The kiss before death
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The kiss before death |
| Original title | A Kiss Before Dying |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1991 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | James Dearden |
| script | James Dearden |
| production |
Eric Fellner , Robert Lawrence |
| music | Howard Shore |
| camera | Mike Southon |
| cut | Michael Bradsell |
| occupation | |
| |
The Kiss Before Dying (Original Title: A Kiss Before Dying ) is an American thriller directed by James Dearden from 1991 . The script, which has also written Dearden, based on the 1953 published suspense novel A Kiss Before Dying (German: A Kiss Before Dying ) by Ira Levin , who in 1954 Edgar Award won for best first film. The novel was filmed in 1956 with Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward in a double role (German title: A kiss before death ).
action
Jonathan Corliss grew up in modest circumstances. At college, he met Dorothy Carlsson, the daughter of the entrepreneur Thor Carlsson, and hoped for social advancement through the connection with her. She becomes pregnant from him. Corliss fears that her wealthy conservative father will disinherit her if he learns that she has become pregnant without being married. He murders Dorothy in cold blood by pushing her unobserved from the roof of a skyscraper. Since no one knew of their connection and a melancholy poem by Dorothy's hand was sent through the mailbox of the house from which Dorothy fell, the police consider everything to be suicide and, at the request of their rich father, who does not want to attract attention, hardly any more Investigations.
Corliss takes on a different identity and later marries Dorothy's twin sister Ellen. Since she did not believe in her sister's suicide, she investigates and finds Tommy Roussell, an ex-boyfriend of her sister. Just as Roussell wants to bring her the name of Dorothy's closest friend, Corliss, Corliss strangles Roussell, hangs him up and writes a fictitious confession in his computer, which leaves the impression that Roussell killed himself because he murdered Dorothy Has. Jonathan gradually murders anyone who could convict him.
Later, Ellen realizes that Dorothy could not have been murdered by Tommy Roussell, and after a while she suspects her husband. Shortly after Ellen received decisive information from Jonathan's mother and discovered her dead sister's lighter in Jonathan's former youth room, Jonathan tried to kill her there. It comes to a showdown: Jonathan follows Ellen through the house, she escapes from a window into the garden and finally onto the adjacent train tracks. Jonathan is run over by one of those freight trains to the Carlsson works in front of his parents' house, which he looked at from the window as a child.
background
The film was shot in England , New York City and Philadelphia , among others . It grossed approximately $ 15.4 million in US cinemas .
Reviews
Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on April 26, 1991 that one of the strengths of the film was that Matt Dillon portrayed the character as " independent " and " indifferent ". Sean Young seems distant, which is why the film is not her best role.
Awards
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
For her double role, Sean Young received the Golden Raspberry in 1992 in the categories of Worst Actress (as surviving twin) and Worst Supporting Actress (as twin killed).
literature
- Ira Levin : Kiss before death. Novel . Heyne, Munich 1971, DNB 457421754 (American English: A Kiss Before Dying . New York 1953. Translated by Roland Krug von Nidda , German first edition 1957 by A. Müller Verlag, Rüschlikon-Zurich).
Web links
- A Kiss Before Dying in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A Kiss Before Dying at Rotten Tomatoes (English)