Peeping, distance and lonely love

Junior 2022-08-20 07:19:19

The title of the film directly hits its theme, and it is called "Love Short Film". Its director is Kieslowski, who has directed the famous "Three Colors" ("Red", "White", "Blue"). This film is the movie version of the sixth episode of the "Ten Commandments" series directed by him. This film is about peeping, distance and love, and it is not limited to this, but also reveals people's loneliness and estrangement from each other. The film has very little space, and the story focuses on two rooms, the post office and the empty community road. There are also very few characters. The director stretches the distance between the characters through changes in the relationship between the characters and precise shots, thus constructing an emotional dilemma. There are three main characters in the film, the 19-year-old young man Tomic, Tomic’s friend’s mother (Tomic lives in his friend’s mother’s house), and Tomic’s obsessed mature woman Magda. Tomic is a staff member at the post office counter. In order to meet his beloved, he forged the receipt notice and asked Magda to come. Not only that, but he thought of trying to keep himself close to Magda while keeping his distance. Tomic set his alarm at 8:30 in the evening, which is the approximate time for Magda to return home every night. He observes Magda’s every move through the binoculars every day, relying on peeping to establish a connection with the one he loves. This connection is still separated by a long distance. Geda talks, prepares food and chews with Magda, in order to share the same thing and the same moment at a distance. The director portrays this hopeless and distant love very delicately and touchingly.

In this film, "peeps" are almost everywhere, even if Tomic looked at Magda from the counter, he still did:

We can even assume that peeking represents love. Peeping corresponds to our attention to the beloved. The director extracts and presents this attention in the form of "action". Magda drank milk every night, so Tomic got a job as a milkman in order to also meet her beloved woman every morning. He is trying his best to bring his life closer to the woman he loves. It is not uncommon for similar young people to fall in love with mature women. The famous ones are "Legend of Sicily" and "Sunny Day". In these two films, the lady represents sexual temptation to a large extent. It is Reina. Duo He Ma Xiaojun was obsessed with hormones during his youth. In "Love Short Film," Tomic's love is more pure. Because of the forgery of the collection notice, he had to tell the truth with Magda. When he expressed his love for Magda again, he was questioned by Magda, and the following dialogue took place: Tomic: I really love you. Magda: What do you want? Tomic: I don't know. Magda: Do you want to kiss me? Tomic: No. Magda: Do you want to have sex with me? Tomic: No. Magda: Or want to travel with me? To Lake Mathew, to Budapest? Tomic: No. Magda: So what are you going to do? Tomic: Nothing. Ironically, Magda no longer believes in love. She is alone, spends a short time with different people, and relies on sex to resolve loneliness. Zhang Ailing said in "Talking about Women": "For most women,'love' means'be loved.' A man likes to love a woman, but sometimes he likes her to love him." Obviously, Magda is very Enjoying the feeling of being loved, choosing to get along with Tomic is also sympathetic, and they even spent a short time in love. She took Tomic home and taught him to caress herself. In fact, she treated this person who purely loved her like other men. Tomic was extremely nervous and restless, and finally ejaculated when his hands were about to touch Magda's private parts. At this time, Magda told him: That's it, this is love. She roughly equates love with sex. This is undoubtedly a huge blow to Tomek. In order to relieve the psychological pain, he poured a basin of water and cut his blood vessels with a blade. The blood soaks and spreads in the water, making people see a broken heart gradually develop.

Tomick’s cutting of his wrist was an important turning point in the film. During the time he was sent to the hospital for treatment, Magda began to search for Tomek everywhere, and even began to use binoculars to spy on Tomek’s home. We followed Look for the trail of Tomic with her eyes. From here, the peeping subject and object are exchanged. When Magda got Tomek committed suicide for love, she was shocked. The news awakened the hope for love that was deep in her heart. Her feelings for Tomic changed from sympathy to guilt, and then to love. The latter content, the TV series version and the movie version have very significant differences in processing. The handling of the TV series is very cold and decisive. After Magda knew Tomic was discharged from the hospital, she ran to the post office to find him. Magda is separated from the post office, attached to the door glass, and the round hole above the counter window constitutes a "peeping" action:

When Magda entered the counter window, the director once again presented a "peep" on the screen (corresponding to Tomic's "peep" at the beginning of the film):

When the heroine leaned forward with a smile expecting a response, the director extended the response time here. Tomic said: I won't spy on you anymore. After the hostess listened, she was startled, silent, and then showed a bitter smile, and the film stopped abruptly. This ending is extremely sad and lonely. Their journey on the road of love is almost reincarnation. They all approach because of love, and because of their approach, love disappears. From beginning to end, the two have never established a two-way love relationship. Whoever is in love will be lonely. In the "Love Short Film," Magda hurried to his home after seeing Tomic returning home. "Mother"'s repeated speech and deeds made it difficult for the heroine to get close to Tomic. She picked up Tomic and peeped at her binoculars and looked at her home. She saw herself who was embarrassed and lost when she knocked over the baby bottle. She closed her eyes, fantasizing about Tomic comforting her. Finally, she saw love and being loved.

The beginning of the "Love Short Film" is a cross-editing of the rest of Tomic and Magda's life details. The effect is that even in Tomic's sleep, Magda's life is still vivid. Love does not have to endure the actual confrontation between two people, it can be concluded and lasted in fantasy and dreams. Obviously, the processing of the movie version is more kind and full of flavor.

View more about A Short Film About Love reviews

Extended Reading

A Short Film About Love quotes

  • Magda: Why are you peeping at me?

    Tomek: Because I love you. I really do.

    Magda: And what do you want?

    Tomek: I don't know.

    Magda: Do you want to kiss me?

    Tomek: No.

    Magda: Perhaps you want to make love to me?

    Tomek: No.

    Magda: Want to go away with me? To the lakes, or to Budapest?

    Tomek: No.

    Magda: So what do you want?

    Tomek: Nothing.

    Magda: Nothing?

    Tomek: Yes.