We Need to Talk About Kevin ★★★★★

We need to talk about Kevin should be called, “We will think about Kevin for a long time.”  Since watching this disturbing movie, scenes from it keep flashing through my mind.

Somehow, I arrived at the preview without seeing a trailer nor reading anything on the book.  As the story unfolded, each moment was a revelation.  This is the best way to see this film, so this review is intentionally vague in plot outline.  I will say one thing; this movie is a horror story.

We need to talk about Kevin is a dramatic thriller based on the award winning 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver.  It follows the relationship conflict from birth between Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton) and her son, Kevin, played by three different actors Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell as six-eight-year-old Kevin, Rocky Duer as infant Kevin.  The older Kevins’ portrayals are remarkable.  Eva must also deal with her husband Franklin’s (John C. Reilly) unsympathetic views of her difficulties with Kevin.  When Celia (Ashley Gerasimovich) is born, she adds another nail in the family’s relationship coffin.

From the beginning scenes we realize something terrible has happened, over which Eva, now without family and living a struggling isolated life, is guilt-ridden. Her acceptance of her guilt is heart-wrenching. Through well-handled flashbacks, we watch as Eva painfully remembers the key moments which have brought her to this disastrous point in her life.

Eva is a role few actresses could play. Tilda Swinton, gaunt and finely controlled in her emotions, will win awards for her role of the Mother attempting to understand how to love a child who is so unlovable. 

This is dark and gut-wrenching subject matter.  As a parent, I felt every moment of Eva’s confusion and desire to connect with her son, and protect her family.  You need to see this movie because it is a masterpiece of filmmaking and storytelling. 

However, there is a price to pay.  It will haunt you and unsettle you, just as Sophie’s Choice sometimes still crosses my mind thirty years later.  For a little while, I don’t think I will want to talk about Kevin.

LARS VON TRIER'S MELANCHOLIA MOTION POSTER REVEALED

The Australian motion poster for MELANCHOLIA, the much anticipated film from controversial director Lars Von Trier, has launched today. 

                      

MELANCHOLIA is a beautiful story about the end of the world. Justin (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of their sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite Claire's best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco, with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth.

The stunning animated poster features the provocative director Lars von Trier alongside the outstanding ensemble cast which includes Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland and Alexander Skarsgård.

The visually stunning and original concept was designed by Madman Entertainment's creative team. The poster was created using a behind the scenes image from the film which allowed von Trier's image to be incorporated next to his stellar cast.

In addition to the motion poster, Madman Entertainment have also created a 2-minute 'making of' featurette where Madman Art Director Marcus Cobbledick demonstrates the steps taken to produce the motion poster and discusses the creative concept including the unorthodox use of von Trier.

                                

MELANCHOLIA will be released nationally by Madman Entertainment on 15 DECEMBER, 2011.

Anonymous ★★★★

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

In Anonymous, this very question posed by Juliet, may be answered.

Anonymous provides one theory on the debate surrounding the belief that William Shakespeare was not the author of the 37 plays and 154 sonnets credited to him. Mark Twain even commented that in Shakespeare’s will there was “Not a play, not a poem, not an unfinished literary work, not a scrap of manuscript of any kind.”

The film is complex, centring on Edward De Vere’s, the Earl of Oxford’s (Rhys Ifans) initial use of the playwright Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto) as the front man for his work, which as a nobleman, he was not permitted to publish. Enter William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall), a drunkard actor, who grasps the money-making opportunity by signing his name to the increasingly more popular plays.  Alongside this is the other story of De Vere’s love affair with Elizabeth 1 (Vanessa Redgrave & Joely Richardson—as the younger Elizabeth), creating its own political dramas, with later shocking ramifications.

Anonymous moves alternately between the earlier lives of De Vere, Elizabeth 1 and her confidante the powerful William Cecil (David Thewlis) to their present day lives, filled with political manipulation, jealousy and betrayal.  It’s almost a ‘thinking man’s’ soap opera.

It’s an unexpected project for Roland Emmerich, director of the blockbusters, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012.  Emmerich became fascinated with the Shakespeare authorship question after a conversation with screenwriter John Orloff.  He believes the film will open up the subject to wider discussion. 

The actor’s performances are compelling, the storyline well-crafted and the computerised visualisation of London beautifully evoked.  You cannot help pondering the ideas presented in Anonymous long after the movie is over. 

Shakespeare may have been talking about himself when he wrote,

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” But he could have also been talking about the film, Anonymous. Whoever Shakespeare was, I think he would have applauded.