One Kiss

By: Amos Lassen

"One Kiss"
An Anti-Homophobia Film
Amos Lassen
Italian director Ivan Cotroneo's "One Kiss" looks at the universal themes of homophobia and bullying in high school.
Three 16-year-olds, Lorenzo, Blu and Antonio are each an outsider for different reasons. They create a bond of friendship and ward off insults and bullies. But then when Lorenzo makes it clear he has feelings for Antonio, the dynamics of their bond change. Antonio is 16-years-old and a well-built young man and a key player for his basketball team. Off the court, however, because of his speech impediment, others see him as both dense and dull. The other students make fun of him and girls will give him a chance and his fellow teammates think that he is stupid. He is soft-spoken, awkward, and still grieving over his older brother's death
Blu has just moved back to town. Every day as she walks to school she is reminded of what the entire community thinks of her by reading graffiti on the walls. A year ago she was caught having sex with her boyfriend and three other friends in a garage and now the other girls avoid her and guys constantly harass her for easy sex. Lorenzo is fifteen, a new student and gay. He was adopted quite recently and we see that everyone is bothered by him, by his openness as to who he is and by the wild and eccentric way that he dresses. He sees himself as a "star" even with the way he is treated. He relies on his extravagant sense of fashion and elaborate imagination to distract him from the bullies at school who mercilessly tease him for his homosexuality.
Lorenzo has been obvious about his attraction toward Antonio and tries to approach him but Antonio, who's in love with Blu, violently pushes him away. The friends become divided and played against one another by the other students. Basically "One Kiss" is a story of outsider friendship, the limits of imagination, and the consequence of honesty.