ETPC

tonight's movie was the beautiful and ethereal Kissed (1996), the directorial debut of Lynne Stopkewich (who my dad went to Concordia with in the 80's!). i really sincerely loved it. i didn't know what i was in for other then 'necrophilia love story' and i thought it was going to be trashy and bad but.....it's honestly a really beautiful movie. i find it hard to put into words and unpack how it treats the MOST taboo subject matter possible with grace and makes it far more of a spiritual thing. like, Sandra Larson (Molly Parker) is not a figure born of trauma or abuse or anything sensational or exploitative like that. she simply was born with an urge to 'help' these vessels with some kind of final erotic rite. it's fascinating. and the conflict comes from someone trying to understand why she does it, despite there being no rhyme or reason to it. she simply does and it's never explained. i love that. the movie is also extremely focused on Sandra and is extremely economical in it's storytelling, which is very refreshing. Kissed dosen't outstay it's welcome and it's gone before you know it, barely reaching an hour and 20 minutes. if you can stomach the content and themes of the story, i highly, highly recommend giving Kissed a watch. also, this movie was apparently extremely important to the canadian film industry and identity! so thanks for that too, Kissed!