Post by klep on Jun 12, 2017 7:18:05 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/12: We Need To Talk About Kevin
IT'S LADIES' WEEK
In the aftermath of a tragedy like a terrorist attack or a school shooting, there's rightly a lot of focus on the victims: who they are, what they lost, what we lost, how their families are coping. But we often forget that the killer had a family, and they are also suffering. Imagine what it must feel like to be one of the people closest to such a monster, to feel the guilt that you didn't stop it, to constantly wonder what you could have done.
Lynne Ramsay's haunting film does just that, following Tilda Swinton's Eva as she tries to understand how her son Kevin (Rock Duer, Jasper Newell, and Ezra Miller) come to commit this tragic deed and her own failure in not stopping it. Throughout the film Ramsay cuts between present and past, and we see Kevin grow up; how he's spiteful and cruel - his actions escalating until there's only one place they can go.
In the present Eva is wracked by guilt. In a simple and bluntly effective metaphor, she spends much of the film cleaning her house which has been vandalized with red paint. She sleepwalks through life, always teetering at the edge of the abyss. Any time she comes close to feeling some kind of happiness, someone is there to remind her of what her son has done - the worst of all being the boy in the wheelchair who doesn't blame her at all and genuinely wants to know if she's ok.
Because she does blame herself. She knew all this time that something wasn't right with Kevin. We see his entire life how he's a nasty little shit. And we see how Eva doesn't know how to handle him. She believes she's failing as a mother, and that feeling is only exacerbated by how Kevin hides his true nature from his father (John C. Reilly). He doesn't believe her because he doesn't see and because he doesn't want to - he is Kevin's father, after all.
So Eva went through her life thinking her problems with her son were her fault and not his. What else is she going to think when he snaps but that that's her fault too? And then Ramsay reveals the reason for that haunting opening shot, and we learn Kevin was even more monstrous than we thought. Eva says at one point that she'll be going straight to hell, but the truth is she's already there.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/19: The Maltese Falcon
1940s WEEK!
There's no genre more emblematic of the '40s than noir, and there's no noir more emblematic than The Maltese Falcon. Showing that Hollywood has been running out of ideas for the better part of a century, John Huston's remake of Dashiell Hammett's novel made Humphrey Bogart a star and defined noir for generations to come. Next week we'll talk about this landmark film, and I'll try not to gloat too much that I got to see it in 35mm. The Maltese Falcon is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/13: Paths of Glory
With Wonder Woman setting itself in the lesser-filmed of the two world wars, the podcast crew thought it would be a good idea to pair it with Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory, a film about the disconnect between the senior staff and the men in the trenches. Join us Wednesday for a discussion of this fine film, available for rent on Amazon Video, and free for Prime members with a Tribeca Shortlist add-on.
IT'S LADIES' WEEK
In the aftermath of a tragedy like a terrorist attack or a school shooting, there's rightly a lot of focus on the victims: who they are, what they lost, what we lost, how their families are coping. But we often forget that the killer had a family, and they are also suffering. Imagine what it must feel like to be one of the people closest to such a monster, to feel the guilt that you didn't stop it, to constantly wonder what you could have done.
Lynne Ramsay's haunting film does just that, following Tilda Swinton's Eva as she tries to understand how her son Kevin (Rock Duer, Jasper Newell, and Ezra Miller) come to commit this tragic deed and her own failure in not stopping it. Throughout the film Ramsay cuts between present and past, and we see Kevin grow up; how he's spiteful and cruel - his actions escalating until there's only one place they can go.
In the present Eva is wracked by guilt. In a simple and bluntly effective metaphor, she spends much of the film cleaning her house which has been vandalized with red paint. She sleepwalks through life, always teetering at the edge of the abyss. Any time she comes close to feeling some kind of happiness, someone is there to remind her of what her son has done - the worst of all being the boy in the wheelchair who doesn't blame her at all and genuinely wants to know if she's ok.
Because she does blame herself. She knew all this time that something wasn't right with Kevin. We see his entire life how he's a nasty little shit. And we see how Eva doesn't know how to handle him. She believes she's failing as a mother, and that feeling is only exacerbated by how Kevin hides his true nature from his father (John C. Reilly). He doesn't believe her because he doesn't see and because he doesn't want to - he is Kevin's father, after all.
So Eva went through her life thinking her problems with her son were her fault and not his. What else is she going to think when he snaps but that that's her fault too? And then Ramsay reveals the reason for that haunting opening shot, and we learn Kevin was even more monstrous than we thought. Eva says at one point that she'll be going straight to hell, but the truth is she's already there.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/19: The Maltese Falcon
1940s WEEK!
There's no genre more emblematic of the '40s than noir, and there's no noir more emblematic than The Maltese Falcon. Showing that Hollywood has been running out of ideas for the better part of a century, John Huston's remake of Dashiell Hammett's novel made Humphrey Bogart a star and defined noir for generations to come. Next week we'll talk about this landmark film, and I'll try not to gloat too much that I got to see it in 35mm. The Maltese Falcon is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/13: Paths of Glory
With Wonder Woman setting itself in the lesser-filmed of the two world wars, the podcast crew thought it would be a good idea to pair it with Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory, a film about the disconnect between the senior staff and the men in the trenches. Join us Wednesday for a discussion of this fine film, available for rent on Amazon Video, and free for Prime members with a Tribeca Shortlist add-on.