'Kissing?' (2017-Greece): A mumblecore masterpiece by Yannis Korres
When you see a
bubble-gum chewing, rebellious hippie, asking for cigarettes that ‘go with
Chekhov’ and the protagonist replying ‘they didn’t smoke as they had communism
there and hence no time for smoking’, as the opening scene, you know you’ve ventured
far away from tried and tested mainstream Romantic Comedy arena to
contemporarily New-wave-ish Mumblecore magic.
What is a mumblecore
film? To go by a classic definition- mumblecore is a subgenre of indie films
which has naturalistic acting, minimal production crafts, and a greater
emphasis on dialogues instead of the plot. Alternatively, to define it
candidly, mumblecore is that subgenre which has the potential to challenge all
that we have ever known about the world of narrative cinema.
‘Kissing?’ is a
Greek Mumblecore film released in 2016.
The world has always
seen Greece as a nation in never ending strife with its political and economic turmoil.
However, this film seems to question our worldview of how we always, every time,
by default see things which are there on the surface whereas if we actually
were to dig deeper and peel out the layer of peripheral narratives, we would be
able to witness highly relatable, humanist stories forcing us to rethink our differences .
Prima facie, ‘Kissing?’
seems like a classic one-day story where three people, a 30 year old man, a 30
year old woman and a drug dealer discuss about their philosophies of life,
while smoking marijuana. This might seem to be the ultimate cinematic fodder
for the philosophy-junkie, but the narrative is not limited to just that.
The film starts unraveling
in chronologically non linear narratives with flashbacks and plenty of surreal
shots put in between.
The primary premise
of the film is that the protagonists, Danny and Stella, are debating whether it’s
actually worthwhile to continue in the already existing status quo. While Stella
feels that this world is not good enough for her, Danny wants to become a
pirate as he doesn’t want to lead a life of slavery. Here they indulge into
another discussion of how Piracy , as a profession is more equal than any other
profession in the world.
The acting is as
natural as it gets. Both our lead actors seem to effortlessly fit into their
roles, fumbles and all.
The dialogues are so realistic that they tug
at your heart, make you laugh and cry at the same time even though you might
not fully comprehend the language. All scenes are very tightly directed and
every time the narrative switches from present-to past-to present you yearn for
it to go on and on. The marijuana discussion scenes are so effortlessly written
that they tackle some of the heaviest problems of philosophy with laughable
simplicity. The flashbacks of the protagonist’s past sexual encounters, Burning
each other’s underwear, crying after losing a board game, getting turned on
when Stella challenges him, discussing about the possibility that Pierce
Brosnan would have had a small dick, and pretending to be dead in order to show
his love are some examples of beautiful screenwriting.
However, amidst all
that, one scene that stands out is the chapter labeled ‘Tesla’. Tesla is a
street thug who plans to rob the couple coming out of a deserted subway. And
what might have turned out to be like any other conventional robbery scene is
actually the main highlight of the film showing us a deeper insight into the
character sketches of our protagonists and a laugh riot at the same time, all
thanks to the scintillating screenwriting of Yannis Korres and the highly
improvised acting of Alexander Voulgaris. There is also a scene especially
dedicated to the online chat that Danny and Stella have which is both funny and
engaging at the same time. Every scene is divided into a chapter and each
chapter is strangely titled which further adds to the uniqueness of the film
and reaffirming time and again that ‘okay, this is not your regular RomCom.’
The music is exceptionally angelic. It makes you feel like you’re sitting in a contemporary setting, talking about love, life, dreams when suddenly a bell tolls and a slow motion shot makes everything seems heavenly.
Halfway through the
film you finally realize that being true to its indie credo, this film is not, definitely
not going to have a conventional black and white ending. The film ends very
abruptly with the last dialogue being
-“Can broken clocks
be mended?”
-“Only if they find
someone right to mend them”.
Kissing?
Indeed.
Comments
Post a Comment