Wednesday, 4/16/97 Flirting Canadian director Lynne Stopkewich
creates a world of erotic intrigue with her debut feature ‘Kissed,’
a look at a college student’s fascination with necrophilia.
By Brandon Wilson Daily Bruin Staff The land of the maple leaf
is in danger of getting a bad reputation. Once known only for its
cold weather, love of hockey and amiable citizenry, Canada is
becoming the source of cinema’s more provocative works. The dust
has just settled on the controversy surrounding David Cronenberg’s
"Crash," and now comes "Kissed," a rose-colored film about a young
woman’s necrophiliac sexual appetites. Rather than go the low road
and give the audience a sensationalized shockfest, leaving no
graphic detail unphotographed, director/co-writer/co-producer Lynne
Stopkewich had a very different film in mind when she set out to
bring "Kissed" from the page to the silver screen. "I’ve always
been interested in women’s stories," says freshman feature-film
director Stopkewich. "Someone said you can only write what you
know, and although I don’t know the world of this character in
‘Kissed’ on a personal level, I identified with her as a strong
female protagonist, a woman who I could relate to in being
unapologetic in her sexuality – someone who is going to follow her
heart no matter what." Stopkewich began her journey with the film
after reading a short story in an erotica anthology titled "We
Seldom Look On Love," written by Barbara Gowdy. Now years later,
"Kissed" opens in selected American cities this Friday (it opened
in Canada last week). The film tells the story of Sandra Larson
(played by Molly Parker), a seemingly squeaky-clean Canadian girl
who harbors a lifelong sexual attraction to death and corpses. As
an adolescent, Sandra finds work in a funeral parlor, the perfect
place for someone with her unusual sexual proclivities. Things,
however, come to a head when college-aged Sandra meets a
down-on-his-luck medical student (played by Peter Outerbridge) who
falls for the young woman only to find himself competing with her
funeral parlor clients for her affection. If all this takes you
aback, take heart in the fact that director Stopkewich, a product
of suburban Montreal, had much the same reaction on her initial
encounter with the material. "When I first read the short story, I
was pretty shocked," says Stopkewich. "This wasn’t exactly on the
forefront of my mind; it wasn’t even something that occurred to me
as a sexual choice. I had to get over my own anxieties and fears
about it to make the film. What I tried to focus on were the things
that resonated for me as a female: trying to figure out what sex is
all about, what dying is all about – all those kinds of things. I
used myself as a barometer for audience reaction, to decide how far
I wanted to go, how much to show and what not to show. Sometimes
less is more; not showing you something can be more powerful than
showing you." To this end, Stopkewich and her crew utilized the
cinematography, art direction and the entire mise en scene to
create a somewhat Technicolor portrait of what would be a dark
character sketch in the hands of most filmmakers. "I don’t like
films that are spoon-fed to me," says the director. "And, as a
filmmaker, I like to assume the intelligence of the viewer. I like
to assume that they can draw their own conclusions on a certain
level. I like the idea of making a film they can insert themselves
into, not something that’s out there and separate from them. "The
whole way the film is crafted is an attempt at every step to try
and overcome people’s preconceived ideas: setting it in suburbia,
centering on a character who looks like the girl next door,
choosing not to make any easy cliched choices, not making ‘Kissed’
a horror film, not making it dark or gothic. I thought working
against expectations made it a lot more interesting." Stopkewich
began making films at age 12 on Super 8. By the time she was a
student at Concordia University in Montreal, she had decided
against a career in journalism and began making her first 16mm
projects. The shorts she produced en route to a bachelor of fine
arts in film production from Concordia include "The Flipped Wig"
and "The $3 Wash & Set," both of which garnered the director
kudos and prizes on the festival circuit. Moving to Vancouver,
Stopkewich finished the graduate film program at the University of
British Columbia, earning herself an master of fine arts degree.
There, Stopkewich met many of her "Kissed" collaborators, including
executive producer John Pozer. Several filmmakers served as role
models throughout Stopkewich’s life, and one in particular gave her
insight on how to direct "Kissed." "One of my all-time favorite
films and the one I used as a sort of model for this one is ‘Blue
Velvet’ by David Lynch. He’s one of my favorite filmmakers, and I’m
very influenced by his work and his sense of humor," says
Stopkewich. Making "Kissed" took three years of hard work and
searching for funds. Stopkewich took on the project to escape
"development hell," the lurch of inactivity she was caught in while
waiting for the green light on studio-funded projects. After
writing a script with playwright-screenwriter Angus Fraser, the
director/co-producer and her other producers began raising money
for principal photography. The money came from their family and
friends, and every credit card they could get their hands on. After
filming was completed, the producing team went to the National Film
Board and got a grant to cover the costly lab fees for development;
money from the Canada Council’s Media Arts grant allowed the film
to enter post-production and the editing process. Lastly, finishing
funds came from Telefilm Canada and British Columbia Film,
including financing the film’s blow-up from 16 mm to the more
commercially viable 35 mm format. Fortunately, the actor-director
rapport at the center of all this was productive and a source of
mutual pleasure for both Stopkewich and Vancouver-bred actor Molly
Parker. "I have spent the last three years watching Molly’s
performance again and again and again, and I’m never bored with it
even though I was there with her on the shoot, and in the editing
room I’ve probably seen the film around a thousand times. I always
find something new, some new subtlety in the performance, something
that’s going on behind her face, some thought or process, and in
doing a character like this, where the inner life is so important,
I thought she carried this really well." says Stopkewich. "Molly
has an ethereal quality; she sees the world in a different way, and
you’re intrigued by it. You want to know more and see more of her."
"Kissed" received a warm and enthusiastic response when it debuted
at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, including a seal of
approval from Gowdy. And with several new projects in the works,
the director is more optimistic than ever about the path she chose
over reporting back in college. "Making this film was an incredibly
humbling experience," she says. "And part of the learning process
continues, because when the film is released, what I would love to
do is go to screenings where people don’t know who I am and just
sit in the theater with the audience, to see where the film is
working and where it isn’t. "It’s a learning process, and I’m
looking forward to the next project. This one was grueling, but at
the same time it’s really gratifying to be able to reimburse my
investors, pay my actors and to have a vast number of opportunities
in front of me." FILM: "Kissed" opens this Friday in selected
theaters. Goldwyn Entertainment Molly Parker stars as Sandra in
"Kissed." (Above) Matt (Peter Outerbridge) and Sandra (Molly
Parker) become involved in "Kissed." (Right) Peter Outerbridge
plays a hapless suitor in the film. (Far right) Lynne Stopkewich is
the co-writer and director of "Kissed." Goldwyn Entertainment Lynne
Stopkewich is the co-writer and director of "Kissed."
Kissed–Official Studio Site