We Need To Talk About Kevin

Jesus, this movie.  I haven't read the book, so I'm not sure how it compares.  Ezra Miller and Tilda Swinton were both incredible in their roles.  In the end, you just feel empty, which is appropriate given the subject matter.  When there have been school shootings or mass murders like this, people do immediately blame the parents, but as a parent myself I can't help but feel sympathy towards them, what they must be going through, because they also lose their child in a horrific way.  That end scene is so powerful because for all he's done, for all he is, he's still her son. 

Haven't seen Afterschool, but yeah, this was enough to make me absolutely piss-scared of Ezra Miller. So, the fact that he shrinks and becomes this scared little boy in the last few minutes is amazing work.

The film's brilliant, but I'm pretty sure this is the first year someone managed to out-bleak Von Trier in a year where Lars Von Trier released a film. Swinton's fighting a losing battle against this kid, against her own life, even her husband. Stop me if I'm wrong, but Im fairly sure its kind of a rare thing we actually see John C Reilly's face in this movie, which is an awesome, deliberate choice in itself.

I also got the vibe that this was a "But what about the parents?" statement, but the level of blame from her community is harsh. Even without the father in the picture, she's pretty easily able to hang what happens on dad, who buys him the weaponry, encouraged him all the way, and the fact that she simply was never able to control him. The complete lack of support feel off, but not enough to sink the film.

I think what really pushed the kid over is how he treats his sister. Maybe it's just my own fear of eye-trauma, but what happens to that poor little girl's eye, and what he does to his food at the dinner table soon after is just straight up evil at work.

The book is kinda a mixed bag (it takes a while to get going), but I'd recommend it. I'm DYING to see this movie. Stupid middle-of-nowhere living.

 It's a pretty disturbing flick, Whiteboy, but if you've read the book you know what you're in for. 

Justin, you're right about JCR's face.  What was strange to me was why would she stay there, but I think by the end it seems to me like she's doing penance in her own personal hell. 

I just watched Afterschool and, aside from that film being fuckmazing on its own, it got me even more excited for this. If I ever meet Ezra Miller in real life I'm liable to shit myself and scream in terror.

EDIT: And holy shit I just realized he's the fat feed fetish kid from City Island. He's contractually prohibited from playing normal children, isn't he?

He's really good.  You see interviews of the kid and he seems completely normal, nice even.  But he's truly chilling in Kevin but does a lot of subtle things with the character that are pretty striking.  I couldn't watch that movie again but I'll try to catch him in something else.

Finally got around to this, and not nearly enough people have seen it. It's one of the year's best, without breaking  a sweat. The creeping crawling awful in this movie is something to behold. It isn't perfect, because I do think in making Kevin completely evil since infancy, it goes a bit easy on Eva, but then, it's also a bit ridiculous to say this movie goes easy on Eva.

All the food in this movie is some nasty looking shit. 

And how could this not be classified as a Horror film? It's like the perfect definition of a Horror film.

I want to see this again. Strange but true.

Fucking gorgeous.The whole film is like pushing through a fever dream of awful memories you can't come to grips with. It hides the action from you, opting to focus on the reactions of Eva and Kevin, until you're finally confronted with the awful severity you knew was coming. Love the impressionistic photography, the amount of RED, and the music. Tilda Swinton smelling the Led Zeppelin t-shirt absolutely crushed me. As much as she wanted her freedom, she loved the dum-dum.

Finally caught this last night.  Wow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd 
I do think in making Kevin completely evil since infancy, it goes a bit easy on Eva, but then, it's also a bit ridiculous to say this movie goes easy on Eva.

I think Gabe was spot on when he described it as a chicken-egg situation.  Yeah, infant Kevin cries a lot, but at that point its very clear that Eva has no desire to be a mother.  There's even that scene in the delivery room, where the doctor is telling her that she needs to stop resisting / fighting.  She does not want that baby.  I thought casting Reilly was a bit of brilliance in itself, as he's such a warm and friendly presence opposite Swinton, who is always very unintentionally cold and awkward.  I don't think Eva is a bad person - she's always forcing herself, it seems, to try and do the right thing, but I think early on, the movie wants us to consider that maybe things would turn out differently if Kevin got the right kind of attention at that stage of his life.  

For me, the biggest gut punch (in a movie thats filled with them) was when those two Mormons / Jehovahs come by and Eva tells them ever so matter-of-factly that she's going straight to hell.  Its a weird moment, almost funny, but it wasn't until then that I really felt the magnitude of the guilt shes carrying around with her.  I kept wondering why she opted to stick around in that town, but that moment makes it painfully clear that its part of her self-inflicted punishment.  She thinks that this is what she deserves.  Crushed me.

Flat out loved this film, its pure cinema and its brilliant.

What struck me most about the film is how much your sympathies shift around. At the start I just felt so hateful towards Eva and kept just wanting to shout at the screen. It was like watching a friend going off the rails just making all these decisions you would never make and just constantly disagreeing with every move they make. Then by the end you are so devastated by her plight and the sum total of what she has lost that you just want to take her in and tell her its all going to be okay.

I havent read the book but I heard that its all written as if its a letter, is that true?

I have to be honest, I was kinda disappointed with this.  Ramsay's Morvern Callar is one of the best movies of the last decade, and this feels like a bit of a step back.  Visually, the film can be stunning.  Ramsay is able to convey ideas through sly, darkly humorous visuals.  That's the definition of pure cinema.  But ultimately it felt to me like the film had all the depth of a Todd Solondz* piece; which is to say, not a ton.  Take one part humor to about 700 parts misanthropy, pour in an ornate glass, and stir violently.  Miller makes a compelling, if one-note monster.  Swinton is great, as always.  And this is completely unfair of me, but I'm being honest, the fact that she can do this kind of performance in sleep at this point kind of keeps it from being the revelation the film needs.

* I'll give Ramsay credit where it's due- she's not nearly as ham-fisted as Solondz can be.  Take the moment where the guy in the wheelchair comes up to check on her.  In Solondz' hands this would be played for maximum levels of smug ooginess.  But Ramsay lets the moment play out honestly, which imbues the film with more humanity, even if it's still essentially the same "joke"- that the guy being nice to her is almost harder on Eva than the people who are cruel.