User:Petra Milicki/Petra Milički Annotation

A Short Film About Love is one of the 10 stories from Decalogue, a 1989 Polish television drama series, directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Each episode of the series is actually an one-hour film loosely based on one of the Ten Commandments (according to the Roman Catholic division). From two of these shorter cuts, Dekalog 5 and 6, feature - lenght films ((Krotki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) and Krotki film o milosci (A Short Film About Love)) were made. All series of Decalogue share the same general topic which explores possible meanings of the Ten Commandements, their ambiguity, morality and contradiction, in context of (then) modern Poland.

Though each film in the series is independent, most of them share the same setting (a large housing project in Warsaw) and some of the characters are acquainted with each other, so that main character from one film can appear as an extra, playing just a passanger in the other one.

A Short Film About Love is a film about obsession, love and voyeurism through shown through the relationship between nineteen-year old post office worker Tomek and his opposite neighbour, a woman in her mid-thirties called Magda.

The story of the obsession beguines with Tomek spying on his neighbour from his bedroom window across a courtyard to her apartment. Although shy and withdrawn at the beginning, he becomes more obsessed, curious and bolder and initiates contact with Magda. By inventing reasons to make the first contact, he confesses his feelings and intentions, which leads to deeper psychological problems for both of them.

After declaring his love, Magda confronts him with her harsh reflections on life in which there is no love, only sex. After seeing her promiscuous through his binoculars day after day, Tomek is shattered and tries to commit suicide which doesn’t succeed.

When he returns from hospital, it is Magda who becomes concerned and obsessed with Tomek. The movie finishes in Tomek’s room while Magda is visiting him after his return from the hospital. The climax appears when she looks through his binoculars into her own apartment, and sees herself in one of the earlier scenes when she is crying in her kitchen. She is looking at herself, from distance. She sees what kind of attitude towards love she had and experiences catharsis. Love exists and she can finally see it. Tomek stands beside her and comforts her.

context:

- Krzysztof Kieślowski's work - Decalogue (the relationship with other series) - modern Poland - Ten Commandments