Just a Kiss

Every romance film should be this way; the lovers bickering, throwing each other out of the apartment, taking shots at each other's families and generally not getting along in between periods of being so intensely in love that they forget everything but each other.

Sadly, most romance movies aren't like this at all.

Ae Fond Kiss, or Just a Kiss, is a gritty account of two blue-collar workers in love, one a Scottish girl and the other a product of an immigrant Pakistani family, all taking place in the not so glamorous city of Glasgow during the late 20th century. The Scottish girl is a music teacher at a Catholic school and meets the Pakistani boy when her guitar is broken during a racial incident. So far it follows much of the standard boy-meets-girl line. The romance takes off, they find they are getting along swell, and then the price comes due.

You can see it coming, the Muslim Pakistani family coming down on the boy for not going along with his arranged marriage, and him going on the outs with his family. But then the price comes due for his Scottish girlfriend, too, and that was a little harder to call. It comes down to both of them having to pay a price for their love, and the various tests of their willingness to do so. Even at the end, it was a bit uncertain, as such a romance would probably be. You can almost see them trying to decide if this is worth the trouble they are going through, or just a lust thing they will eventually get over.

The characters are likable, even when you don't agree with them. The father who doesn't want his son going out with a Catholic girl is not only likable, you can even see his point of view and the quandary he is in. The story line is believable, especially today, and the sub plots were intriguing.

I'm not normally much for romance films, unless there are a lot of naked chicks wobbling around, or the popcorn is really good, but I liked this movie quite a bit. Something in it appeals to even a die hard chick flick hater like me. It would make an excellent date movie, giving you something to discuss while providing that all important element of romance that leads to your hand sliding off the gear shift and squeezing her thigh while you make some pseudo-intellectual point about one of the various issues in the film.

There is no feel-good Hollywood ending here, it just sort of fades out, leaving you wondering what would happen with such a couple. Did they stay together? Did the boy reconcile with his family? But you don't feel cheated out of an ending, rather you are forced to confront how you, the viewer, would deal with the same or similar issues.

That word is of course relative. What is racism? Where goes the border between being incorporated in your culture and looking down on others? The question is relevant also for Muslims in Scotland.

Ken Loach is a passionate director watching everyday-life in a passionate way. You always get engaged in his people. You come to know them and feel for them.

In this film the catholic girl is the most abused part and the Muslim boy the one who has to struggle most against prejudice. The end is predictable, but the travel towards it exciting. The good powers win.

Ken Loach dares to criticize and understand at the same time.

I saw this at the Edinburgh Film Festival last night. I'm not a natural fan of Loach's work, although grew a little warmer to it after Sweet Sixteen.

What he's made here though is a believable, warming love-story. Aside from 'location-spotting' the Glasgow geography, there was a feeling throughout the film that's difficult to pin down (or articulate!); just a kind of "yeah, that's right, these people and these feelings are real".

Lead-wise, a great line up, Atta Yaqub plays a quiet Casim, and Eva Birthistle a brilliant but natural Roisin - there's nothing that stops you believing that this is a couple in love.

As for the rest of them - some excellent characters and some good acting. One criticism is Loach's practice of using non-actors - sometimes this leads to an almost TOO natural delivery of the script. The strength of the whole cast comes through though, and there's certainly no feeling of any tokenism or stereotype characters.

One actor who doesn't appear to have had much notice in any write-ups I've seen is Shabana Bakhsh, who plays Tahara Khan, Casim's youngest sister. She's fantastic. Again, falls a little foul of sometimes sounding overly natural... but what a star though. She was very believable as the rebellious, starting to get politically active, younger sister.

All-in-all, a great film, worth seeing. I think it's out on general release sometime in the early autumn - well worth the ticket.

I was taken to this film sort of against my will, I wanted to see something else, and from the first five minutes I knew I was watching something special. Not to give anything away, but this film has a political side that is not often seen in films in the states, but it's not 'heavy handed' about it at all- the political comes out of the family situations. The actors are all wonderful, particularly the woman lead, and I completely believed every situation they were in. The music was unobtrusive and the camera work felt more like a documentary than a film.

But overall I was left with a feeling of joy that there are still films that try to say something, that aren't based on comic books, and that have real concerns that people struggle with. Bravo to Ken Loach and co.

The Mother. I shall devote most of this post just talking about her.

Nondescript during her first few appearances, she fits the bill of a stereotypical Asian immigrant mom. And thats about it. But to assume just that will also mean that we have not seen enough Ken Loach movies. For it takes but one stolen moment of familial conflict for the woman to sense her troubled son's pain. And like balm over raw open wounds, she unleashes her outbursts of maternal affection. Its easy to understand why the son breaks down there and then. I would too. A mother's intuition is uncanny. To see it approximated so closely on screen, this movie demands my gratitude.

I love the other characters in this great film too - the father, the son's two very different sisters, his best friend and even the white "outsider" love interest. Each character is so well defined, their inter-relationship dynamics so genuine and heartfelt, they deserve my devoting paragraphs each respectively just to shower my compliments. But I shan't do that. I will only be repeating myself.

Hence, this much I shall say; there's something in a Ken Loach film which gets to me each and everytime - the characters. More specifically, I am floored by their measures of realness. They are individuals guided by distinct codes of conduct. Their values explain their actions and exposes their strengths and frailties. Ultimately, these "real" people earn my empathy. There are no saints or sinners in Ken Loach's film universe. Instead, I see human beings relating with each other simply, truly, sometimes madly, but always deeply.

Ae Fond Kiss is one of the best films of the year. Check it.