Zusammenfassung der Ressource
We need to talk about Kevin
- Marketing
- Catalyst: Romantic comedy, bad relationships
- Factors to consider when analysing posters
- Use of colours
- Images
- Mise en
scene
- The style/ tone they establish
- Suggested genres
- Narratives
- Characterisation
- Poster 1
- Green, makes baby look alienated, sci-fi film
- Evil devil tails on the title suggests horror
- Connotations of jealousy
- Older audience
- Devil ears/ tail suggests sic-fi/horror - birth of
the devil child
- 1970's style poster
- Disturbing central image
- Intertextuality of Rosemary's baby
- Poster 2
- Ron com - red writing suggests love
- Contrast between their faces and the balloon
- Juxta position - 'need to talk'
(ironic) they're not talking
- Poster 3
- Blue tone/ black
suggests sic-fi/
horror
- Wonder what
the eyes are
looking at
- "haunting"
horror genre
signifier
- Representation of Eva
- Present
- Alone
- Vulnerable
- Medication
- Drinking heavily
- Doesn't defend herself
- Black, dowdy appearance, hiding herself, large
sunglasses
- Grateful for small
things
- Spends christmas alone
- Non-materialistic
- Insignificant as possible
- shy, lacks confidence
- Plain clothing, unkempt
- Haunted character, insecurity, guilt,
reflects on past events
- Past
- Outgowing, educated successful
- Her own office, wealthy, assertive
- hair cut, well kept, confident
- realistic portrayal of motherhood, finds she cant love her son
- Final embrace signigies acceptance from Kevin/bonding,
bonded to isolated from Kevin throughout
- Narrative framed from her prospective (sullen
demeanour of Kevin/ different personality
around Franklin)
- As a mother
- Finds it unnatural,
doesn't embrace it
- Struggle to cope
- Kevin has limited her
- Representation of Kevin
- Unresponsive,
controlling,
non-descript
- No personality, manipulative
- Collects computer virus' "there is no point thats the point"
- Sabotages the meal, make mum feel uncomfortable, never happy, needy
when poorly and when going to prison, articulate, antisocial
- Unsure at end of
motivations for
mass killing
- Intelligent/ destructive/ controlling/ perceptive, 'Kevin is
both entrancing and repulsive' - Daily Telegraph
- Insular/ moody
- Independent
- Manipulative, uses broken arm as
means of control/ orders Celia around
- Rebellious, eats whole chicken before meal
- Representation of American Life
- Live in a big house sprinklers always on, metaphor of American dream
- Live in suburbs, entrapment of modern
America, big bland home, tree lines streets
- Challenges notion of ideal nuclear family, shows impacts of lack of communiction/ emotion within a family and its
impacts
- Narrative Structure
- Non linear
- Ambiguous (unclear)
- Never know
the answers
- Open ending
- Genre
- Thriller
- Melodrama
- Horror signifiers, halloween, colour red
- Drama
- Technical Codes
- Use of red, red lighting
- lots of spatial shots to
represent the
emotional distance
between Kevin and Eva
- Lots of close ups of Kevin
biting nails, crushing cereal
almost shows how he is
squashing people, eating the
'eye' squelching like its all he sees
- Scenes often oblique/ framed to
emphasise the space between the
characters, reflects themes of
family dysfunction/ breakdowns
in communication
- Characters often positioned at
extremes of frame during
mid/wide shot
- Vio;once of massacre
kept off screen
- Opening scene abroad at festival La Tomatina,
use of red frequent throughout
- Audio Codes
- Contrapuntal sound, sound we hear/ images we
see don't match, creates distorted/ uneven
atmosphere
- Cheery old fashioned songs when Eva and Franklin meet
- Lots of non diegetic sound
- Kevin on stage hears "crowds"
- Is he immoral or amoral?
- Non diegetic sound track = electric - frequent use of
country/ western/ skiffle/ blues/ nostalgic songs. Eg.
Buddy Holly's 'Everyday' - often juxtaposed with disturbing
on screen events
- Opening/ closing song = mothers last words to her son about
men reflecting on mothers advice "Washington Phillips"
gospel song
- Narrative
- Film has a challenging non-linear narrative/ elliptical
editing
- Constantly fits between the present where Eva is alone/ visiting Kevin/ trying to find
work and past chronological events from Eva and Franklins romance - Kevins Birth/
grows from baby- child - adolescent - protagonist in a high school massacre
- Scenes linked as if we are passing through Eva's consciousness
- Also flashbacks to call Eva's office alert of
school massacre/ parents outside the school
- Enigma codes - witness hostility towards Eva, her isolation
- Kevins role in events? His incarceration?
- Where are Franklin and Celia?
- Lots of enigma codes
- Much of the narrative is ambiguous - events are simplicity suggested, eg. hamster
goes missing, sink blocked, bleach used to clear it, Celia gets blind by bleach
- Circular structure - return to certain
situations Eg. Eva cleaning house/
visiting prison
- Makes us question what has maintained their relationship -
becomes less apparent as texts develop = contradicts
mainstream narratives
- Themes
- Explores the uncomfortable
reality of family relationships
- Breaks taboo -
mother who finds
she cannot love son
- Living with consequences of family's actions
- Impact of suburban life - what
makes teenagers into mass
murderers
- Mise En Scene
- Often basic/ sparse backgrounds to reflect suburban emptiness
- Symbolic use of eggs
- Secondary Research/ Audience
Response
- Censorship issues
- Rated 15
- Serious taboo
subject that could
offence people
- Not allowed to be aired in
Norway after attacks
- "Unsettling and
also
unnecessary"
- Critic Reviews
- "Swinton doesn't say much, she doesn't have to. hear tear
stained eyes carry her emotions, clearly one of her best"
Rolling Stones
- One of the most hilling films of 2011
- Psychographic Responses
- Reformers - media products that challenge the norm
- Seattle times writes: "this is a truly domestic horror story, with no
easy answers and nobody blameless'
- Readings
- Preferred: We the audience are positioned to dislike
Kevin due to the killings
- Negotiated: As an audience we feel sorry for Eva however feel she is partly to blame
- Oppositional: as an audience we dislike
Eva and feel sorry for Kevin as she did not
raise him and neglected him
- Uses and Grats
- Surveillance: gives us info on what is going on in the world. Philadelphia weekly writes "we
shouldn't talk about the ugly feelings Kevin stirs up but maybe we need to