We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)

It has been a while but I'm back, and hopefully for good. I'll admit I've been lazy. I had contracted writer's block after the very difficult essay writing period and I just couldn't get back into it. It was a tough time for all involved...

Okay, okay, I was up all night playing Skyrim, are you happy now?

Anyway I've seen a few films since my short hiatus and I want to tell you about them all. Some were pretty good (Richard Ayoade's directorial debut Submarine), some not so good (Scream 4, shudder). But let's start off with what I think could possibly do well at the Oscars this year, director Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is based on the best-selling book by Lionel Shriver. Tilda Swinton is what drives the film, she's a compelling actress and completely believable as the isolated Eva Katchadourian, the mother of Kevin (played by Rock Duer, Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller), a troubled boy who will eventually commit mass-murder at his high school. The film captures the strained relationship between Kevin and Eva, from his birth Eva feels no connection between her and her son and the two fail to bond. We view Kevin as a bad child, but is this just how h

e is, or is it because of the lack of love from Eva.

Red is the predominant colour of the film, from the tomato fight in the first sequence, the red paint thrown across her house and finally the sirens and redflashing lights at the high school where Kevin has completed his killing spree. It ties the film together and allows Ramsay to play with the narrative structure, taking us back and forward through Kevin's upbringing and Eva struggling to cope with her guilt after her son's imprisonment.

And it gets the author's tick of approval, Shriver was apparently really happy with how it turned out. This is a really well-made movie, it looks beautiful and it has a wonderful pace to it, it effortlessly avoids becoming sluggish halfway through. The performances were great although I still have trouble trying to accept that John C. Reilly can occasionally do 'serious'. Ezra Miller's portrayal of the teenage Kevin can be a little over-the-top but it's forgivable, this movie is all about Swinton, who was also a producer.

While it can be a distressing and confronting movie, We Need To Talk About Kevin is definitely worth watching.