El beso del asesino

El beso del asesino es un drama decentemente escrito y dirigido pero mediocremente actuado. No se desanime por la lentitud de la primera parte. ¡La tensión viene en la segunda parte! (23.05.2003)

A shorter formal warm-up before The Killing, where Stanley's talent for the right composition of scenes and the story as a whole is already evident. Unfortunately, it’s not very good and, despite the optimal runtime, it lacks the expected noir tone and charge in the first two acts. Fortunately, though, the genius filmmaker tries some new camera tricks and stages most of the shots in such a way that they are simply fun to watch. And the last twenty minutes are a genre parade, although the similarly positive ending isn't exactly why I've come to love classic film-noir so much. A better 3* (07.03.2016)

It lasts just a little over an hour, but even so, it’s too long. After the first forty minutes of badly acted boredom, we get just twenty minutes of solid tension. And Kubrick’s movie suffers from the same problem that harms his subsequent offering: inappropriate music, especially that squeaky march in the finale. (18.01.2009)

A nice noir. In the first, and more boring half you can at least enjoy the composition of the images and the way they play with light, darkness and shadow, while the second half is very tense and fun. It’s not a masterpiece (though there are a couple of scenes that show hints thereof, besides the oft-mentioned box and axe, I would point out to the attack in an alley), but it’s still a very decent thriller. (04.04.2010)

The musical aspect of the film is definitely not its strongest point, but this is something, thanks to the performances, that Kubrick could not be ashamed of. It is not an amateur film, it is noticeable that he had an eye for detail, which is already evident in the opening boxing match, the filming of which Kubrick had already tried in reality when making the documentary "Day of the Fight". However, what he succeeded immensely, even as a screenwriter, is the storytelling, which is essentially flashback. This is a film that pays homage to storytelling. There is still a certain amateurishness felt in the film - that's how I would describe the work with amateur actors, or rather non-actors - but the elaborate story and its gradual delivery overshadow it. The camera work, which Stanley himself directed (for example, the attack on Albert in the alley has a beautiful emphasis on the characters), is also to the film's benefit. Stanley Kubrick is a master director and with this first fully preserved film, which he did not try to destroy, he proved it. Film noir is definitely not among the easiest. (26.03.2014)