Like a Kiss from Jesus

A boy. His modest birthday. His mother. A gift. And an orange. And , in the circle of frustrations, a girl. Helping, being partner for hide-and-seek, kissing him. A sad-beautiful short film. One of reasons - its bitter atmosphere of the first part. The second part - lovely portrait of the best gift. And the wise care for making each scene. Symbols, the cold air of deep early solitude, the game of the others. And the emotion. Short, a profound special film. And, if you see again, a lovely gem.

The film is about a boy's discovery that the best things in life are free; that would be one view; there are many others, which is why this is such a profound film.

The film begins with a boy lighting a single candle on a sandwich. It's his birthday. He then goes to his mother and is given money to buy his birthday gift. He leaves the house, buys an expensive personal music player, steals an orange from a greengrocer and cycles to the beach whereupon opening the gift he sees a family (a girl about his age with her parents) playing with inexpensive bats and a ball nearby. The girl approaches him and after a brief session fishing play hide-and-seek. The girl is called to go home by her parents but before leaving kisses him on the cheek. The boy swims in the sea then cycles home.

The central event of the film is the boy's birthday; it's the first thing we see. Of all the "gifts" he gets the best has no price: there is zero affection from his mother (who is possibly a prostitute) who chooses to give her son cash rather than buy him a gift, the orange he stole, but then he gets a kiss from a girl he's just met.

This is such a feel-good film. It's about purity and innocence, someone unloved meeting someone. It's all there if you look. The kiss is about affection, friendship and love; the opposite of what's going on in the boy's home. There is nothing sexual about the kiss which is why the title of the film comes at the end. To put so much into a few minutes with such brevity is incredible. An outstanding film that deserves much credit.