Film classic Director: Robert Aldrich Country: Verenigde Staten Year: 1955 Length: 1u46 Cast: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy e.a. Dialogues: English Subtitles: *None*
SYNOPSIS
Kiss Me Deadly stars Ralph Meeker as Spillane's anti-social private eye Mike Hammer. While driving down a lonely road late one evening, Hammer picks up a beautiful blonde hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman), dressed in nothing but a raincoat. At first, Hammer assumes that the incoherent girl is an escaped lunatic; his mind is changed for him when he and the girl are abducted by two thugs. The men torture the girl to death as the semiconscious Hammer watches helplessly. He himself escapes extermination when the murderers' car topples off a cliff and he is thrown clear. Seeking vengeance, Hammer tries to discover the secret behind the girl's murder. Among those who cross his path in the film's tense, tingling 105 minutes are a slimy gangster (Paul Stewart), a turncoat scientist (Albert Dekker), and the dead woman's sexy roommate (Gaby Rodgers). All clues lead to a mysterious box -- the "Great Whatsit," as Hammer's secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) describes it. Both the box and Velda are stolen by the villains, at which point Hammer discovers that the "Whatsit" contains radioactive material of awesome powers. The apocalyptic climax is doubly devastating because we're never quite certain if Hammer survives (he doesn't narrate the story, as was the case in most Mike Hammer films and TV shows). Director Robert Aldrich and scriptwriter Jack Moffit transcend Kiss Me Deadly's basic genre trappings to produce a one-of-a-kind melodrama for the nuclear age.
COMMENTS
"The razor-edged dialogue, unflinching violence, and anti-hero protagonist influenced a generation of noir filmmakers; Tarantino even referenced this movie in Pulp Fiction. Don't miss it." (BBC Films)
"Kiss Me Deadly delivers the 'white-hot thrills' and 'blood-red kisses' promised by its publicity, as well as reminding us whence Tarantino stole his best riffs." (Observer)
PRESS
"Er zijn weinig noirs waar zo veel over geschreven is en die zo bewonderd is als Kiss Me Deadly." (8Weekly)
"'Kiss Me Deadly' is een film die zijn tijd ver vooruit was. Een film noir die een stuk duisterder, gewelddadiger en explicieter is dan zijn tijdgenoten en waarin het mysterie hoogtij viert. Een aanrader!" (Movie2Movie)
about the thematical series (Dutch)
De reeks filmklassiekers die Cinema ZED samenstelde in samenwerking met het departement Communicatiewetenschappen van de KULeuven loopt deze maand op zijn einde. Op het programma staan: ‘Kiss Me Deadly’, de film noir par excellence, ‘Jules et Jim’ één van de invloedrijkste Nouvelle Vague films en ‘MacBeth’ van Orson Welles, een icoon uit de filmgeschiedenis die een stroming op zich vormt.
Other movies from these series Jules et Jim Macbeth
SCREENINGS
Previous screenigs in Cinema ZED
Wednesday 9 May 2012 - 20u00 Sunday 13 May 2012 - 22u30 Monday 14 May 2012 - 17u00
