Kiss Me Deadly

“The masterpiece of film noir,” wrote Paul Schrader in 1972 in his groundbreaking reassessment of the genre. With KISS ME DEADLY, Aldrich demonstrated a creative freedom that borders on wonderful anarchy and which inspired and influenced the budding filmmakers of the Nouvelle Vague from Chabrol to Godard (and the generations that followed in their footsteps ever since). Mickey Spillane’s reactionary source novel is thoroughly turned on its head: even the opening credits run backwards, and Aldrich’s anti-hero Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) is a greedy egocentric whose toxic machismo and deadly materialism embody the abysses of the McCarthy era. The images and sounds are thrown off balance, while Hammer’s ruthless hunt for the “great whatsit” leads him through a perverse paradise of ruin towards a nuclear catastrophe. By the end, this noir crime mystery has turned into a science-fiction nightmare. “I was very proud of the film. In terms of style, in terms of the way we tried to make it, it provided a marvellous showcase to display my own ideas of movie-making,” Aldrich later said about the film, which upon release was singled out as the year’s number one menace to American youth by the US Senate’s Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. (Christoph Huber)

Courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

All retrospective films that will be shown at the Filmmuseum after the Viennale - from 04.11. - can of course also be reserved as usual at filmmuseum.at or by calling 01/533 70 54 and purchased at the box office of the Austrian Film Museum. The prices of the Austrian Film Museum apply.