We Need To Link About Kevin
Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 12:18PM Given that many of you are on pins and needles about the new Tilda Swinton tour de force (no, we haven't seen it. But it's getting easier and easier to assume given her recent track record) We Need To Talk About Kevin...
Critics aren't tossing tomatoes but bouquets to Tilda in "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Given that I have been weirdly unwilling to post the multiplying clips out there (I get in these moods where I don't wanna know see anything for movies I'm especially looking forward to) I should cave enough to link up to the raves. Perhaps you don't share my sudden unwillingness to read anything longer than a twitter length review for movies you can't see yet. Too many critics -- even the best ones! -- no longer worry about spoiling the experience in crucial ways.
Ezra Miller ("Kevin"), Tilda, the incredible Lynne Ramsay and Reilly in CannesMorvern Callar, the last Lynne Ramsay film, was way back in 2002, so add Ramsay to that "slowpokes" list of directors we were discussing. That earlier film with an indelible mysterious performance from Samantha Morton was such a startling and visceral experience that I want to experience We Need To Talk About Kevin in the same way. Which is to say, I'm going in cold!
But if you're less nervous -- MUBI has a collection of the raves. Might we see Tilda Swinton picking up "best actress" but zero Oscar attraction (you know how they ignore her brilliance 95% of the time)? Time will tell. In roughly two weeks and then again in the winter when precursor season kicks in.
Have any of you read the book this film is based on?
Reader Comments (21)
OMG! The book is: Moving, Funny, Shocking & Brilliantly written. Now that the movie is getting RAVE from Cannes it's officialy the one I am the most looking forward to see this year! Tilda is a GODDESS
The book is truly incredible. I've been anticipating this since I heard it was being adapted into a film. I was initially wary of the casting choice for Kevin, but judging by the clips I've seen he seems pretty perfect.
Tilda makes art with dummy (no money) domestic distributors = no Oscar campagin -- I found it funny people think her Oscar win is about Michael Clayton -- they understood her filmography was going places they never would -- she got it because she had no competition that made sense winning instead of her. How sweet of her to say she thought Ruby Dee might take and funny of Denzel Washsington being visably mad latter in the telecast because she didn't.
Grace Jones shirt alert!
/3rtfull -- right? as if we needed another reason to think Lynne Ramsay was cool.
I just started reading the book, hopefully I will finish it before the movie opens (and since I live in Des Moines I think I'll have plenty of time). So far the book is fantastic, and given the films pedigree I'm sure it will be too.
This post is so funny, Nat, I was just thinking the exact same stuff earlier this morning. I started reading the book last night and even though I was exhausted I stayed up way later than I should've because I couldn't stop - it is SO GOOD so far. And then this morning I saw all those Twitter raves over the movie and momentarily freaked out that somebody was gonna spoil something. I mentioned it at MNPP when the clips showed up, but I'm avoiding watching the clips too. Although I might go ahead and watch them once I've finished the book. But yeah SO EXCITED for this movie, and I'm getting more excited with every paragraph of the book I read.
One of the best books I've ever read. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Ha! "Ma Ramsey's Tomato Soup"
im pretty excited to see this movie. the moment i heard the plot i wwas very interested and im by no means a #1 fan of tilda but she does excite me.
p.s. love the animation banner but who is the character second to last walking down the stairs?
I'm so glad to hear it's good. I read the book maybe two years ago and there are still bits of it stuck in my head. I loved the descriptions of her family home and the contrast with her new plasticky apartment. I can't wait to see how it all looks on screen.
I've started the book too! Slavish devotion a diagnostic criteria for Tildaphillia?
Poppy, that's Franka Potente from RUN LOLA RUN.
everyone -- sounds like i need to read this book.
We don't need to talk about Kevin! We need to do something else with him, lol. That guy is too hot. At least in the one clip he was.
Oh, I LOVE the book. I'm so glad this is getting good reviews. Tilda is a goddess.
We Need to Talk About Kevin was my first experience with Lionel Shriver's work but it will not be my last. One of the only books in memory that has made me want to devour everything else an author has ever written.
Tilda is a beyond perfect match for the character, too. No surprises here if she's knocked it out of the park.
I totally support your policy of going into movies cold, particularly if they are helmed by a proven artist and are widely, visibly raved-about (I haven't read more than one sentence out of any of the reviews, and I can already tell they're overwhelmingly positive).
As for the book - oh, man, the book! I think I've even plugged it on this website earlier - it's maybe the most compulsive novel I've read from the past decade. Layered, witty, acute, brilliant. Read it. Read it now. There is no way a movie adaptation will give you that experience.
The latter is actually also a plus - because this way I feel like I can approach the movie without dreading a lazy rehash of the synopsis bereft of the book's psychological detail. I trust Lynne Ramsay not to get bogged down in endless empty plotting.
Nathaniel: Yes, yes, get the book! It's magnificently written. I'm enjoying it completely. What I like about all this is that even though I haven't looked at clips or trailers (didn't know they were out there already, and i'm not planning on seeing any until the film), I can totally hear and see Tilda as the character Eva. I can hear in my head her tone of voice, her nuances, see her gestures and facial expressions. So I'll probably be done with it before the movie arrives, and I will likely conclude that casting Swinton as the lead was the biggest score. Here's hoping to seeing Tilda at the Oscar race next year.
I read the book a few years ago - its brilliantly written but I found it a horrifying, slightly queasy experience. In some respects I found it the literary equivalent of Irreversable - I dreaded how the plot was going to unfold but simply couldn't look away. Am hugely excited to see this...
I bought the book in the Borders closing sale. Haven't started reading it yet. Looks like this one will shoot up on my list of must-reads.
And Tilda. Yesssssssss.
The script never struck me as an oscar contender, too much abstract focus on visuals and colors and not enough juicy dialogue to bait voters, never mind the overall grim tone. But I'm really optimistic about this reception - it was always going to be a movie that divided critics and from reading the more fervent supporters, I think the brave and uncompromising nature of the book carried through to the film.
Although, when you've got Tilda in the lead role, it's hard to go wrong, right? :)