Kissed

Kissed is a 1996 Canadian erotic thriller film, directed and co-written by Lynne Stopkewich, based on Barbara Gowdy's short story "We So Seldom Look On Love". It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 1996.

For the 1922 film of the same name, see Kissed (1922 film).

Kissed
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lynne Stopkewich
Produced by	Dean English Lynne Stopkewich
Written by	Angus Frazer Lynne Stopkewich Barbara Gowdy (short story)
Starring	Molly Parker Peter Outerbridge Jay Brazeau Natasha Morley
Music by	Don MacDonald
Cinematography	Gregory Middleton
Edited by	John Pozer Peter Roeck Lynne Stopkewich
Production company	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date	September 7, 1996 (Tor. Film Fest.) April 17, 1997 (wide release)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

The film stars Molly Parker as Sandra Larson, a young woman whose fixation on death leads her to study embalming at a mortuary school, where in turn she finds herself drawn toward feelings of necrophilia. Peter Outerbridge also stars as Matt, a fellow student who develops romantic feelings for Sandra, and so must learn to accept her sexual proclivities.

Despite being allowed a substantial grant, Stopkewich went almost $30,000 into debt and cost her company $400,000 so she could complete shooting the film.[1]

Plot

As far back as Sandra Larson (Parker) can remember, she has been fascinated by death. As a child, she dances with the corpses of animals at night, rubbing them on her body, before giving them a funeral. She performs this dance in front of her only friend, a girl named Carol (Jessie Winter Mudie), who ends their friendship soon afterward.

In college, Sandra studies biology, carefully dissecting the bodies of small animals, trying to avoid disfiguring them. She gets a job at a funeral home to be closer to dead bodies. The funeral home's janitor Jan (James Timmons) believes, like Sandra, that dead bodies still have a soul in them. While driving the hearse with a body in a coffin in the back through a car wash, Sandra looks at the body and finds a shining light, believing that body's soul is alive somewhere.

Mr. Wallis apprentices Sandra in embalming. She starts studying mortuary science, where she meets a medical student named Matt (Peter Outerbridge) who also must study corpses for his major. Matt and Sandra begin to date, and Matt is intrigued by Sandra’s death fascination. Occasionally they spend nights together in Matt's basement apartment, but Sandra always leaves for late night visits to the mortuary to celebrate the dead bodies of young men with dance ceremonies which escalate into necrophilia.

Matt becomes distraught when he discovers that he is competing with dead bodies. He tries unsuccessfully to get Sandra to talk about her necrophilia, so he starts visiting her at the funeral home, which upsets her. Matt has to go to an extreme to win Sandra’s heart, as she struggles with choosing between the living or the dead, with tragic results.

Cast

• Molly Parker as Sandra Larson
• Peter Outerbridge as Matt
• Jay Brazeau as Mr. Wallis, Mortician
• Natasha Morley as Young Sandra
• Jessie Winter Mudie as Carol, Sandra's Best Friend
• James Timmons as Jan, Mortuary Janitor
• Joe Maffei as Biology Teacher
• Robert Thurston as Detective
• Annabel Kershaw as Mother Larson
• Tim Dixon as Father Larson, Owner of Larson's Flowers

Production

At the Sundance Film Festival, director Lynne Stopkewich stated she read the original story, "We So Seldom Look on Love", by Barbara Gowdy in a book of erotica for women, which inspired her.[2]

Reception

Roger Ebert described the film as "one of the most controversial films at the Toronto and Sundance festivals" and gave the film a three-star review, noting that it "is about a necrophiliac, but in its approach, it could be about spirituality or transcendence."[2] The New York Times noted that "it would be easy to snicker at this Canadian film, were its subject not handled with a delicacy and lyricism that underscore the mystical rather than gruesome aspects of what Sandra coolly acknowledges is a consuming addiction."[3]

The A.V. Club stated that "There's much of interest here, and though it's rare and refreshing to find a film that genuinely tries to address the subject of death directly, Kissed is likely to leave its audience as cold as the objects of its heroine's desire."[4]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 70% rating.

Awards

Awards
Ceremony	Category	Name	Outcome
18th Genie Awards[5]	Best Motion Picture	Dean English, Lynne Stopkewich	Nominated
	Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	Peter Outerbridge	Nominated
	Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Molly Parker	Won
	Achievement in Direction	Lynne Stopkewich	Nominated
	Original Screenplay	Angus Fraser, Lynne Stopkewich	Nominated
	Achievement in Cinematography	Gregory Middleton	Nominated
	Achievement in Music/Original Score	Don MacDonald	Nominated
	Achievement in Music/Original Song	Kristy Thirsk	Nominated

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack album for Kissed was released by Nettwerk Records under the Unforscene Music imprint in 1997[6] and featured music appearing in and recorded for the film.

1. Don Macdonald – Bird in Hand (Original Score)
2. Ginger – Far Out
3. Don Macdonald – Ambulance (Original Score)
4. The Ids – Locked in a Room
5. Suzanne Little – This Time
6. Don Macdonald – Opening in Darkness (Original Score)
7. Tom Hooper – Come to Me
8. Don Macdonald – Vanity Mirror (Original Score)
9. Tara MacLean – That's Me
10. Delerium – Flowers Become Screens
11. Don Macdonald – Graveyard (Original Score)
12. Mark Findler – Train of Misery
13. Don Macdonald – Prep Room (Original Score)
14. The Aquanettas – Beach Party (remix)
15. Don Macdonald – Dead Matt (Original Score)
16. Kristy Thirsk – Bounds of Love
17. Don Macdonald – Love (Original Score)
18. Sarah McLachlan – Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

Notes

1. Kalli Paakspuu, "Lynne Stopkewich: Abject Sexualities" Great Canadian Film Directors, ed. George Melnyk. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press (2007): 394
2. Ebert, Roger (April 25, 1997). "Kissed". Retrieved May 12, 2014.
3. Holden, Stephen (April 18, 1997). "Kissed". New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
4. Phipps, Keith (March 29, 2002). "Kissed". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
5. "Canada's Award Database". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
6. "Kissed (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Original Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-03-06.

External links

• Kissed on IMDb