Lynne Ramsay is finally back with her latest film, We Need To Talk About Kevin, an adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s book about a mother dealing with the aftermath of a school shooting that her son was responsible for.
Ramsay hasn’t directed a film in 10 years and has just two features under her belt: 1999’s Ratcatcher and 2001’s Morvern Callar, two of my favorites.
She’s almost the female counterpart to Terrence Malick because her movies have so much poetry in the visuals and storytelling style. I love her as a filmmaker because she’s so daring in the way she weaves a narrative- she’s not afraid to just pause for a moment and let everything just sit there, allowing the audience to absorb everything within the frame, both seen (a dirty spot in the back wall, the unshaven part of an eyebrow, the cracked skin of a fidgeting finger) and unseen (the conflicting emotions, the heaviness of the situation settling in).
Ratcatcher (which is on Netflix Instant!) captures so well a childhood that’s stuck in the tension between being a kid having fun discovering how big the world is and being a kid that’s trying to process the struggles of poverty and brokenness. Ramsay doesn’t just show you what these kids do, she brings you down to their level and lets you experience what they’re experiencing. (Actually, in thinking about the next film for 180 Media Group which will be a story about fatherlessness, I was considering a tone that’s a mix of Stand By Me and Ratcatcher- so you get straightforward adventure with subdued poetry.)
Morvern Callar is this amazing character study of a person transitioning from grieving to moving on. It’s the middle-ground between saying goodbye to the old life and being born again. Also, it has a beautiful performance by the best actress in the world, Samantha Morton :)
The part in the teaser above where Kevin is peeling and eating the lychee nut is a perfect example of her expanding one singular moment to reveal everything about the characters without punishing you with cheap exposition and dialogue.
It takes a bit of patience to take in her style, but so does listening to the full details of a story rather than just skimming through to the good part.
I think Ramsay’s one of the most talented filmmakers working today and I wish I was at Cannes to see her newest. She was actually supposed to direct The Lovely Bones but that fell through and Peter Jackson picked it up (which wasn’t all that of a good thing). It’s been a while but I’m just glad she’s working again and I can’t wait to see this one.
