Transcription
We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 02/2011 psychological thriller directed by Lynn Ramsay and is based on the book by Lionel Shriver. I watched the film recently and honestly, it might have been one of the most stylistically directed and well cinematographed small budget films I've seen recently. The film focuses on a woman and her relationship with her son Kevin before he commits a horrific act that changes both of their entire lives. Now if you haven't seen the film just go watch it because the video is obviously pretty full of spoilers and all that but without further ado this is my analysis of we need to talk about Kevin. We Need to Talk About Kevin is a very loaded film with insanely complex themes.
There are multiple elements to what is in any other circumstance a linear story But the way the film tells the story sets it apart from what the films are similar. The story is told in an initially confusing way. It follows a strictly non linear pattern jumping around in time without the audience's prior knowledge. It therefore takes advantage of film as a visual medium by keeping the film something that the audience initially would have to decipher whilst watching. But concentrating on the film just makes it that much better.
It allows you to analyze the use of color, sound, and visuals in a way most directors wouldn't allow you to do. So here I'll be first talking about the themes and motifs and then how the direction reinforces these ideas to the audience. Now I might just mix the two up a bit but that's the main idea. So let's get started. The theme of guilt is portrayed in most scenes of the movie.
For instance, the main idea presented is who is guilty for Kevin's actions? At least that's how I see it whilst watching the film. Is it his mother who wasn't ready to have a child and when raising him wasn't supportive because of his perceived spite towards her? His father for being oblivious to the fact that Kevin was becoming increasingly emotionless and nihilistic? Or was it Kevin himself guilty for his own actions?
Initially one would say Kevin but it's clear that he does not feel guilt or any real emotions for that matter. His worldview, as I said, is extremely nihilistic in a way shown by his speech on the TV. And as a child still, he doesn't admit to being guilty of any actions, Even when he quite clearly implies as a teenager that he did kill his sister's pet hamster and blinded his sister, he doesn't show guilt or contempt. He rubs the horrific actions into the face of his parents menacingly. After the climactic shooting scene, we see that Kevin has in fact killed his sister and father.
Most viewers don't see a reason behind this other than the idea that Kevin is a cold hearted killer. Some also see as him not wanting his father or his sister, who he doesn't seem to have think of spited him, to feel the consequences of his actions. But I don't exactly believe either. My theory as to why he does this is that Kevin wants to make his mother feel guilty, and this is true of most of the actions he does. We see from the start of the film he has contempt for whatever reason, and nowhere is this more clear than his final actions.
Kevin kills his family and multiple people in school. With her family gone, Eva has nothing. And with Kevin's actions, she loses her job. Because of this, she sells the house because the memories are a too painful and because she has no longer has enough money. The actions make the citizens of the town hate Eva.
She's made to feel guilty. She visits Kevin regularly in prison, but he rarely talks. He just looks at her knowing the hell he's putting her through. Kevin feels no guilt, but he knows that Eva does. The theme of bloodshed is heavily featured in the film.
Many people calling it the most violent film with barely any on screen violence. But how did they get this reputation? Through the use of underlying visuals. Most frames of the film are saturated with red, the color of blood. Because we are seeing because we are seeing the film mainly through the eyes of Eva, it consumes her.
Everywhere is red. Kevin wears red throughout his childhood. The shops are red. The first frame set in the present of the film is a house drenched in red paint reinforcing the guilt she feels for her son's actions. The menacing design also portrays this.
We hear reoccurring sounds throughout the film. For instance, the chainsaw sound, which is used towards the beginning of the initial homicide setting scene and the ticketing sounds that come from seemingly nowhere. All of this is used to. All of this is used leading up to, during and after the homicidal event performed by Kevin. This shows that the movie is quite clearly playing on the minds of the audience by planting subconscious elements which reappear throughout the film to foreshadow what is yet to come.
The use of red along with the sound design complements the visceral tone of the film which is masked by suburban imagery. The colors and visuals paint the town red especially after the event reflecting the way Eva now sees the world. Furthermore, the official description tells us that Eva's reminiscing on memories, which tells us that the red placed prominently but subtly at the same time in flashbacks shows that she has ignored the violence and horror through Kevin's life until it became older and more violent. We Need to Know About Kevin is known by some for his unorthodox portrayal of the parenting experience and its criticism of gender roles which is explored more heavily in the book the film is based on. We can see this, however, in the film in the events before and after during Kevin's Kevin's childhood.
During the scenes before and in Eva's pregnancy, we can see how uncomfortable she is in the situation. This is highlighted in the very short locker room scene. Whilst the other mothers around our protagonist are excited about their pregnancies, Ava is caught up in a clear state of self consciousness and maybe even uncomfortableness and clearly is confused by the idea that she will have a child. In some scenes, it is implied that this behavior affected Kevin. During his birth, she is shown viscerally, viscerally screaming whilst her husband, with whom Kevin maintains a more solid relationship with, is comforting.
This shows the role reversal that is prevented throughout the entire film. During Kevin's infant hood, Eva is unable to control her son who screams and cries violently. His father, however, comforts the child yet he is still not the one looking after the boy during his childhood. These scenes are quite obviously more critical of the idea of men and women having opposite levels of nurture. Suri is homeschooling Kevin is rude and bratish to his mother and asks and acts as if he knows more.
In fact, the only time in which he shows really any affection to his mother is when she's reading Robin Hood to him, a story which eventually becomes important to his torturers acts which destroy his mother in the end. From here, we can see the theme of guilt once again. Is his mother guilty for reading the story to him in the first place, which leads which leads to the events taking place later on in the story, or his father for giving him the bow and arrow which sets off a chain reaction that leads to the actions. Furthermore, we might also ask if it is Eva's fault for being a perceived bad parent that he committed the atrocious actions. In his teen years in his teen years, however, we can also ask if it's his father for not taking the time to truly understand him.
We might also see the murder of his father and sister symbolizing that they didn't really truly understand him. In the end, We Need to Talk About Kevin is about the mental deterioration of a young boy and the causes and effects of this. The director really does leave it up to the audience to understand the film which is why it's so great. Rather than spoon feeding the audience, we see what happens and judge for ourselves. The enigmatic final scene of the film illustrates this.
Kevin the mother asks, why did you do it? And he replies with, I used to think I knew. The film ends with Eva now hugging her broken son showing the first time he's portraying real emotion. Ending the film on a poetic, tragic and enigmatic note. We might never know why Kevin did commit his actions but the interest comes from his behavior and how we perceive what he does.
Thanks for watching this if you did and I know this is different from my normal content but I do want to do more of these because I get to share my opinions on films and all that which I usually don't get to do seeing as no one really cares outside the internet. But if you like this video like and comment it's always appreciated and hey why not subscribe because you know if you like the video you might as well subscribe I guess that's how it works right? That's how it works? No? Goodbye my dudes.
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Do you know where you're spending the afterlife? Oh, yes. I do. As a matter of fact, I'm going straight to hell. Eternal damnation, the whole bit.
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