Killer’s Kiss

Kubrick’s second feature film and his first film noir is a love triangle centring on a boxer, a gangster and the woman caught between them. Kubrick is less interested in the simple story than in the stylistic experiment, the extreme use of light and shadow. The post-synchronisation (necessary primarily for financial reasons) casts an unreal atmosphere over the realistic images, and with the surreal showdown in a doll factory, Kubrick achieves his first major ‘set piece’ – a masterpiece of cinematic choreography. Although Killer’s Kiss was a commercial flop, its forceful depiction of nightmarish states of mind earned the director his first recognition within the industry. (C.H.)