Saturday 29 March 2014

Freeview film of the day : saturday 29th of March

We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011 107mins.) [BBC2 10.30pm]
Freeview premiere

Drama based on the bestselling novel by Lionel Shriver, starring Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly and Ezra Miller. Eva is a former travel writer who gave up her career for her husband and two children, but her home is not a happy one. She is driven to the edge of sanity by her son, Kevin, who appears to have sociopathic tendencies that eventually bring the family - and their surrounding community - to snapping point.

The strength of the film comes from two women - Tilda Swinton is mesmerising in the lead role ; worn down, battered by life, pushed to the limits by her increasingly fraught relationship with her son. It's an astonishing and beautifully delivered performance from an actress who is greatly under appreciated, even in her homeland.

Director Lynne Ramsay belies her relative inexperience (this was only her third feature film) and keeps the multiple storylines and broken-back narrative structure under control. She also delivers a believable world for the characters to live in and builds a truly disturbing atmosphere around the central characters.

Newcomer Ezra Miller is excellent as Kevin and there's strong support from John C. Reilly as Swinton's husband.

A disturbing but beautifully crafted adaptation of the source material delivered with great style.

No comments:

Post a Comment