We Need to Talk About Kevin – 2011, Lynne Ramsay

by Allan Fish

(UK/USA 2011 115m)

People like me

p  Jennifer Fox, Luc Roeg, Robert Salerno  d  Lynne Ramsay  w  Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear  novel  Lionel Shriver  ph  Seamus McGarvey  ed  Joe Bini  m  Jonny Greenwood  art  Judy Becker 

Tilda Swinton (Eva), John C.Reilly (Franklin), Ezra Miller (Kevin), Jasper Newell (Kevin, childhood), Ursula Parker (Lucy), Siobhan Fallon (Wanda), Ashley Gerasimovich (Celia), Erin Maya Darke (Rose), Rock Duer (Kevin, toddler), James Chen (Dr Foulkes), Lauren Fox (Dr Goldblatt),

When I first saw Morvern Callar nearly a decade ago, one was left with mixed feelings.  Many who read the book were ecstatic about the film, while those who hadn’t found it a little quirky for their own good.  Some of the plot motivations were shaky, to say the least, ambiguous to the point of downright perversity, and on the whole I found myself siding with the latter group.  All the same, I was continually reminded of a typically fearless performance from Samantha Morton and some truly astonishing visuals which, when coupled with her equally strange but powerful debut Ratcatcher, showcased Lynne Ramsay as a talent that, while her films may estrange as much as enrapture, would still be more than worthy of following in the years to come.

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