Ae Fond Kiss... (2004)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Paul Laverty (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 July 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Sparks fly in Glasgow's south side when a young Pakistani man enters into a relationship with a Caucasian woman.

Plot Keywords:

Pakistani | Glasgow Scotland | Music Teacher | Priest | Racism

Awards:

7 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Atta Yaqub	...	Casim Khan
Eva Birthistle	...	Roisin Hanlon
Ahmad Riaz	...	Tariq Khan
Shamshad Akhtar	...	Sadia Khan
Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh	...	Tahara Khan (as Shabana Bakhsh)
Ghizala Avan	...	Rukhsana Khan
David McKay	...	Wee Roddie
Raymond Mearns	...	Big Roddie
Gary Lewis	...	Danny
Shy Ramsan	...	Hamid
Emma Friel	...	Annie
Karen Fraser	...	Elsie
John Yule	...	Headmaster
Ruth McGhie	...	Mary Nolan
Father David Wallace	...	Father David

Also Known As:

A Fond Kiss... (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
Just a Kiss (Europe: English title)
Sólo un beso (Spain)
Un bacio appassionato (Italy)
Un beso (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong sexuality and language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK | Belgium | Germany | Italy | Spain

Language:

English | Punjabi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Brazil:16 | Spain:13 | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Italy:T | Singapore:R21 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Norway:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK

Company:

Bianca Film

Trivia:

Contrary to what he states, the sweet dish Casim serves Roisin is 'Ras Gulla', not 'Gulab Jabun'.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Telma demain (2005)

Soundtrack:

A Man's A Man For A' That

Another tick in the box for Ken Loach

I saw this at the Edinburgh Film Festival last night. I'm not a natural fan of Loach's work, although grew a little warmer to it after Sweet Sixteen.

What he's made here though is a believable, warming love-story. Aside from 'location-spotting' the Glasgow geography, there was a feeling throughout the film that's difficult to pin down (or articulate!); just a kind of "yeah, that's right, these people and these feelings are real".

Lead-wise, a great line up, Atta Yaqub plays a quiet Casim, and Eva Birthistle a brilliant but natural Roisin - there's nothing that stops you believing that this is a couple in love.

As for the rest of them - some excellent characters and some good acting. One criticism is Loach's practice of using non-actors - sometimes this leads to an almost TOO natural delivery of the script. The strength of the whole cast comes through though, and there's certainly no feeling of any tokenism or stereotype characters.

One actor who doesn't appear to have had much notice in any write-ups I've seen is Shabana Bakhsh, who plays Tahara Khan, Casim's youngest sister. She's fantastic. Again, falls a little foul of sometimes sounding overly natural... but what a star though. She was very believable as the rebellious, starting to get politically active, younger sister.

All-in-all, a great film, worth seeing. I think it's out on general release sometime in the early autumn - well worth the ticket.