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The Naked Kiss -
Samuel Fuller is at the top of his game in this neo-noir that's all about dirty little secrets. In a jarring opening scene, we learn Kelly's: she's a now ex-prostitute whose shabby treatment by her johns did major damage to her temper and humanity. She hopes to start all over again in Grantville, a quaint, peaceful, all-American town not far removed from ones in The Twilight Zone, first as a purveyor of fine champagne and later as a nurse at a ward for handicapped children. It's hardly a smooth transition, though: not only does she discover that her final john, Griff, is a police officer there, Grantville is also like The Twilight Zone towns in that it has its own dirty little secrets.
Does Kelly qualify as a femme fatale? Probably, but it's a moot point because Constance Towers makes her so much more than that. With traits like a refusal to let others push her or her friends around, remorse about what her career did to her, etc., she makes Kelly into one of the more fully realized protagonists I've seen in this genre. The same descriptor applies to Grantville, with another one being prescient because when it comes down to it, life in American places like it has not changed that much. Despite its smiling, generous and clean-living populace, vice like booze and what Kelly used to do is tolerated. As for the moments that make the movie a neo-noir, the typical one is not the kind with blood, guts and bullets found in Le Samourai or Blood Simple. While I love such violent fare as much as the next noir lover, credit goes to Fuller, Towers, et al for not needing them to make their tension unbearably thick, whether it's if Kelly will revert to her old ways, her romance with the richest and most eligible bachelor in town will fail or if her comely co-worker is another Kelly in the making. The movie is rough around the edges: nearly every scene transition made me assume I missed something even though I did not. Also, the last act puts quite a few coincidences and conveniences into a small space. That does not take away from it being a classic of its genre, especially for how well it makes you wonder if prosperity in America is impossible without dirty little secrets being involved.
Samuel Fuller is at the top of his game in this neo-noir that's all about dirty little secrets. In a jarring opening scene, we learn Kelly's: she's a now ex-prostitute whose shabby treatment by her johns did major damage to her temper and humanity. She hopes to start all over again in Grantville, a quaint, peaceful, all-American town not far removed from ones in The Twilight Zone, first as a purveyor of fine champagne and later as a nurse at a ward for handicapped children. It's hardly a smooth transition, though: not only does she discover that her final john, Griff, is a police officer there, Grantville is also like The Twilight Zone towns in that it has its own dirty little secrets.
Does Kelly qualify as a femme fatale? Probably, but it's a moot point because Constance Towers makes her so much more than that. With traits like a refusal to let others push her or her friends around, remorse about what her career did to her, etc., she makes Kelly into one of the more fully realized protagonists I've seen in this genre. The same descriptor applies to Grantville, with another one being prescient because when it comes down to it, life in American places like it has not changed that much. Despite its smiling, generous and clean-living populace, vice like booze and what Kelly used to do is tolerated. As for the moments that make the movie a neo-noir, the typical one is not the kind with blood, guts and bullets found in Le Samourai or Blood Simple. While I love such violent fare as much as the next noir lover, credit goes to Fuller, Towers, et al for not needing them to make their tension unbearably thick, whether it's if Kelly will revert to her old ways, her romance with the richest and most eligible bachelor in town will fail or if her comely co-worker is another Kelly in the making. The movie is rough around the edges: nearly every scene transition made me assume I missed something even though I did not. Also, the last act puts quite a few coincidences and conveniences into a small space. That does not take away from it being a classic of its genre, especially for how well it makes you wonder if prosperity in America is impossible without dirty little secrets being involved.