you and Diana are some pushy mo-fos haha. I really am obsessive about seeing EVERYTHING before I post my top 10. But I'll post it tomorrow, just for you.

    As for the flick, yeah man, so good. Swinton was actually my SECOND favorite lead female acting performance of the year, but neither have a shot at hell at winning. The movie seriously blew me away. Have you seen/heard of Afterschool?

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  5. After The Tree of Life, this was the film I was more excited to see after discovering Lynne Ramsay's work last year and did my last Auteurs piece on her.

    I wasn't expecting the film to be this visceral and so off-the-wall. It does continue into Ramsay's fascination with death and grief but it was very different from what she did in Ratcatcher and Movern Callar. I just hope I don't wait another 9 years for her to make another film.

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  6. @thevoid99 Seriously, she isn't the most prolific of filmmakers, but I really like her stuff. Haven't seen Ratcatcher, but I saw that you profiled her. Worth checking out?

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  7. This film is so disturbing, chilling, and at times, very hard to watch but it's terribly tense with a near-perfect performance from Swinton, who I usually don't like but here she's absolutely amazing and definitely deserves that Oscar nomination. Great review Alex.

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  8. So, you finally got around to seeing it! I am so glad you liked, I knew you would! You can really tell a good movie by its reviews, that's my opinion- if it makes you think, analyze, stop, look back and question, then it has done its job! Like I said in my review, I wasn't expecting the ending- I actually didn't allow myself to believe it; it was a little shocking!Great review, I agree with everything you said!

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  9. Haha. Man, I meant is KEVIN in contention for your Top 10? Totally understand re: seeing everything before constructing a list. Take your time. Considering what I still have to see, mine is nowhere near official yet. I haven't seen Afterschool, nor heard of it - but I do want to see it now. Morvern Caller and Ratcatcher too.

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  10. @Dan O. Thanks Dan. Wow, you don't like Swinton? I adore her. Have you seen any of the movies I mentioned? She's far better in the indies than in the mainstream crap. Thanks for commenting!

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  11. @Aziza Thanks Diana! This movie really blew me away. It went to the edge then jumped. Love its audacity.

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  12. @Andy Buckle Haha big fail on my part. I THINK it'll be in my Top 10. This really has been a great year for movies, especially indies and foreign flicks. I'll have to see.

    Afterschool is brilliant. It's available on Netflix, which I know is a moot point for you. And Morvern Callar is also quite well done. Samantha Morton is remarkable in it.

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  13. Definitely go see Ratcatcher, in fact. Get the Criterion DVD that includes her 3 shorts.

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  14. @thevoid99 Awesome, thanks for the recco. Shorts can be incredible sometimes. One of the reasons I bought the Fish Tank Criterion was for Andrea Arnold's shorts (one of which won the Oscar).

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  15. Loved the movie. Reminded me of David Lynch's movies. Definetly the best cinematography from last year, Swinton was amazing - I liked her performances in Clayton and Julia a lot more, but she definetly shined here. I loved that the reveal about what Kevin did came in the ending, too bad all the movie summaries, including the one on imdb spoil it.

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  16. @Sati. I simply do not understand this current trend in film criticism - the need to explain and reveal so much of the plot. Ebert is arguably the worst offender. Read his review, and you'll know every little thing about the movie, including its ending. Seriously pisses me off.

    Glad you liked the movie, everything about it was very well done, I thought.

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  17. Good review, I agree with your rating and about the performances. I must have missed your piece earlier this year!

    I posted my review of "We Need to Talk About Kevin" today.

    Yes, visually the film is indeed very inventive, Ebert wrote in his review about how un-lived-in the house was, and this could be symbolic of how empty Eva feels about her new life(compared to the old days)

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  18. @Chris And I completely agree with him. Man, I really need to go back and watch this again, it was so a mind fuck. I'm gonna check out your review now!

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