In my mind, I often compare Tilda Swinton to Cate Blanchett. It’s not really fair to either of them, because both are stand-alone talents and impressively capable women. Cate is “the beauty” and Cate’s got all of the interest in style and fashion and she gets more attention overall. Tilda’s a world-class actress who quietly does her work and doesn’t seem to understand the other “parts” of being an actress – wearing pretty clothes and looking great on red carpets and magazines. So why do I compare them? To me, they both seem like aliens. Cate is the alien who has come to earth to charm, to love and be loved. Tilda is the alien who has come to earth to study us and she often fails to “blend in.”

So these are photos of Tilda Swinton’s alien-brain trying to compute what’s happening at the Cannes Film Festival. She’s promoting We Need To Talk About Kevin, a story about… well, it’s based on the book by Lionel Shriver. It’s about…sigh… it’s difficult to put in non-controversial terms. It’s about a boy (Kevin) who kills his classmates and teachers in a Columbine-like massacre. Tilda plays Kevin’s mother. It’s about whether the Kevins of the world are born that way, or whether they are made by their environments. It’s supposed to be an intense movie, and Tilda is already under consideration, nay, a front-runner, for all of the Best Actress awards and nominations. Here are some early reviews of the film from Cannes – go here and here. Here are a couple of (very difficult) clips from the film:

Photos courtesy of WENN.