Kisses

I caught this movie in the 49th Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece just yesterday, and I have to admit it was an unexpected gem, since you can't really have high expectations out of the movies in Film Festivals...

Sweet, kind-hearted, honest, brave, wonderfully-outlined characters, wonderfully-developed scenario, all in all -an amazing film. I wish I could stumble upon movies like this more often. The cinematography and the direction are splendid. The Bob Dylan soundtrack tribute not only brings this movie to life, but makes it all the more stunning, as is the rotation between color and black-and-white; the film obtains color when the two protagonists are happy and it turns back to black-and-white when they are unhappy.

I'm pretty content to have caught this diamond of a movie amongst the piles of rocks. Congratulations to all involved for truly bold film-making.

Kisses is an entertaining and unique film. It was interesting to watch the story of two Irish kids that run away from home unravel. Experiencing the journey with them is thoroughly enjoyable and exciting, yet believable and did not seem far-fetched.

I loved the character of Kylie. Her very expressive spirit definitely added to the storyline and made for an interesting character. Dylan's apathetic, yet pensive essence was a nice contrast to Kylie's character. The acting by Kelly O'Neill and Shane Curry was remarkable, and they definitely need to be commended.

The mood of the film was directly correlated with the music, and fortunately, the music was perfect to set the mood. I'm glad that I had a chance to watch it. I especially loved all of the Bob Dylan references.

The acting of the kids was really good. They were portrayed realistic, which made out most of the charm. Yet, in the end, the movie got a little unrealistic turn into somewhat like an action movie, which was definitely unnecessary (except they ran out of ideas). It seemed to me, as if the director wanted to show that he can shoot also action-scenes. All in all the ideas were a little few, which were also not completely new. The supporting characters did not have much originality. Especially the ending was little bit too conventional and foreseeable.

Portray of two kids was great, yet the story lacked of originality and ideas. Since the movie is just 78min long, it's worth watching.

An excellent movie even. Even with a short 75 minute running the movie is crafted and developed impressively. Not a feel good movie in the slightest. It is the story of two Irish runaway children that come from abusive homes. It is unabashedly forthright in its hopeless outlook on life in general. The subject matter of the movie is undeniably grim and pessimistic, but this is a great example of superb minimalist film making. Nothing is overdone or excessive. Everything on screen seems to be needed and no time or scene is wasted for any reason. This movie will satisfy fans of art house and foreign film. Some people will be put off by it due to its subject matter but others who appreciate this kind of movie will definitely want to go see it.

All very Ken Loach, (before he discovered FC United!), but nevertheless a charming, short film. Dylan & Kylie, (a fabulous, if mismatching pair of character names), were sweet in their own brow-beaten way, and all credit to Lance Daly for sticking with the sometime impenetrable dialogue.

Never mind. Credit also to Kelly O'Neill (especially) and Shane Curry for demonstrating that acting is much more than just words. But what I loved was the fact that the whole feel-good aspect of the film could be attributable to …. Heelys! ("They don't come cheap you know!")

Yup, Keely floating through the Dublin shopping arcades was as graceful as anything seen in a (South) West coast surfer movie – and made me infinitely more jealous. And then, just as this fairytale turns dark, the Heelys come to the rescue in a magnificent cinematic moment. Extra marks for that!

Ron

(Viewed 26Jul09)