SDIFF North County Film Series

The 2009 Italian box office champion Many Kisses Later (also know as ‘Ex’), from Fausto Brizzi, is a brisk romantic comedy about that crazy little thing called love. It does indeed begin with declarations of love and plenty of kisses, but the question is raised: does love go on?

The film follows six couples between Christmas and Valentine’s Day in episodes that intertwine and revolve around the end of a love affair and the ways former lovers can shape our lives. Exes are like the Phoenix rising from the ashes… not dead but rather lying in wait.  ‘Many Kisses Later’ offers illustrations of relationships that have turned into hatred, into friendship, and ones where the flame of love still burns.  Some lovers have lost sight of each other by choice, others by a bizarre twist of fate, others by mistake. But the film’s message is clear: exes remain a part of our lives and who we are, for better or worse, is at least in part due to them.