Should have been called...
Montages
shareI was just about to make a thread about this. I didn't hate this film, but there were way too many montages. It felt as if the director had no clue what he was doing. There were other things in the film that didn't work well, but the montages were the things that irritated me the most.
All The Movies I Have Seen - http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=26584075
it has some weaknesses. i don't like films that become music videos. when we hear Bob Dylan songs in entirety it seems like padding.
btw, Site and Sound seems to hate the loose side of Kisses:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/4948
for me, i think it is above-average. i'm fine with some fakiness if i'm rewarded. i thought the scenes in Dublin are well done. i like (and believe in) the characters. The two leading actors (the two kids) are both note-perfect.
Funny, I have the exact opposite preference. When properly used, music is as much of a storytelling device as dialogue or visuals. So if the song is relevant, I applaud filmmakers who have the guts to let it play all the way out. I can't stand when a scene uses music to set the perfect poetic mood, then cuts off after 15 seconds as if to say "enough of that. Audiences don't have an attention span for crap."
Wim Wenders is one of my favorite directors because he lets music speak. In "Until the End of the World" when the man & woman are walking across the bleak desolation of the desert, the film plays Peter Gabriel "Blood of Eden" almost in its entirety (a special version recorded just for the film). A more popular example would be the end of "Apocalypse Now" with the Doors song "The End". That movie owes a lot to that song.
Horrible, gratuitous use of music would be like in "Dazed & Confused" where the songs have nothing to do with the story and are just there for, as you said, padding. They're not even good songs either, just popular hits to sell a soundtrack cd.
I think this film's music falls into the "meaningful" category. Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" is perfect for the scene if you pay attention to the lyrics.