Great movies

I wrote last week about the novel, We need to talk about Kevin. I had read the book anticipating the movie, which stars Tilda Swinton.

I'd been won over to Tilda Swinton by her performance in Michael Clayton. That was a complete revelation to me. A routine legal thriller was raised to art-cinema level by the performance of Ms Swinton (who won an Oscar) and Tom Wilkinson (who was nominated but didn't win). So, as I said, when I heard that she was starring as Eva, the mother, in Kevin, I was determined to see it. I mightn't even have read the book otherwise.

The movie wasn't what I expected. I suppose that, with a mainstream, bestseller novel, I would have expected an average Hollywood effort - creditably done (as Clayton was) but not standing out from the crowd. However, under the stewardship of British Director Lynne Ramsay we got something really memorable. Magdalena, sitting next to me, remarked on the similarity to Kieslowski's visual, nervy, tension-generating style.

The novel is pared right down for adaptation to the screen. A lot of the nuances in Eva's character that I described in my previous post are lost in the transfer - her intellectual snobbery and her mourning over the loss of her career - are played down or lost entirely. So too is Kevin's school behaviour - we see him operating largely in the family setting. However, the bare essentials are there - above all Eva's loneliness and isolation (both before and after Kevin's heinous act) and the incomprehensible monstrosity of Kevin himself. The effect is heightened by superb choice of American classic pop, and country-and-western, songs - especially poignant is the way the song Nobody's Child is used towards the end of the movie. And I like the way the "wrap up" - which I found pat and unconvincing in the book - is cleverly understated, leaving the viewer to draw her own conclusions. So, overall, this is an immensely satisfying - if disturbing - movie to watch and a textbook example of "cutting edge" film-making. It's not surprising that Shriver herself likes the adaptation: a good adaptation should challenge the author herself but win his or her admiration at the same time.

The following day we went to see Polisse, at the Astor film lounge. To start with, I have to say to those living in the Geneva area that this is a whole new cinema experience that perits payment of a few extra francs. We went to an afternoon show and were treated to a free cocktail, reclining seats (with a lace for our glasses, of course) and blankets to cover our nether quarters. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a home cinema in you bedroom, this is the ultimate luxury.

The quality of the movie matched the luxury of the venue. If you imagine The Wire transferred to a Paris setting, and focusing solely on the unit that deals with protection of minors, then you get the idea. The actual cases that the police officers deal with are not central to the plot but rather merely the backdrop. Instead, the story focuses on the lives of the police officers themselves. They work hard and are clearly affected by the harrowing nature of their jobs; by and large their personal lives are a mess. However, what is uplifting about the movie is that they are still strong people with an immense capacity for relishing the joy of the moment. For me, one of the key scenes comes when, having achieved a safe outcome to a very harrowing case where a baby could have died, there is a release of tension and they all go clubbing. This leads to a superb sequence on the dance floor.

Still, it's not a light subject and we are reminded of how under-resourced these people are relative to the job they have to do: the scenes where we see an officer sitting at a desk in front of shelves and shelves of confiscated computer hard drives reminds us of the scale of the problem. The ending is superbly crafted - delivering a note of hope and a kick inn ths stomach at the same time. It's directed by the lovely Maiwen, who also stars.Watch it!