Everything about this movie suggest the work of a pretentious young man who thinks his work is deep and moving. This was my first Kieslowski film, but if his other movies are anything like this, I'll be giving them a pass.
Our main character is Tomek, a creepy stalker whose mind seems not to have matured any further than the age of 12. We watch him spy on an older woman who's become jaded and views love as synonymous with sex. He harasses her constantly in the innocent and futile hope of getting her to talk to him. Eventually, he gets his wish and she falls completely head-over-heels for him. The whole thing is extremely unrealistic, and suggested to me that the director is a real insecure guy. The whole story and script play out like an personal sob-story of "Why don't girls like me? I'm such a nice guy! I'm kind and gentle and all they ever do is go out with jerks who give them sex!"
I'm kind of shocked how everyone fell under the director's spell here. Everyone in the reviews here is gushing about how this film is a wonderful portrayal of love. Love? Where's the love? Certainly not from Tomek. The argument could be made that his love is pure because he is pure of heart, but this isn't at all the impression I got from the film. He's obsessive, creepy, and honestly a bit scary. His "love" is clearly an infatuation, and is entirely baseless. He doesn't know this woman, and has only observed her through subversive sexual acts. The scene in which he asks his mother why people cry is laughable, and the scene in which he slits his wrists is completely unbelievable. Why did he do that? He was embarrassed that he splooged in his pants? Big deal. It's an insult to people who struggle with thoughts of suicide.
So what's the message here? "Love is more than sex!!!!!!!!!"? Yeah, well, obviously. Of course it is, and more than that love is certainly not how it's portrayed in this movie. The complexities and subtleties of love are not at all explored, rather the director wanks off in shots he thinks are deep and moving and poetic. Just because something is slow-moving, often silent, and utilizes an emotional violin soundtrack doesn't mean it's meaningful.
Huge disappointment.
Our main character is Tomek, a creepy stalker whose mind seems not to have matured any further than the age of 12. We watch him spy on an older woman who's become jaded and views love as synonymous with sex. He harasses her constantly in the innocent and futile hope of getting her to talk to him. Eventually, he gets his wish and she falls completely head-over-heels for him. The whole thing is extremely unrealistic, and suggested to me that the director is a real insecure guy. The whole story and script play out like an personal sob-story of "Why don't girls like me? I'm such a nice guy! I'm kind and gentle and all they ever do is go out with jerks who give them sex!"
I'm kind of shocked how everyone fell under the director's spell here. Everyone in the reviews here is gushing about how this film is a wonderful portrayal of love. Love? Where's the love? Certainly not from Tomek. The argument could be made that his love is pure because he is pure of heart, but this isn't at all the impression I got from the film. He's obsessive, creepy, and honestly a bit scary. His "love" is clearly an infatuation, and is entirely baseless. He doesn't know this woman, and has only observed her through subversive sexual acts. The scene in which he asks his mother why people cry is laughable, and the scene in which he slits his wrists is completely unbelievable. Why did he do that? He was embarrassed that he splooged in his pants? Big deal. It's an insult to people who struggle with thoughts of suicide.
So what's the message here? "Love is more than sex!!!!!!!!!"? Yeah, well, obviously. Of course it is, and more than that love is certainly not how it's portrayed in this movie. The complexities and subtleties of love are not at all explored, rather the director wanks off in shots he thinks are deep and moving and poetic. Just because something is slow-moving, often silent, and utilizes an emotional violin soundtrack doesn't mean it's meaningful.
Huge disappointment.