Kiss in Cinema

A montage of movie smooches? Wel, there have been plenty of supercuts featuring famous film kisses (or almost kisses). So nothing new here in that regard. Moreover, this particular montage does not seem to have any immediate film analytical ambitions nor does it offer an explicitly critical reading. And yet, this is a mesmerizing montage that lingers in the mind longer than it should.

 

Juan Rayos strings together shots in which characters lock lips… but he adds a visual twist. He mirrors the shots in such a way that each character kisses her or his own mirror image. Like Narcissus (who was smitten with his own reflection in the Greek myth) these actors seem in love with their own onscreen persona.

 

Rayos refers to that ancient myth with a beautiful quote that offers a slightly different interpretation. It’s a quote he borrowed from Truman Capote: “I tell you, my dear, Narcissus was no egoist… he was merely another of us who, in our unshatterable isolation, recognized, on seeing his reflection, the one beautiful comrade, the only inseparable love… poor Narcissus, possibly the only human who was ever honest on this point.” Are these actors then just being honest or are they self-absorbed? Do their embraces of their mirrored selves symbolize egomania or are they simply playing the vainglorious game that moviemaking is? Watch and judge for yourself.