| Overview: | Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "unique, finely wrought and moving," Krzysztof Kieslowski's ("The Double Life Of Veronique") "A Short Film About Love" is a film that serves as both an expansion and a re-invention of one of the most powerful episodes in the director's renowned "Decalogue" TV series. (A second film adapted from "Decalogue", "A Short Film About Killing", is also available individually). Anticipating themes in his final film "Red" ("Rouge"), part III of his renowned "Trois Couleurs" trilogy, Kieslowski blends reckless romanticism with chilling alienation to produce a courageous and adept examination of human longing.
Within the confines of a housing project high-rise, orphan teenager Tomek reaches out from his loveless isolation. His voyeuristic scrutiny of the windows in the building next door spawns a romantic fascination with Magda, a beautiful and promiscuous older woman. Fervent gaze heralds hesitant touch as Tomek's boyish attempts to reach Magda grow in both resourcefulness and success. Face to face with the woman he adores, Tomek confronts his own doubt and the impenetrable mantle of cynicism and disappointment that keeps Magda unreachable from any distance. For Magda, the spiritual beauty that Tomek's infatuation may awaken within her sets the stage for torment and redemption of Shakespearean dimensions.
For "A Short Film About Love", Kieslowski added a newly written ending, altered from that of the "Dekalog" episode, which restructures the narrative. This human, unconventional film about obsession evolves into a love story of extraordinary tenderness and depth.
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