Kisses: Magical

If only the Irish Film Board would provide the backing that other directors like Lance Daly need, we might be able to see fantastic Irish films gracing our screens every month, instead of once a year!
Anyway, enough ranting against Bord Scannan na hEireann, or they’ll never give me any money at all!Kisses tells the story of two young children, Dylan and Kylie, (played with breath-taking talent by newcomers Shane Curry and Kelly O’Neill respectively) who have grown up together on a grim Dublin council estate. A run-in with Dylan violent father (Paul Roe) provides the catalyst for these pre-teens to run away together, swearing never to return home again. The film paints a vivid, beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking picture of it’s young protangonists’ lives as they attempt to survive just 24 hours alone in the city.
Plenty has been said about the wonderful story and the two fantastic unknown actors who bring it to life, so rather than rehash that I’d like to wax lyrical about the cinematography instead. Daly has managed to re-create a Dublin which is both familiar in it’s gritty authenticity, and also strangely beautiful and magical, as seen through the eyes of two young children experiencing freedom from the restraints of family life for the first time. His use of lighting, particularly the Christmas lights which decorate Dublin, is particularly effective.
This is the sort of film that I will be recommending to everyone, not just to support the Irish film industry, but also as a wonderful cinema experience which it would be impossible not to be moved by, as it is by turns sad, shocking and hilarious. The witty, natural dialogue zips back and forth between Dylan and Kylie, who haven’t even hit their teens and have already seen the dark side of human nature, and yet still retain some of the magical innocence of childhood.This is the perfect Christmas film to lift your spirits without being sickly sweet and I really urge everyone to get out and see it while they can! *****5 Stars