Kissed
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Kissed
Plot
In this strikingly original independent drama from Canada, a young woman finds that her obsession with death is challenged when she falls in love with a handsome medical student. Sandra Larson (Molly Parker) was fascinated with the dead from an early age; as a girl, she and her best friend would find the bodies of birds and small animals and devise funeral rituals for them, though Sandra always took these adventures far more seriously than her compatriot. As Sandra matures into womanhood, her obsession with the deceased begins to develop a sexual component, but her necrophilia is not about lust so much as a spiritual yearning for the light and calm of death's embrace. In college, Sandra studies embalming, which allows her to study and embrace death on a daily basis, and she finds work at a funeral home owned by Mr. Wallis (Jay Brazeau), a man who in his way shares her obsessions. One day at a coffeeshop, Sandra meets Matt (Peter Outerbridge), who is studying to be a doctor; she senses that he knows her secrets, and a tentative romance blooms between them. But while Matt wants to "cure" Sandra of her intimate feelings for death, she finds that he's not capable of understanding her erotic nature, which is directed within herself more than outward toward others. Understandably controversial upon its initial release (though far more subtle and poetic than one might expect given the subject matter), Kissed was the first feature film from director Lynne Stopkewich, who previously distinguished herself as a production designer. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Kissed is a film about a woman who finds spiritual meaning in her life by making love to the dead. It sounds like the stuff of cheap horror movies, but in the hands of director Lynne Stopkewich, it becomes almost religious. Molly Parker stars as the death-obsessed Sandra, who works at a funeral home and believes that she is ushering souls on their way with a final offering of ecstasy from the living world. The story takes a more earthly turn when Sandra meets Matt (Peter Outerbridge), who soon finds himself competing with corpses for his beloved's attentions. This is a strange film, based on Barbara Gowdy's story "We Seldom Look on Love" (and with echoes of Kathe Koja) but amazingly enough -- given the subject matter -- manages to be not only tasteful, but oddly heartwarming. If you can't get beyond the word "necrophilia," you still won't enjoy it, and there's a pretty strong embalming scene which may upset the squeamish, but open-minded viewers are likely to be both surprised and moved by this dark gem. ~ Robert Firsching, RoviCast
- Molly Parker - Sandra Larson
- Peter Outerbridge - Matt
Credit
Jessica Fraser - Associate Producer, Lynne Stopkewich - Director, Lynne Stopkewich - Editor, John Pozer - Editor, Peter Roeck - Editor, John Pozer - Executive Producer, Don MacDonald - Composer (Music Score), Kristy Lee Thirsk - Composer (Music Score), Don MacDonald - Songwriter, Kristy Lee Thirsk - Songwriter, Eric Mcnab - Production Designer, Gregory Middleton - Cinematographer, Lynne Stopkewich - Producer, Dean English - Producer, Marti Richa - Sound/Sound Designer, Susan Taylor - Sound/Sound Designer, Lynne Stopkewich - Screenwriter, Angus Fraser - Screenwriter| Kissed (1922 Film), Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill (1974 Film) | |
| Kissed by Winter (2005 Film), Kisses (1922 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Kissed
| Kissed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Lynne Stopkewich |
| Produced by | Dean English Lynne Stopkewich |
| Written by | Angus Fraser Lynne Stopkewich Barbara Gowdy (short story) |
| Starring | Molly Parker Peter Outerbridge Jay Brazeau Natasha Morley |
| Music by | Don MacDonald |
| Cinematography | Gregory Middleton |
| Editing by | John Pozer Peter Roeck Lynne Stopkewich |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | September 7, 1996 (Tor. Film Fest.) |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Kissed is a 1996 Canadian film, directed and co-written by Lynne Stopkewich, based on Barbara Gowdy's short story "We So Seldom Look On Love". It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7th, 1996.
The film stars Molly Parker as Sandra Larson, a young woman whose fixation on death leads her to study embalming at a mortuary school, where in turn she finds herself drawn toward feelings of necrophilia. Peter Outerbridge also stars as Matt, a fellow student who develops romantic feelings for Sandra, and so must learn to accept her sexual proclivities.
Despite being allowed a substantial grant, Stopkewich went almost $30,000 into debt and cost her company $400,000 so she could complete shooting the film.[1]
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Contents
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Plot
The film opens with Sandra Larson staring at a human corpse while she reminisces about at her childhood fascinations with death. As a young teen Sandra was enthralled by the feelings invoked by the stillness and smell of death. At night, a near nude Sandra would dance with the corpse of an animal rubbing it on her body, before giving the animal a funeral. Sandra only had one childhood friend, a girl named Carol (Jessie Winter Mudie) who also had a death fascination. Their friendship ended after Carol found Sandra's ceremonial dance too extreme.
Fast-forward to the adult Sandra at school fascinated in biology, carefully dissecting the bodies of small animal, trying to avoid disfiguring them. Sandra was working for a flower shop when she learned of an opening for a chauffer at a funeral home. She asks Mr. Wallis (Jay Brazeau), the mortician, for the job and he hires her. The funeral home's janitor Jan (James Timmons) believes, like Sandra, that dead bodies still have a soul in them. While driving the hearse with a body in a coffin in the back through a carwash, Sandra looks at the body and finds a shining light, believing that body's soul is alive somewhere.
Mr. Wallis apprentices Sandra in embalming. She starts studying mortuary science in college, where she meets a med student named Matt (Peter Outerbridge) who also must study corpses for his major. Matt and and Sandra begin to date, while Matt is intrigued by Sandra’s death fascination. Occasionally they would spend night's together in Matt's basement apartment, but Sandra would leave for late night visits to the mortuary to celebrate the dead bodies of young men with dance ceremonies which escalate into necrophilia as her death fascination increases to an extreme obsession. Matt becomes distraught when he discovers that he is competing with dead bodies. He unsuccessfully tries to get Sandra to talk about her necrophilia, so he starts visiting Sandra at the funeral home which upset her. Matt has to go to an extreme to win Sandra’s heart, as she struggles with choosing between the living or the dead, with tragic results.
Cast
- Molly Parker as Sandra Larson
- Peter Outerbridge as Matt
- Jay Brazeau as Mr. Wallis, Mortician
- Natasha Morley as Young Sandra
- Jessie Winter Mudie as Carol, Sandra's Best Friend
- James Timmons as Jan, Mortuary Janitor
- Joe Maffei as Biology Teacher
- Robert Thurston as Detective
- Annabel Kershaw as Mother Larson
- Tim Dixon as Father Larson, Owner of Larson's Flowers
Notes
- ^ Kalli Paakspuu, "Lynne Stopkewich: Abject Sexualities" Great Canadian Film Directors, ed. George Melnyk. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press (2007): 394
External links
- Kissed at the Internet Movie Database
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