Recommended for: A2 and equivalent level Film and Media Studies
Capacity: 158 places
We Need to Talk about Kevin confronts a challenging and controversial subject with considerable film artistry, providing Film and Media Studies students with a case study of film form specifically tailored for the big screen. Its choices in representation will be considered, as well as its generic and thematic contexts not least the melodramatic focus on parents and children and its use of film form to generate affective response in audiences. Shot largely in the United States from American source material with British and American financing, a British director and British star, its institutional context also introduces useful ideas about a film’s cultural status.
Led by Rona Murray, Freelance Film Educator.
Screening: We Need to Talk about Kevin 15
Dir Lynne Ramsay/GB, USA 2010/112 mins Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Siobhan Fallon
Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel was the talk of Cannes Film Festival 2011 and her assured direction and tightly controlled pacing make for a thrilling and emotionally compelling film. Eva Katchadourian, played by the ever-talented, Tilda Swinton, is left picking up the pieces of her life after it changes beyond all recognition when her son Kevin’s teenage rebellion has tragic consequences. Featuring an exquisite score composed by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.