Aug 20, 2007

[Movies] Sun Kissed

Sun KissedIt's a bit of a trick to find LGBT movies during our DVD runs, especially when shopping for our ever-classic "Asian versions" of DVDs. Hence, whenever you see one at the DVD stalls, we rarely hesitate and we gamble on getting it. This has resulted in a series of hits and misses in terms of movies but what can you do, right? Those are the kicks life throws your way.

The jury's somewhat still out on Sun Kissed, a highly introspective murder mystery of sorts. We watched it the other day and were left a bit confused as the end. Allow me to attempt to process things here.

Sun Kissed has all the trappings of an indie film - the grainy quality of the footage, largely unknown actors, extensive dialog, unfamiliar music and unusual cinematography. However I felt it was a film that was being overly ambitious and was trying too hard to seem smart when it fact it wasn't.

The biggest issue behind my discomfort with the movie (and my difficulty in trying to tag it as "good" or "bad") largely lies in the treatment. The creators tried for a non-traditional format by throwing linearity out the window, instead opting for a well-blended stream-of-consciousness POV that at first had me thinking in terms of alternate realities until I realized that the scenes were merely out of sequence. You might not realize this until you are well into the film and but then it's too late - you've already missed some of the realizations needed to keep you involved in the piece.

The feeling of confusion and the somewhat artistic shots that felt more forced than meaningful don't really help the story along that much. Sure, they may have some greater meaning in the eyes of the creators but this does not get conveyed well in terms of execution.

At the core of the story you have two men and around them the possibility of a wife, a sugar daddy and 2 murders to boot. The whole thing felt like a cheesy porn / slasher flick and it was a small miracle that we managed to get to the end of it all. Perhaps I'm just not seeing what the creators had in mind, hence my somewhat negative reaction to all this. If anyone has different insights, please let me know.

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