make my heart a double bed
Haha so I know I just posted, like yesterday or something, but We Need To Talk About Kevin leaked last night and I want to write down my thoughts in a more concrete way than Tumblr tags, so here is a Reaction Post.
Firstly, OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh I am so pleased that the film got Kevin and Eva (mostly) in the same way I did because the relationship between them is one of my favourite things I've run into in fiction. More specifically though:
The use of red-- red as Kevin. The opening, the jam, the blood, the paint. It permeates the film and she scrubs it off but it reappears everywhere. having her washing it off throughout the film was more effective than in the book, where she cleans it quickly at the beginning.
And then the counterpoint of blue. in the book she talks about being overcome by a blue light while she's pregnant with Celia and blue serves as an occasional counterpoint to the red here. IDK I need to rewatch it because the first time I was so tense about them getting it right that I may have missed some things.
The actors playing Kevin were perfect: with Eva, a mix of loathing and complete focus, of desire and determination, and then, with Franklin, a flat surface Brady-ness. it's interesting that we didn't see Kevin at school, as we did in the book. even though there's no narration to the film it's all framed through Eva's mind and thoughts and Tilda was… devastating.
Ugh god, just the primacy of their relationship. There are literally only two things Kevin cares about in the world: himself and Eva. and this is not care in the sense of love-- which I don't think he's capable of-- this is care in the sense of owning, of belonging. And that she knows, instinctively that he's not /right and he knows that the only way to keep her attention is to torture her, to continually defy her. I loved how many shots there were that emphasized their similarities. Two peas in a pod etc etc
The use of upbeat, wholesome pop songs was a fantastic contrast to the score (Jonny!!!).The cinematography and framing was out of this world. IDK how easy to follow the plot was for someone who hadn't read the book though.
A couple things did bother me. We didn't get to see Kevin reveal how much he despised franklin, aside from when he was sick as a boy. His relationship with his Dad is effortless manipulation, imo designed to keep him out of the push-pull between he and Eva. The looking of hatred Kevin gave Celia just after she was born and Eva was being affectionate to her was INCREDIBLE. In the book, at breakfast that morning before he kills them, he unleashes for the first time the utter derision he had for his dad. it's always been apparent to me that what finally triggered him going through with his plan was that he was going to separated from Eva and have only his dimwitted dad for company. He couldn't stand to be without the challenge of Eva. This wasn't as apparent in the film as i would've liked.
There also wasn't much emphasis on how little interest Eva had in having a child and how resistant she was to typical motherly behaviours and Franklin, though I'm glad he was practically a non-presence in the film, wasn't as pushy as he was in the book.
Another thing they didn't include was the photo Franklin took of Eva going missing and then eva seeing it in Kevin's cell when he's doing the televised interview, where he basically dismisses his dad and defends Eva. it was a remarkable moment in the book and basically totally turned my understanding of their relationship on its head. Since the film is less of a limited narration, we saw bits of Kevin's interest in Eva throughout the film, so it wasn't strictly necessary. Still it would've been nice to see.
WOW I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS OK SOMEONE HOLD MEEEEEEEEE UGH TUMBLR BETTER NOT LIKE FANONIZE THIS.
Firstly, OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh I am so pleased that the film got Kevin and Eva (mostly) in the same way I did because the relationship between them is one of my favourite things I've run into in fiction. More specifically though:
The use of red-- red as Kevin. The opening, the jam, the blood, the paint. It permeates the film and she scrubs it off but it reappears everywhere. having her washing it off throughout the film was more effective than in the book, where she cleans it quickly at the beginning.
And then the counterpoint of blue. in the book she talks about being overcome by a blue light while she's pregnant with Celia and blue serves as an occasional counterpoint to the red here. IDK I need to rewatch it because the first time I was so tense about them getting it right that I may have missed some things.
The actors playing Kevin were perfect: with Eva, a mix of loathing and complete focus, of desire and determination, and then, with Franklin, a flat surface Brady-ness. it's interesting that we didn't see Kevin at school, as we did in the book. even though there's no narration to the film it's all framed through Eva's mind and thoughts and Tilda was… devastating.
Ugh god, just the primacy of their relationship. There are literally only two things Kevin cares about in the world: himself and Eva. and this is not care in the sense of love-- which I don't think he's capable of-- this is care in the sense of owning, of belonging. And that she knows, instinctively that he's not /right and he knows that the only way to keep her attention is to torture her, to continually defy her. I loved how many shots there were that emphasized their similarities. Two peas in a pod etc etc
The use of upbeat, wholesome pop songs was a fantastic contrast to the score (Jonny!!!).The cinematography and framing was out of this world. IDK how easy to follow the plot was for someone who hadn't read the book though.
A couple things did bother me. We didn't get to see Kevin reveal how much he despised franklin, aside from when he was sick as a boy. His relationship with his Dad is effortless manipulation, imo designed to keep him out of the push-pull between he and Eva. The looking of hatred Kevin gave Celia just after she was born and Eva was being affectionate to her was INCREDIBLE. In the book, at breakfast that morning before he kills them, he unleashes for the first time the utter derision he had for his dad. it's always been apparent to me that what finally triggered him going through with his plan was that he was going to separated from Eva and have only his dimwitted dad for company. He couldn't stand to be without the challenge of Eva. This wasn't as apparent in the film as i would've liked.
There also wasn't much emphasis on how little interest Eva had in having a child and how resistant she was to typical motherly behaviours and Franklin, though I'm glad he was practically a non-presence in the film, wasn't as pushy as he was in the book.
Another thing they didn't include was the photo Franklin took of Eva going missing and then eva seeing it in Kevin's cell when he's doing the televised interview, where he basically dismisses his dad and defends Eva. it was a remarkable moment in the book and basically totally turned my understanding of their relationship on its head. Since the film is less of a limited narration, we saw bits of Kevin's interest in Eva throughout the film, so it wasn't strictly necessary. Still it would've been nice to see.
WOW I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS OK SOMEONE HOLD MEEEEEEEEE UGH TUMBLR BETTER NOT LIKE FANONIZE THIS.