Did you guys see We Need to Talk About Kevin? We Need to Talk About Kevin DVD Review

In as much as Requiem for a Dream can work as a theatrical D.A.R.E. program, We Need to Talk About Kevin
is a suitable proponent of birth control. Before I became a father, one
of my naiveté's bigger worries was having one of those children that
acts completely inconsolable in a restaurant or a theater. We will
always have the ever-present threat of violence to contend with, but
it’s customarily viewed through the fear of victimization; no one should
ever have to worry about their child becoming the monster. But I guess
it’s our Second Amendment right to have that fear. Go America! (Guns and
bows aren’t the same. I realize this.)



The Movie:





The importance of any event in our lives can usually be gauged by the
length of its aftermath. The things we do tend to be less important than
the people we do them with. Past memories, however stylized, are
sometimes the only things that make the present tolerable. Kids can be
really fucking mental.




Ironically, the moments in the grief-filled We Need to Talk About Kevin
that are most depressing are when characters are smiling and having a
good time. Because we’re all too aware those times are long gone. In her
disturbingly authentic portrayal of Eva Khatchadourian, Tilda Swinton
is a virtuoso of melancholic chagrin. A former travel writer, her
current life is plagued by scrutinized mockery on the lighter side, and
by vocal hatred and vandalism on the darker side. When not working her
entry-level secretarial position, she retreats to bottles of pills and
alcohol for therapy. The scourge of her woes is her intentionally
horrific son, Kevin, who would have been the inspiration for The Omen’s Damien, the Rosemary’s Baby
baby, or even Satan himself had it been a true story told near the
beginning of time. One early scene depicts Eva coping with the
never-ending screams of infant Kevin by standing amongst a group of men
jackhammering the pavement; her momentary relief drowning herself in
this noise is both amusingly understandable and heartbreaking all at
once.




We watch Kevin age from toddler to teenager, played by actors Rock Duer,
Jasper Newell, and Ezra Miller. Though the emotional nonchalance shown
to his blindly optimistic father, Franklin (John C. Reilly), isn’t
always quite loving, the sheer disdain he spews at Eva is downright
menacing. I expect to never fully enjoy any future roles taken by Newell
and Miller based on my genuine hatred for Kevin as a character, which
is a backwards compliment that speaks worlds of the writing and
performance.




The line in the sand is drawn between Kevin’s pre-existing lack of
empathy, and its continual growth as Eva’s matronly role, is strained to
multiple breaking points. Is he naturally a lifelong evil asshole, or
is this behavior furthered by outside influences? The film’s timeline
slips back and forth between different stages of Eva’s past, all from
her possibly skewed perspective. So while Kevin is obviously an insanely
shitty son, we’re never under the impression that Eva herself in an
angel. She is a human being, repeatedly thwarted by Kevin’s insistence
on ratcheting up her frustration in any given situation, from
purposefully prolonging his potty training to wrapping his younger
sister, Celia, up in garland during a game of Christmas Kidnapping.
Eva’s range of reactions isn’t entirely ethical, but they’re emotionally
sound. Having watched the film twice now, I absolutely wish Eva was
vehemently pro-choice early in life so that this “nature vs. nurture”
question wasn’t applicable. But then what would I be doing right now?




Adapted from the “unfilmable” novel by Lionel Shriver, the acclaimed
director/co-screenwriter Lynne Ramsay does a remarkable job of
showcasing every uncomfortable detail in a movie filled with them, using
colors and sounds as much as the dialogue to tell the story. The entire
cast is impeccable, down to extras whose screen time consists of
glaring in the distance. Despite the free-flowing plot progression, one
is never lost, always the voyeur in Eva’s life of agony and shame. By
the time we get to the crux of the film, Kevin’s mostly off-screen
school massacre, we feel less sorry for these young victims than we do
for those Kevin has been affecting his entire life. And the sound of
lawn sprinklers may never sound inconsequential again.




The Disc:


Even the cardboard packaging for this film is effective, from Eva
and Kevin’s split headshots as you open it, to Kevin’s colorful and cold
childhood drawings on the inside. There’s an intriguing essay by
psychoanalyst Mark Stafford, “The Heart of Evil,” included as well,
which focuses more on Kevin’s motivations and the film’s minimal take on
violence. Though the DVD itself looks great, the crispness of the
Blu-ray is enough to make you feel like you’re watching this family’s
degradation from the next room of their house. All things told, I had
problems with the pop music soundtrack from decades past, as the songs
seemed disjointed to me.




“Behind the Scenes of Kevin” is exactly what it implies: a half-hour of
the cast, director, and producers dissecting the characters and plot
over production stills and incidental filming. Everyone’s input is
extremely insightful, particularly when discussing how the family’s
relationship is depicted from both the acting and production aspects.
While watching people talk isn’t always exciting, it adds another layer
of understanding one may not have had before.




Hilton Als gives a 17-minute interview for a "Tribute to Tilda Swinton"
at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival. It’s a treat to watch this talented
actress speak about her career from different angles, though Kevin
is not the focus here. On the flip side, the three-minute interview
with novel author Lionel Shriver is entirely kept to the book-to-movie
translation and her pleasure in the minimal input she gave filmmakers on
how the story should be told. Lastly, there are four minutes of silent
extra footage from the “La Tomatina” Tomato festival depicted in the
movie as Eva’s freedom-filled youth before Kevin came along. I am
inclined to go there now, even though I dislike tomatoes.




Easily one of the more psychologically wrought releases of the past year, We Need to Talk About Kevin
deserves to be seen and discussed. Not everyone will share my takeaway
from the story, but I consider that part of the film’s storytelling
power.