"A Short Film About Love" *** (out of ****)
"A Short Film About Love" (1988) is not your typical love story. This is far from a Hollywood romance. The film revolves around a young man, Tomek (Olaf Lubaszenko) who spies on on a woman, Magda (Grazyna Szapolowska) who lives across from him in another building.
At first his spying doesn't seem to be based on sex. He doesn't look into her apartment seeking a cheap thrill. It is as if she is a statue, he simply wants to adore her from afar.
This set-up almost recalls Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (1954) where Jimmy Stewart, who was wheel-chair bound, spied on his neighbors until he thought he was a witness to a murder. But there is no murder here.
As the film progresses Magda does learn what Tomek has been up to. Tomek works at a post office and has been sending her slips that she has money orders waiting to be picked up. We see him call her, but never speaks and we find out he has been stealing her mail. The amazing thing is he actually admits all of this to her. To my further amazement, she doesn't call the cops on him.
Movies are not required to have characters audiences will like. I can think of two modern movies which focused on very flawed men, "The Woodsman" (2004) and "The Statement" (2004). One was about a child molester and the other about a Nazi. Watching these men put us in their moral dilemma. They were interesting characters. That is the problem I have with "A Short Film About Love". Tomek is a pathetic loser, who does not deserve to walk among the living. His life bears no meaning. He merely takes up space. He has no friends and no girlfriend. He says he has never had sex and I'm willing to bet he never even kissed a girl. Yet he claims to love Magda. He will do anything to be in her presence.
The film raises the stakes by having Magda show interest in him. Does she find him pathetic too? Does she want to teach this young punk a lesson? Or is she flattered by his behavior? On some level she goes through all three reactions eventually turning to mutual affection for Tomek or dare I say, love.
The film was directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski. This is the first time I have reviewed one of his films on here. I have never really paid much attention to Kieslowski. He is a decent filmmaker who is probably best known in this country for directing his "Three Colors Trilogy" (1994) based on the colors of the French flag; Blue, White and Red. "Red" was not only the final film in the trilogy but also Kieslowski's final film. He retired from filmmaking and died two years later. He is also known for directing "The Double Life of Veronique" (1991) and a 10 hour mini-series called "The Decalogue" (1990). It was ten one hour films each based on one of the ten commandments.
The reason I have never really paid much attention to him is because I've always thought of him as a "modern" filmmaker. I'm perfectly willing to give him his due credit. I placed both "The Three Colors Trilogy" and "Veronique" on my top ten list for their respected years. But I wasn't going to over sell him. He didn't seem to belong in a class with Andrzej Wajda for instance, my favorite Polish filmmaker. All the films Mr. Kieslowski is known for are his modern films. And that is fine. But if you are a "modern" filmmaker, I'm not going to put your name along side the greats.
The "older" films by him that I have seen are "No End" (1985) and "Blind Chance" (1987). But going over his filmography I realized he has been around for a very long time. He started off making shorts and documentaries. His first was "The Tram" (1966). He directed 18 of these until finally making his feature film debut in 1976 with the TV movie "Personnel". This impressed me. Maybe I should give him a second chance. And so I did.
I think because Kieslowski started off making documentaries, which showed people's daily lives, his feature films are very similar. His films lack a certain visual aesthetic. I'm not saying that is always the case. His "Veronique" is visually stunning but his work doesn't impress me as much as Wajda. Wajda seems more poetic as well. Kieslowski is a little rough around the edges. Strangely enough, he is one of the few directors I can think of where his later works are better then his early films.
But that may make it seem as if I don't like Kieslowski. I do. I think people should see his films if only because it is important to see all the films of acclaimed filmmakers. And Kieslowski is an acclaimed filmmaker. He is not terribly well known to mainstream audiences here in America but a small group of filmbuffs know who he is. His films have won and been nominated for various awards at various film festivals and his "Red" won him a "Best Director" and "Best Screenplay" Oscar nomination.
"A Short Film About Love" is not a great movie. But it has some interesting moments. One of the best takes place at the end of the movie. Magda is now in Tomek's room. She is looking in at her own apartment. A flood of memories follow. It is actually a very heartfelt, emotional moment. But for all the moments which may work in the film the rest of it I found somewhat dull. That's the problem I have with a lot of Kieslowski early films. I'm merely not interested in a lot of what is going on. His "No End" may be the best I've seen among them. Szapolowska was also in that movie and I felt gave a better performance. Here she doesn't seem like a real person. She merely reacts the way the plot requires her to. Tomek in a strange way I suppose is more of a character, only because the film is told from his perspective. But Magda is the more interesting character because she has lived. She actually has stories. Because Tomek is such a loser he has nothing interesting to tell us.
Still I'm recommending the film. It serves as a nice break from more mainstream Hollywood films. I don't think however the film would serve as good introduction into Kieslowski's work. I would probably suggest watching his "Three Color Trilogy" first and then "Veronique". Get around to this after you've taken in some of his other films.
By the way, Kieslowski actually decided to expand on the theme in his fifth Decalogue film which is how "A Short Film About Love" came to be. He did the same with the sixth story, which would become "A Short Film About Killing" (1988).
Posts
