Director: Stephen Daldry

The Kiss – part one

The kiss is an essential ingredient in many films. Today they are commonplace and in some cases almost through away, however, this was not always the case in the early history of cinema a kiss was then almost the equivalent of what we would today class as pornography.

For the project as they are not a large online community for this course, I discussed with and old friend on what could be considered great kiss moment and ones that show are distinct sides to kissing movies.

Along the way there was a lot of YouTube searching; lots of films could be contenders. The original silent film “The Kiss”, through “Titanic”, “ET”, “Cruel Intentions” and recent films such as “The Fault in Our Stars” even Ron and Hermione is Harry Potter – because not all kisses are the same. They don’t always convey the same emotion. There are a variety of emotions in a kiss: Happiness, sad, despair, lonely, relief…

Final I have selected a group of 5, which perhaps are not the best, but show different styles:

“Casablanca” 1940

In this flashback we are looking at the last time Rick saw else before we walked into his famous bar. The scene shows the soft, gentle romantic side of one of the toughest bravest hero’s on the history. The kiss the finally of a scene where he lays out his feelings, (and Elsa hers) but as the viewer you know the outcome and the heartbreak that falls upon Rick.

The scene is shot tight, switch between the close-up of the main players and never wider than showing them sitting at a restaurant table. The score has anticipation and suspense as you know this is a quick meeting, but there is sadness in it – the viewer can tell the outcome from the score. In the scene Bogart looks nothing like the Rick we meet Casablanca; Paris Rick does not have the sadness and world-weariness in his eyes.

“A View With a View” 1985

This scene is the perfect example of Victorian/Edwardian values; or how people reacted to them.

A ROOM WITH A VIEW, Julian Sands, Helena Bonham Carter, 1985. (c) Cinecom International

Set in an Italian poppy field, it silently shows Lucy sets off to look for George; and while she is wordless the conversation of the other characters explain what is going on – how the Italian countryside makes the any feel Romantic. The operatic score drives the scene at a high pace, which is mainly shot in relatively wide shots that capture the beauty of the surrounding. The scene concludes with a classic “swept off her feet kiss.”

From Here to Eternity 1953

Possibly one of the most famous kisses and implied sexual activity in movie history. In the original novel, the characters are having sex on the beach, this would never have got through the Hays Code but through a fantastic score, dialogue, and cinematography we are given a torrid scene which even in more conservative 1953 leaves little to the imagination. As Samuel Wrigley so elegantly refers to the scene on the BFI website:

“The orgiastic music, the thunder of the waves, trembling bodies, the looks of intent in their eyes – this was strong stuff for films of the time.”

The Reader 2009

I find this moment and kiss very powerful; as it deals the with sexual awaking of a teenage boy. I  feel that it expresses and show the confusion and awkwardness of the situation.

It is evident why Michael has returned to see Hanna but as teenage Michael is conflicted and unsure of himself. The scene, shot tight the majority of the time, allows the viewer to imagine what is happening. And the tension is raised even further that the score stops, and the scene continues with just the sound of gasped breaths and a dripping tap.

The Godfather Part 2 1974

Not a romantic kiss, it is the Kiss of Death. A million emotions are conveyed in this kiss. Michael has found out that Fredo has betrayed him leading to an attempt on Michael life. Michael greets Fredo with hug and kiss telling him that he has broken his heart.

The scene is New Year’s Eve as Havana is about to fall to Castro rebels, there is a celebration, and the end of Batista regime is coming. Michael calm and friendly tells Fredo they have escape root, then suddenly he kisses brother in a dramatic way, to indicate he know about the betrayal. The kiss is shot from behind Fredo so you never clearly see it and it set to a background of party music. The unexpected nature of it seems to mimic the party that is going on, as the party goers are unaware of the closing rebels.

If there is an issue with about clips chemistry is always there, obviously not in the Godfather scene, even with the depth of feeling in the Casablanca scene it is still a little stilted. From Here to Eternity there is a sense of chemistry or passion whether this just to die to the rumour surrounding Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr at the time I don’t know, I doubt the performance is strong, and there is a light in the actor’s eyes that would be hard to force.

Sex and by extension kissing scenes are awkward for players for various reasons the logistics; because the other actor is your friend; because they aren’t friends. In 2014 Huffington post article many artists reflect on their experiences and most are not positive if not negative. We could go into the debate of did Tony Curtis say “like kissing Hitler” or if he did was it a joke, but I think it best summed up surprisingly by Rupert Grint on kissing Emma Watson;

“It was actually fine. It seemed like the most unnatural thing to do, to kiss this person I’d known since she was 9. It took a while to get into it and put our friendship aside. It’s quite full-on, a proper snog. We’re soaking wet as well — they dumped gallons of water on us and then we just went for it. We laughed a lot, and it took us a while to concentrate. We did it about four times.” [Attitude Magazine, 2011]

Bibliography