A Short Film About Love [Krótki film o milosci] **** (1988, Grazyna Szapolowska, Olaf Lubaszenko, Stefania Iwinska) – Classic Movie Review 8442

Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski (1941–1996) expanded the 61-minute sixth part of his Ten Commandments TV series into an 87-minute cinema feature as A Short Film About Love [Krótki film o milosci]. It is the most romantic of the series, although love finds expression in the most curious of ways.

In a thriller-style opening recalling Rear Window, the innocent virgin 19-year-old postal clerk Tomek (Olaf Lubaszenko) is seen spying on the voluptuous artist Magda (Grazyna Szapolowska), an older woman in her mid-thirties living in a flat opposite. When he confesses his obsession to her, she is initially angry but then draws him into a humiliating affair.

The acutely observed performances are matched by Kieslowski’s documentarist’s eye for detail and the telling shot. The tingling tale is of the collision of knowing cruelty on the one hand and childlike vulnerability on the other.

The writers are Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz. It is shot by Witold Adamek, is produced by Ryszard Chutkowski, is scored by Zbigniew Preisner and is designed by Halina Dobrowolska

Also in the cast are Stefania Iwinska, Piotr Machalica, Artur Barcis, Hanna Chojnacka and Jan Piechocinski.

Kieslowski’s sixth commandment is available on DVD as a 61-minute TV episode and is also released as an 87-minute cinema feature.

It is rated suitable for 15 years and over.

It won four awards at the Polish Film Festival (1988), including Best Actress (Grazyna Szapolowska), Best Supporting Actress (Stefania Iwinska), Best Cinematography (Witold Adamek), and the Golden Lion, tied with Kieslowski’s companion feature A Short Film About Killing (1988).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8442

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