A Short Film About Love (from The Decalogue)
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: B Film:
B+
There is no doubt that
Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski will best be known for either his
ten-part series The Decalogue or his
film trilogy known as The Three Colors,
but whatever the case may be his talent shown in these series were the last few
projects that he did before his 1996 death.
His fullest potential was not realized until then, but these are
powerful and moving and demonstrate the fury and capability of a filmmaker who
could make very powerful films when given the chance, A Short Film About Love is an expansion from one of the episodes of
The Decalogue, but instead of being
a solid hour, it has been expanded into a longer version that now runs
83-minutes.
Our story here centers
around Tomek a young man who spends his time spying on his neighbor Magda
through his binoculars. Before you can
say Rear Window, we learn that she
is an artist that is a few years older than Tomek, which brings forth his
fantasies. She seems wealthy, happy,
and is beautiful, so essentially his ‘ideal’ female. He claims that he is in love with her and that they have more in
common once they meet by twist of fate, but after he attempts suicide he finds
that she is the one obsessed with him.
The ending here has been
altered from the one that fit into The Decalogue
series and rethinks the entire narrative, which is exactly why owning this
outside of The Decalogue set is
imperative for any fan. The film here
also receives much appreciated extras as well including an interview with
actress Grazyna Szapolowska and Kieslowski collaborator Annette Insdorf and
Emmanuel Finkiel (who worked on The Three Colors). Aside from the interviews there is also a short film from 1965
titled Tramway, which was an early
short by Kieslowski and demonstrates his early ability at directing quite
nicely.
As far as this DVD goes
from Kino the film is an anamorphic 1.85 X 1 transfer, which brings the
realistically painted world that Kieslowski and cinematographer Witold Adamek
made with this film. Low-key lighting
is emphasized throughout with natural lighting being the main influence as well
as neutral colors to give a balanced tone to the overall look of the film. On DVD the film looks good with nice
contrast and black levels, even if some detail loss can be noticed from time to
time. Unlike his Three Colors Trilogy, color is kept to a more unnoticeable decree,
but focuses much larger on the characterization of the setting though other
means. The Dolby Stereo is nothing too
fancy and keeps the presentation simple, with music being the main highlight,
especially since most American viewers will be reading subtitles anyway.
Most filmmakers do not
possess the ability to let their work be accessible at various lengths and are
unable to make the material work for them, but Kieslowski knows his work well
enough that he is able to expand upon it to make it stand alone as a film and
work in a series such as the shortened Decalogue
version, that alone demonstrates a serious filmmaker at the height of his
ability and this DVD is sure to please any fan. Also look for the expanded version entitled A Short Film About Killing, also reviewed here from The Decalogue series.
- Nate Goss
