Review of The Naked Kiss (1964) by Kevin N — 20 Nov 2011

Sam Fuller may have been the ultimate misunderstood film artist. People see his films today- even those that defend them- as schlock. Nice schlock, but schlock just the same. This may be the most important of his films to understanding just how wrong that categorization is.

Fuller saw cinema as a chance to break apart from everything that is so rigid and structured about the theater. It is an art form that can make its point best by being unapologetically sloppy, violent and honest.

The 'Naked Kiss' is a masterpiece, and I believe it is one of the most important American pictures of the 1960s. It is pure cinema- inventive, involving and up close and personal. This has a lot to do with Fuller's style, which is both invasive and observational.

In the film's famous opening credits, its prostitute protagonist, Kelly (a ferocious Constance Towers), recovers from a violent encounter with a client. The titles are placed atop the mirror image as she dolls herself up again.

She adjusts her wig- the one the client has ripped from her head, revealing a bald dome (a dramatic visual punch that will come into play later on). As our eyes shift back and forth between Kelly and the film's credits it becomes clear that Fuller wants this film to be both clearly cinematic and something gritty and realistic, an ode to the people who struggle like Kelly every day in the real world.

While Fuller's confident and bold direction is reason enough to see the film, it is Towers' performance that left me stunned. As Kelly, she makes a big leap forward for female characters. There is so much about this character that could make her an easy and lazy victim, but Fuller and Towers carefully sculpt her into one of the strongest and most independent characters of the decade.

She is active rather than passive. She evolves. She solves problems. She takes actions into her own hands and is both violent and compassionate. As the film goes on, we grow incredibly connected to her, and her joys and hardships become beautiful song notes and heavy gut punches which only increase in beauty and pain as the picture progresses.