Kiss Me (Kyss Mig) is a series of beautiful, tenderly crafted, well-acted scenes carefully strung together in a feature length film that warms the heart.

And the chicks are hot! (Note to self: remove last sentence before publishing.)

 In a nutshell

Mia, who has not been home for a while, brings her fiancé along to celebrate her father’s engagement to Elisabeth. Elisabeth’s daughter, Frida, however catches her eye and a poignant family drama follows.

Highlights

It is an utterly romantic film without once bordering on the soppy/sappy/sentimental/Stephen Spielberg phenomenon. Ruth Vega Fernandez and Liv Mjönes are perfectly cast and have an intimate chemistry on-screen.

Family dynamics are often, and successfully, portrayed in an over the top, dramatic fashion. Rachel getting Married is a good example (and a brilliant film). A realistic, milder portrayal of an average family is more difficult to pull off while still keeping your audience hooked. Kiss me manages to portray the new-found love, the shattered fiancé and the father refusing to accept his gay daughter in such a realistic, familiar way that you can identify with and have empathy for the characters. You’ve known someone like the father, like the fiancé, and you like them despite their faults. They are well rounded. No one is weak or completely evil or completely chivalrous, just very human.

The film is beautifully shot. Granted, it has a very European, Swedish feel to it, with the late dusk, the forest and the lake houses, but in my opinion this only adds to the beauty of the film.

Best performance

It is a toss-up between Ruth and Liv. You decide.

Stand-out scene

I would have to say the first sex scene between Mia and Frida encompasses, in a few minutes, what the film as a whole is about. It is beautifully shot, handled with great reverence for the subject at hand and developed at a gorgeously slow speed. (Watch out for the use of the ‘night light’.)

 Negatives

None that I could think of at the time of writing this review.

 Is the film relevant today?

Do we live in a homophobic world? Do we live in a world where children are forced to parent the parents? Where daughters and father don’t speak? Where we need second chances? Where we need to fail and make up for it? Okay, yes then.

Please note: This film will be screened at the March 2012 Out In Africa festival. Visit www.oia.co.za for more info.

Details

Title: Kiss Me (Kyss Mig)
Director: Alexandra-Therese Keining
Writer: Alexandra-Therese Keining
Starring: Ruth Vega Fernandez, Liv Mjönes and Lena Endre
Runtime: 1 hour 47 minutes
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Reney’s Score: 85%