We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) dir. Lynne Ramsay

‘There is no point. That’s the point.’

After life, which agonisingly drones on in the case of Eva (Tilda Swinton), she will be going straight to hell. Two years ago her son Kevin (Ezra Miller) went on a killing spree at his high school, and to this day she continues to wipe off his blood - from her walls, her floors, the windscreen of her car…

                                     

Adapted by Lynne Ramsay from the novel by Lionel Shriver and winning critical acclaim at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, We Need To Talk About Kevin is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, depicting the headache and isolation of Eva, the cage she is trapped in and cannot escape from. The discomfort, however, does not turn you away. It grips you fully through the torturous present and past memories of Kevin told in flashbacks. And everything takes her back. Sounds, places, colours…

Hauntingly slow-paced, it lets us witness events in full detail. Who is responsible? The famous nature/nurture debate is put to question: was Kevin evil from birth, or is it Eva’s postpartum depression, her distant attitude towards him, which created such a monstrosity? Is it even possible to find an explanation? Kevin dares us to do so. This mystery is the very drive of the film, making it a masterpiece of art as opposed to a psychological study.

Swinton’s facial expressions alone tell us the story of Eva’s guilt and torment. Dialogue is minimal, especially in the present; she has nobody. Miller shines as a sinister, unpredictable, strangely handsome and captivating Kevin. Both performances are outstanding, with Oscar written everywhere. We Need To Talk About Kevin is an intense and powerful visual treat. By the end of the film, all you’ll be wanting to talk about is Kevin.

The English Patient (1996) dir. Anthony Minghella

“Every night I cut out my heart. But in the morning it was full again.”

The end of WWII is close; Count Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) is horribly burned in a plane crash and cannot remember anything. Nursed by Hana (Juliette Binoche), he slowly regains his memory, and we are told the story of his fateful love affair with married Katharine (Kristin Scott Thomas) through flashbacks.

Based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient won a total of nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Aside from the outstanding performances by the entire cast, the music by Gabriel Yared is breathtaking. The beautiful orchestra combined with exotic traditional sounds encapsulates the underlying theme of geographical and cultural differences/borders. As lightly as the sand blown by the wind which slowly reveals the beautiful desert landscape, immediately you are swept into this picturesque world of the film.

Can love exist in this chaotic world of war and betrayal, where the roads are filled with mines and people are always overshadowed by death? The film is a collage of ideas, rich and grand in scale with complex stories blended in together beautifully. Watching it on DVD is one thing, but seeing it on the big screen is a whole new experience which you definitely do not want to miss out on. For decades to come it will remain engraved in your memory.

The English Patient is an exploration of love, fate, hope, memory and passion. The brilliant cinematography has composed poetry for the screen, and everything from the dialogue to the colours is extremely tasteful – it’s nothing but pure aesthetic pleasure.

Melancholia (2011) dir. Lars Von Trier

With every Lars Von Trier film release comes a great deal of talk and controversy. Melancholia is not as disturbing as his previous film Antichrist, but is certainly a feast.

Justine (Kristin Dunst) is about to get married to Michael (Alexander Skarsgard). They’re on the way to the wedding but the driver struggles with the car, causing them to be dramatically late. They don’t seem too bothered about how late they are though, in fact they’re in hysterics – all seems to be good. Until she spots an unusual star in the sky. From there on the first part of the film displays the breakdown of the wedding, the dysfunction of her family and Justine’s deepening depression.

In the second part of the film, the planet Melancholia physically approaches earth. Justine is calm while her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is in a panic. Scientists say Melancholia won’t hit earth, but we know it will. So does Justine. We witness a visual splendour as the approaching planet affects the characters’ state of minds, and ultimately collides into earth.

Having based aspects of the film on his own battles with depression, Von Trier has carefully observed and presents to us in extremely realistic detail the interactions between people. Themes range from humanity, death, to the emptiness of everyday life and the future of mankind, but everyone is bound to take different ideas and thoughts back home with them as the scale of this film is so vast.

The mesmerising visuals and immense climax will leave you speechless and glued to your seats. This is cinema at its best, and something like this needs to be experienced on the big screen. The dreamlike introductory sequence alone, made up of images of the characters and of space, is enthralling and stunning. Kirsten Dunst gives the performance of her career, with agony oozing from her every expression. Bold and intense, Melancholia will leave you in a state of indescribable euphoria.