Ae Fond Kiss
Ken Loach, 2004, UK/Italy/Germany/Spain/Belgium, 104 mins, Certificate: 15
Screening under the umbrella of Sydenham Arts
“Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; / Ae fareweel, and then forever! / … / But to see her was to love her; / Love but her, and love forever. / Had we never lov’d sae kindly, / Had we never lov’d sae blindly, Never met—or never parted— / We had ne’er been broken-hearted. / …”. This is how part of the Robert Burns love poem, from where this film fittingly borrows its title, goes.
So this a love story. Sweet and bitter, funny and sad, desperate and hopeful, and, yes, sexy. Refreshingly so. As love is and cinematic romance should be. But this is also a Ken Loach film. And although it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen from the great, British, filmmaking activist, it cannot only be just a love story. As against all odds, parental wishes and family traditions, a Pakistani immigrant’s romance with the Irish music teacher of his younger sister grows stronger in Glasgow of the 00s, Loach invites us to celebrate all that unites us as humans beings. With a social realism that is almost tangible, honest and characteristically unique in his and his inseparable collaborator, screenwriter Paul Laverty’s work.
Reviews:
★★★★ “Ken Loach isn’t one for cinematic escapism – he wants his audiences to concentrate on the here and now. But although his films confront the key issues of the day, they’re not as preachy as his detractors would have you believe. Loach’s tales are, first and foremost, about people, and in Ae Fond Kiss he manages to reach beyond social debate to touch you on an emotional level… Recently, it’s been men who have dominated Loach’s work. But this is undoubtedly Irish newcomer Eva Birthistle’s movie. She rips through the story’s politics to reveal Roisin’s naked emotions and inner strength, delivering one of the most memorable performances in a British movie this year.” Alan Morrison, Empire
“Rarely does a movie deal with the theme of interracial romance in as sophisticated a fashion as A Fond Kiss, the latest offering from Ken Loach, the daring director of such searing slices of latter-day life in Scotland as Sweet Sixteen and My Name Is Joe… Loach coaxes the most out a rough-edged cast comprised mostly of amateurs, once again managing to produce a compelling, emotionally-charged melodrama filled with crisply-defined characters. An example of cinema verite at its very best”. Kam Williams
“Yes, this story has been told before in countless variations… But for the most part, Paul Laverty’s screenplay and the strong, naturalistic performances lend it a specificity that sets it apart… [Y]ou [strongly] understand Casim’s excruciating dilemma. If he stays with Roisin, he will disgrace his family and be exiled from their protection. If he capitulates to his father, he will face living a claustrophobic, straitjacketed existence of paying lip service to values he doesn’t share. As in so much of life, there are no easy solutions.” Stephen Holden, The New York Times