Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, a holiday that compelled me to watch a
sappy movie or two. Then I came here to Epinions, and I revisited a list
that my good friend Beth
compiled of her favorite movie kisses. When she first published it, I
said I’d have to compose a similar list soon, but I never did, so I’m
doing it now. Of course, I’m terrible at coming up with lists like this
because every time I think I’ve got it figured out, I think of another
movie or ten that I need to add to the list. But here, in chronological
order, is my not-at-all definitive list of 14 favorite movie kisses – a
couple of which aren’t technically kisses, but feel like them – followed
by my favorite miniseries kiss and TV series kiss.
"Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes on this lovely belle notte." - Lady and the Tramp (1955)
The
spaghetti kiss. Accidental, and only lasting seconds, but incredibly
sweet. Sheltered, elegant Lady and rough-and-tumble Tramp are enjoying a
night out on the town, and for my money, this may be the most romantic
dinner scene in movie history. The fact that they are dogs makes it all
the more romantic, especially when Tramp nudges the last meatball her
way. Anybody with a dog could tell you what a remarkable gesture this
is...
“You can’t… marry someone when you’re in love with someone else.” - The Sound of Music (1965)
When I think of impactful movie kisses, this one almost always comes to mind first. The Sound of Music
is such a perfect movie, with the romantic tension between Captain Von
Trapp and Maria stretched out just enough to make us really cheer for
the moment when they finally confess their love for each other. The
scene is just so beautifully done, especially that instant when the eyes
get all misty and the oh-so-composed captain reveals the extent of his
vulnerability. And though the two are truly alone together for one of
the first times in the movie, within that first blissful kiss are
wrapped up a love of the Captain’s children, of the nuns who are Maria’s
family and of the God who guides them both. Just beautiful.
“Look to me, reaching out to show as sure as rivers flow, I’ll never let you go…” - Pete’s Dragon (1977)
Up until a couple months ago, if you were to ask me to name my favorite Disney love song, I would, without reservation, say Candle on the Water from Pete’s Dragon,
even though we don’t meet the object of Nora’s affections until the end
of the movie, even though it’s not the film’s main focus. Ever since Tangled, it ties with I See the Light,
a song of romantic awakening – and I can’t help finding it funny that
my two favorite Disney love songs both use light on the water as the
central metaphor. But Candle on the Water is all about steadfast
devotion, about keeping the faith against all odds. Nora does, and when
her faith is finally rewarded, what an embrace awaits!
“When he comes back, I won’t get in the way.” “Oh, Han, it isn’t like that at all. He’s my brother.” - The Return of the Jedi (1983)
When
they first met, roguish Han Solo and haughty Leia Organa didn’t much
like each other. By the second movie, they’d gained some respect for
each other, but Han still had a major self-serving streak, and he had it
coming when Leia called him a “stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking
Nerfherder” before kissing Luke. Leia and Luke don’t have the tumultuous
kind of relationship she and Han do, and they share a deep psychic
bond. Of course, early in the third movie, we learn that Luke and Leia
are siblings, but poor Han, who is finally learning to live for someone
other than himself, remains in the dark. While he’s fighting alongside
Leia for Luke’s sake, he still views him as a romantic rival, and a
clean-cut hero probably better suited to a princess. So the look on his
face at the end of the trilogy when Leia laughs off his blessing to go
with Luke, the slow shift from disappointment to confusion to blissful
incredulity as she kisses him and reveals that Luke is her brother, is
absolutely priceless.
“Since the invention of the
kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate,
the most pure. This one left them all behind.” – The Princess Bride (1987)
Well,
the quote about says it all about Westley and Buttercup, doesn’t it?
Here’s a couple who endured, among other things, presumed death, actual
death, lengthy separation, quicksand, kidnapping, unusually sized
rodents, torture and marriage to a pompous prince with a nose for
iocaine powder. A couple whose love is so epic, so profound, that even a
skeptical pre-adolescent boy doesn’t mind hearing about that one last
kiss assuring that nothing will ever come between them again. After all,
this is true love; you think this happens every day?
“It’s amazing, Molly, the love inside… You take it with you.” - Ghost (1990)
No,
not the famous scene that my dad speculates caused enrollment in
pottery classes to skyrocket. I’m talking about the final scene in the
movie, when Sam has finally ensured Molly’s safety and is ready to move
on. Suddenly, Molly can see with her own eyes what the eccentric Oda Mae
has been telling her all along: that Sam is there. And finally they can
speak one last time, without an intermediary. When Sam, engulfed in
light, kisses the stunned Molly, it’s a moment at once joyful and
melancholy, made inexpressibly more poignant by the celestial orchestral
arrangement of Unchained Melody, one of my favorite pieces of movie music ever.
“Please don’t leave me. I love you!” – Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Who
could ever learn to love a Beast? Belle, the noblest and deepest of the
Disney princesses, could, and the extent of her regard for this man too
long enslaved by his own selfishness carried the power to save a life
and transform a kingdom. Granted, it’s a rather crummy stipulation that
she must actually state the words; it was clear that she loved him when
she left the castle to find her father. Was there ever any doubt that
she would return once she had restored him to health? But then we
wouldn’t have this climactic moment that so dramatically illustrates the
power of love to bring light forth from darkness.
“It was the happiest moment of my life.” - Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest
and Jenny, bosom buddies since the age of five, do share kisses in the
movie, but it’s this hug to end all hugs that best conveys the vastness
of their regard for each other. As thousands of riled-up protesters look
on, Jenny wades into the Reflecting Pool looking like Mary Travers and
Forrest, sharp as a tack in his freshly decorated uniform, leaps into
the crowd and does what he does best – runs. Right into the waiting arms
of the woman for whom his love has never wavered, and never will. And
the crowd goes wild. In that moment, this vagabond who’s already seen so
much of the worst the world has to offer is genuinely as happy to see
this man who has only ever shown her kindness as he is to see her. No
kiss could trump the affection encapsulated in this moment.
“I
come here with no expectation, only to declare, now that I am at
liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours.” - Sense and Sensibility (1995)
The kiss we didn’t see. When I read Sense and Sensibility,
I was disappointed that we didn’t really get to see Edward and Elinor’s
big moment first-hand. We spent most of the book leading up to it, and
then it felt rather glossed over. Emma Thompson’s brilliant screenplay
fixes that for us, and Hugh Grant is at his most adorable as he bumbles
his way through his earnest declaration of love. It’s enough for us to
see unflappable Elinor a mangled mess of laughter and sobs before the
demure cutaway. But I am free to imagine the kiss that followed, and I
imagine that it was a doozy.
“When was the last time you were decently kissed? I mean truly, truly, good and kissed?” - That Thing You Do! (1996)
I
couldn’t leave Erie’s little claim to fame off the list, even if the
lovebirds decide to remain in California instead of returning to these
frosty shores. In this Tom Hanks-helmed charmer about a one-hit wonder
band that starts out in Erie, fresh-faced 20-something Guy is a
percussionist passionate about music. He’s also a deeply devoted friend
to Faye, the neglected girlfriend of bandleader Jimmy. Throughout the
film, he attends to her when Jimmy does not, and it’s obvious that he
genuinely cares about her. After Jimmy takes his self-absorption one
step too far, the band falls apart and Guy thinks the dream is over. But
when he sees Faye sitting alone, preparing to return to her old life,
he realizes that a new dream is just beginning.
“You saw me when I was invisible.” – The Princess Diaries (2001)
Ah,
the foot-popping kiss. It’s such a Disney sort of moment, with the
princess and her true love locking lips for the first time. In this
instance, it isn’t quite the first kiss for Mia, who only recently was a
gangly geek used to getting stomped on by nearly everyone in school,
but it’s the first one that means something. Like Mia, I’ve always
imagined my first kiss being something magical, with the orchestra in my
heart, to borrow a term from Pushing Daisies,
playing at full volume. But whatever the circumstances, I would want to
share it with someone who, like Mia’s sweet admirer here, appreciates
me for who I am, with all my kooky quirks.
“But I don’t understand. I was supposed to be beautiful.” “You are beautiful.” – Shrek (2001)
As much as I love Beauty and the Beast, I also love the scene in Shrek in which Fiona does not
transform. Shrek already looks like a beast, and by night, Fiona does
too. But the ogre is her true form, and she does not need the
conventional beauty afforded her by the human princess body in order for
Shrek to deem her beautiful. It’s really a lovely subversion of a fairy
tale I adore that ultimately makes the same point: that true beauty is
more than just skin deep.
“You wanna know a secret? … You’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever known.” - 13 Going on 30 (2004)
I
saw this movie for the first time in October of 2005, when I was coming
off a very depressing period and moving into a very fruitful one. Maybe
it was partly my giddy state of mind at the time, but this movie threw
me for a loop. I expected a light little romcom, but it took hold of me
completely, touching me far more profoundly than I would have expected.
“Well,” I thought, “that’s what love is all about.” It’s a shame that
the movie’s most memorable kiss occurs when Matt, the childhood chum of
Jennifer Garner’s teen-in-adult-skin Jenna, is engaged, but these two
feel so right together that I can’t deny them that perfect moment, after
which, she tells her teenage confidantes at a slumber party soon
afterward, she “floated home on a cloud”. All I can do is long for the
clock to reset so that Jenna can reclaim those lost years and treat the
best friend she ever had with the respect and love he so richly
deserves.
“Other lights may light my way; I may even find romance. But I won't forget that night when you taught me how to dance.” - Miss Potter (2006)
I’d
half-forgotten this moment until Beth mentioned it on her list, but
there’s something so incredibly sweet about the awkward, gradual
courtship between confirmed spinster Beatrix and her starry-eyed young
publisher Norman. It’s such a wonderfully touching love story,
tragically cut short. If this movie is any indication – and given
the restrictions that surrounded Beatrix under the care of her stuffy
parents, it wouldn’t surprise me much – the two shared just one kiss, at
once chaste and passionate, before they were torn apart for what was
meant to be merely a brief separation. Wrenching.
*
”I don’t want diamond sunbursts or marble halls. I just want you.” - Anne of Avonlea (1987)
When
I think of Gilbert Blythe, the first word that comes to mind is
“patient”. In Kevin Sullivan’s brilliant pair of miniseries (we won’t go
into the two that followed), it takes all of Anne of Green Gables
just to get Anne to fully forgive him for the egregious offense of
teasing her about her hair way back when they first met. He bends over
backwards to try to win her friendship, and she stubbornly brushes him
aside. In Anne of Avonlea, they’re friends, but Anne has her
ideals of romance, and boy-next-door Gilbert doesn’t fit them. His
proposal horrifies her – and her refusal horrifies just about every gal
watching at home. It takes an extended separation, a proposal from a man
who fits her dream profile and Gilbert’s near-death from illness to
make Anne finally appreciate what she should have had all along. The
kiss is understated; the catharsis isn’t.
*
“I love you, Penny… and I’ll never leave you again.” - There’s No Place Like Home, Part 3, LOST (2008)
And speaking of unions a long time in coming, I had to mention the epic romance that swept so many LOST
fans off their feet. The season two finale of the trippy, emotional
island drama introduced viewers to Penelope Widmore, the daughter of a
wealthy businessman and the one true love of Desmond Hume, the Scotsman
stranded on the Island for three years. Throughout the third and fourth
seasons, we saw the trials they weathered and the lengths to which both
were willing to go to finally reunite. Their first contact, by phone,
after years apart remains one of the most brilliantly written and acted
scenes in the series. In fact, I still rank it as my favorite Desmond
and Penny moment. But when they finally physically reunite in the season
four finale after two long seasons of build-up, the ecstasy in that
reunion lip-lock may just be enough to nudge Westley and Buttercup from
their exalted position.
So, there you have it: a
collection of my favorite cinematic kisses, to which many could no doubt
be added. What are some of yours?
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