Film Review: A Short Film About Love

A Short Film About Love (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988)

I don't know how to start. I'm still in awe having had just watched this film a few minutes ago. I never expected it'll be this good. Contrary to what the title suggests, the film is not really a short film. Is it really about love? Maybe. Maybe not. But there's one thing sure: there's not even a minute that any distraction succeeded in taking my attention away from the film. I got so engrossed that I didn't want the film to end. But it had to end anyway. It is maybe due to this that it's called short.

Irony is excellently depicted in the film. In the film, Tomek, a 19-year-old boy spies on Magda, liberated, fornicating, mature woman who lives in an apartment in the tower just across his. Why does this remind me of Rear Window? But no, this film has nothing to do with the Hitchcock film. Tomek is in love with Magda. No, he's so obsessed that he does things you never expect a harmless boy like him to do just to be near Magda, or stalk her.

The lighting design for the film, I think, is the major factor to the film's excellent cinematography. Every scene looks like well-thought-of during the writing phase. While the film may bore some, because of the theme, it kept my eyes and ears glued to the screen.

Rating: 4.0/4.0