The Kiss

Finally, a film with content and true character development. The Kiss, which I viewed at the San Diego Film Festival, is one of the most refreshing films I've seen for a long time. Is it setting the scene for a turnaround in the American film style? I hope so. The storyline flows elegantly throughout the scenes from beginning to end. A realistically rendered emotional scene with Terrence Stamp and Francoise Surel toward the end only makes you wish that the film would not end so soon. A genuine change from the vapid, in-your-face, so-called dramas we have been subjected to over the last few years. This film brings the whole concept of movie watching up a notch. Highly recommend it.

An eager young editor joins the staff of a major publishing house and discovers an old, dusty manuscript with the potential of becoming a best-selling romantic novel. But the manuscript is missing the final pages, and the editor sets off in quest of finding the mysterious author and the story's conclusion.

There was unlimited potential for developing both a suspenseful and passionate story about the lost pages and the missing author. And while "The Kiss" was competently directed by Gorman Bechard, the good premise was not fulfilled, due to the nearly total absence of passion among the main characters.

While Françoise Surel was believable as the mousy editor, she was ineffective in the all-important romantic action. Surel appears in both the main story as the editor and in flashback scenes that recreate the fictional story of the mysterious and reclusive author Philip Naudet (Terence Stamp) and his relationship with his beloved Claire.

At some point in the film, the sparks needed to fly and the chemistry needed to be forged. But throughout the film, there was nothing truly "at stake" for the characters.

The shortcomings of "The Kiss" may be seen when this film is compared to a similar romantic film entitled "The Notebook." In both films, there are two parallel plots set in the present and the past. But in "The Notebook," there was genuine passion; the stakes were high for all of the characters; and the film included a riveting performance by the leading performer (Rachel McAdams) which linked the two stories.

With "The Notebook," I empathized with the characters and their life-changing decisions, and I felt compelled to view the film a second time. With "The Kiss," the most profound detail was in the writer Naudet's suggestion to Cara to read Gustave Flaubert's famous novel "The Sentimental Education." In order to make a film with more psychological depth and emotional life, the producers of "The Kiss" needed to follow that same advice

I usually like and can even withstand bad, sappy romantic stories. However, this piece was not just unforgivably slow it was practically incoherent! By the time it reached someplace meaningful you no longer cared. With a cast like this one, it was pretty unforgivable it could turn out as bad. It was obvious a lot could have been made better in the editing process. So many CUTS or fades to black were unnecessary and made the whole production appear sophomoric. I've seen better college student films. In my opinion, more time was spent on set decoration than in meaningful editing or pacing. There were no BEATS, nor forward momentum which made it intolerable. So many things it WASN'T... wasn't a buddy movie, wasn't a love story, wasn't a mystery, wasn't sex enough and wasn't worth watching! And all this from someone who DOES work in the publishing field and LIKED the concept of this story!

Just to set the record straight, Francoise Surel is the wife of producer Arthur Chang. She was on board the project from the get-go.

And while I truly appreciate some of the kind comments about the film, please know that I had nothing to do with the final version of the film. It was completely recut to focus on Ms. Surel. Likewise, the music was changed. I'm not at all fond of this final cut. And to say that I dislike the music is an understatement. And please know that the voice overs from the novel were written by other writers, not myself or Mr. Manzi.

While some of the better moments survived this cut (it's hard to make Eliza and Terence look bad), many unfortunately have not.

But nonetheless, thank you for watching, Gorman Bechard.

Reading the disclaimer from the director of this film, Gorman Bechard, makes a lot of sense, as it explains a lot of questions one asked about it while watching it. "The Kiss" must have shown a lot of potential in order for this project to have gone ahead, but it appears there was a lot of cutting, making the film incomprehensible, at times.

The best thing in the film are Terence Stamp and Eliza Dushku, who make the best out of their characters. In flashbacks we see Billy Zane and Francoise Surel as the protagonists of the novel without an ending, and in real life. Alas, these two actors don't live up to what Mr. Bechard probably had in mind.

Since the director was not consulted in the cuts, one can't hold him accountable for what comes out in the screen, yet, one sees the possibilities of what could have been in small doses.