Currently being exhibited in the Leeds College of Art Blenheim Walk Gallery, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill is a wonderful collection of graphic art posters representing an era of European Spy genre cinema that spans from the 50s to the 70s.
People instantly think of the James Bond films when Spy Films are mentioned; and that is something that is absent from this exhibition. I see this as a good thing, he is already well represented in this era of films; and Kiss Kiss Kill Kill has opened my eyes beyond this particular mind set and showed me just how big the Euro spy film era really was. Beyond the suited and booted gadget welding Bond with his arms around a woman, who represented what people wanted to be a secret agent or a Bond girl. This isn’t all that different from the other films, just take away the Bond name and you have what is the foundations of a Spy film. Bond is a franchise, a name we need to look a little beyond that to see the full appeal of this genre.
People instantly think of the James Bond films when Spy Films are mentioned; and that is something that is absent from this exhibition. I see this as a good thing, he is already well represented in this era of films; and Kiss Kiss Kill Kill has opened my eyes beyond this particular mind set and showed me just how big the Euro spy film era really was. Beyond the suited and booted gadget welding Bond with his arms around a woman, who represented what people wanted to be a secret agent or a Bond girl. This isn’t all that different from the other films, just take away the Bond name and you have what is the foundations of a Spy film. Bond is a franchise, a name we need to look a little beyond that to see the full appeal of this genre.
In 1968 Italy made 73 Spy films, which puts into context just how popular a craze these types of films really were. With such a quantity of films being made so quickly, the quality of them is something to question. But in this exhibition we don’t see the films themselves, we see the art to poster process that played a part in advertising the films; and what excited an audience into seeing them. The power of colour, balance of image and text in a graphic image form added a flare that seems to be lost within a lot of film posters now.
Here we see images that depict the role of the spy, both as a profession and a reflection of them as propaganda; as something people aspired to be. They are super beings, independent and smart. Nothing truly goes wrong in the end. A surprising addition was seeing some female representation, and not just that of the Bond girl type, women in strong empowering roles placed in the front centre of the posters. It shows a lot about the era, and a reflection on the times of the Cold War.
I had the opportunity to speak to the curator, Richard Rhys Davies, about his collection and his love of cinema. It was great to speak to someone who so passionate about his work, and this is well reflected in his exhibit.
I urge you to go see this exhibition and gaze upon the beauty of the brush like strokes and rich texture in these original posters; which have been so lovingly collected, framed and represented in the gallery space.
