Capital Celluloid 2017 - Day 124: Fri May 5

Killer's Kiss (Kubrick, 1955): Close-Up Cinema, 7.30pm


This 35mm screening is part of a Stanley Kubrick season at Close-Up Cinema. You can find all the details of the season here.

Time Out film review:
Written, edited, shot, produced and directed by Kubrick for a mere $75,000, his second feature is a moody but rather over-arty B thriller whose prime pleasures lie in the high contrast b/w camerawork (Kubrick had been a top photographer for Look). The story is nothing original - a down-at-heel boxer (Smith) falls for a night-club dancer (Kane) after saving her from being raped by her boss (Silvera), who consequently determines to put an end to their romance - but Kubrick makes the most of flashback and dream sequences, and a surreal climactic fight in a warehouse full of mannequins. The dialogue was post-synched, making for a certain stiltedness in the performances, but at least the brief running-time ensures that the film's more pretentious moments tend to flash past, rather than linger as in Kubrick's later work. (Incidentally, the film - and a fictionalised account of its making - became the subject of Strangers Kiss in 1983).
Geoff Andrew

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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