|
Man. FINALLY saw this movie and I was more than impressed. I thought that some of the RED imagery (BLOOD ON HER HANDS) was a bit heavy-handed but not enough to turn me off (it turned off the fiance, though; he thought the movie was just OK).
But to the topic at hand - In my opinion, I thought that Kevin was a true bad seed and I found the movie absolutely terrifying. I disagree with Villain and Roshiq; I don't think that she was a terrible parent per se - I think that she tried, in his infancy to connect with him (man the scene where she was rolling the ball to him and he refused to roll it back - SO HEARTBREAKING) but he gave her nothing but hate.
Do I think that she gave up? Yes, I do. And the mini-golf scene is evidence of how she had absolutely given up on him especially in adolescence. And the scene where she breaks his arm - GOD - I sympathized with her but hated her at the same time.
I know I'm rambling a bit but I have to say that I really sympathized with Eva here, I really did. It's clear that eventually she just became complacent but I think that it was a byproduct of her despair in her inability to connect with her son, after trying (and I do think she tried).
But on the other side of things, I think that giving up wasn't the right thing to do, but I wonder - What the HELL would I do in this situation?
Maybe I'm coming at this as a woman who's thought about having kids - One of the things that terrifies me is What if my child hates me? - That probably sounds insane and I hate to play the gender card, but I wonder if that's why I sympathize with her so much; the idea of having a child who hates you is absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking to me. It truly is.
And to answer Angra's question - I think that he was a true Bad Seed. I do. But her eventual complacency and the husband's obtuseness to the situation clearly played into it. I mean, the movie is entitled We Need to Talk About Kevin, but they never truly talk about Kevin; Franklin dismisses Eva and that's that. I think that a lot of the movie is about complacency - Kevin has his diatribe on TV about people being complacent in terms of merits and success but they "pay attention" when horrible things happen.
As for the ending - I don't know; I hadn't really thought about it; I think that I was really just drained after seeing the pure hopelessness of Eva's situation and the guilt that she carries with her. I think that she's doing what she's done her whole life - Just trying to be there but making no difference.
I know that's not a great analysis, but I agree with Villain in terms of where the apex came.
All in all, I was truly impressed with this movie. I found it incredibly intense and melancholic and it definitely unnerved me. Brilliant film.
|