A psychological horror that embodies every parents nightmare as Eva tries to confront an unthinkable trauma.
Upon first watching Lynne Ramsay’s unsettling depiction of every parent’s nightmare I was left speechless. ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ is arguably one of Ramsay’s best pieces using the perfect formula of micro-elements alongside a gripping narrative to immerse the audience in the horrors of suffering trauma as unthinkable as Eva’s.
Ramsay has used her idiosyncratic style throughout the film to tell the story of the mother of a school shooter, giving a voice to someone whose story would otherwise not be heard. This viewing is not one to be taken lightly and requires the spectator’s full attention throughout with it’s the use of flashbacks to explore the events leading up to such an incomprehensible event. Ramsay has worked with former Radiohead member Jonny Greenwood to carefully select a distinctive soundtrack which compliments the narrative, expressing Ramsay’s progressive ideology on maternity and feminism.
An obvious technique that Ramsay uses regularly in her films is the depiction of an unreliable narrator. This can most clearly be seen as she drives through the dark streets on Halloween, using handheld yet sharp cinematography and abrupt eyeline matches as Buddy Holly’s 50’s classic ‘Everyday’ plays non-diegetically. The soundtrack references strongly to a time period in America where the American dream was being vastly promoted, including the idea of the nuclear family. However, the aesthetics of this scene clearly depict the sheer amount of trauma that having children has caused for Eva as she crumbles with fear driving through the streets of innocent children who have no business with her despite her distorted perception. The juxtaposition between the music and aesthetics of this scene therefore strongly denote the old fashioned nature of the beliefs that society still hold today which suggest that women need children in order to be happy.
As a graduate of photography, it is no secret that Lynne Ramsay has incredible attention to detail. This is a skill that she never fails to take advantage of. For example, she can take an element such as colour, using a consistent pallet of red, yellow and blue across the film and use it to connote Eva’s beliefs of being a target to everyone else. Furthermore, she is comfortable working with scenes that often completely oppose each other. Take the beginning, for example, it opens with a smooth dolly shot as we ominously travel towards an open door with a silky curtain that becomes an important visual motif that we see at the very end of the film. However, the following sequence uses vivid red washed visuals, showing crowds of people as they throw tomatoes at each other layered with arguably non-diegetic sounds of chanting, screaming and sirens. The control that Ramsay possesses with regards to the manipulation of audience response is a talent that many filmmakers would envy.
These are just some of the reasons that I was inspired by this film as it would take hours of writing to unpack the delicate layers that we often fail to scratch the surface of when understanding Ramsay’s films. For that reason, I would give this film 4 and ½ stars for its flawless elegance and sophistication.
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