''Jenny Kissed Me'' is a 1985 Australian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, w ...

.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p370 The director calls it a "tearjerker for men".Brian Jones, 'A Horse for all courses', ''Cinema Papers'', March 1986, p. 28 It has no connection to the poem '' Jenny kiss'd Me'' by

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centr ...

Plot

Jenny is the ten-year-old daughter of Carol, who lives with Lindsay. Carol has an affair and Jenny goes to live with Lindsay, who has a terminal disease.

Cast

Ivar Kants Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949) (commonly credited as ''Ivor'' Kants or Ivar Kanz) is an Australian actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in soap operas including ''A Country Practice'', '' G.P.'', '' All Saints'', '' Water Rats ...

as Lindsay West *

Deborra-Lee Furness Deborra-Lee Furness (born 30 November 1955) is an Australian actress and producer. She is married to actor Hugh Jackman. Early life Furness was born in Annandale, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, and raised in Melbourne, Victoria. At ...

as Carol West *

Tamsin West Tamsin West (born 7 March 1974) is an Australian child actress and singer. She made her film debut as Jennifer West in '' Jenny Kissed Me'' and played Jane Cannon in '' Frog Dreaming.'' She is perhaps best known to television viewers as Linda T ...

as Jennifer (Jenny) West * Paula Duncan as Gaynor Roberts * Steven Grives as Mal Evans *

Mary Ward Mary Ward may refer to: Scientists and academics * Mary Ward (nurse) (1884–1972) English nurse to the boat people on the waterways * Mary Ward (scientist) (née King, 1827–1869) Irish amateur scientist, was killed by an experimental steam car ...

as Grace

Production

The film was funded by the Nilsen group in Melbourne who had invested in '' BMX Bandits'' (1983). Trenchard-Smith said he identified with the "human tragedy" of the story where a man came home and lost his step daughter overnight.

One important element in the film is commitment to family and children, as opposed to individual selfishness and the fear of loss of freedom. I was trying to show that the narcissism of the seventies can put a family into a private hell. The seventies had a trade-it-in, throw-it-away attitude towards relationships: if they don't work out, move on. Well, there's a price to pay for moving on when children are involved: you irrevocably damage their lives. And I'm suggesting that in Australia, where has been a 40% failure rate in marriages, there has been a fairly flippant attitude that hasn't really been thought through.

The original script was written by experienced TV writer Judith Colquhoun. Trenchard Smith wanted to "give the story more style" and "make the characters more sophisticated and the feeling more upmarket" but Colquhoun refused to make the changes so the director brought in Warwick Hinds to rewrite. He then cut six pages, rewrote some scenes and wrote two new scenes of his own. Shooting started on 11 March 1985."Facts and Figures", ''Cinema Papers'', May 1985, pg. 64

Reception

The film was not widely seen, although it screened on Channel Seven. Trenchard Smith later said, "I am fond of the picture, a little florid and melodramatic perhaps, but I wanted to push the conventions of the "weepie."Jim Schembri, 'Not Quite Hollywood', ''The Age'', 13 September 2008
Retrieved 9 October 2012

References

External links

*
''Jenny Kissed Me''
at Oz Movies {{Brian Trenchard-Smith Australian drama films 1986 films Films directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith 1980s English-language films