What stands out to me is how the ending is changed. In the screenplay, Magda watches from her apartment as the Landlady pulls down the screen to Tomek's room. There's no closure.
In this version, Tomek has finally returned to work at the post office. Magda has been waiting for his return, and when she sees him, she pauses, goes inside, stands, smiles slightly. It's an awkward, somewhat "tense" moment. You think Tomek might run away again, but he stays in his seat, and they look at each other. Finally, he breaks the silence, letting her know that he's done peeping at her.Is she disappointed? Maybe. She has "fallen in love with him," or that's perhaps what we're supposed to gather when she answers the phone and tells the silence at the other end that "You were right." Was it Tomek on the end or someone else? It doesn't matter, really. What matters is that Magda's view of love has changed. She didn't believe in love, and now she does. She really cares about Tomek, just as he, in a very odd way, cared about her.
The ending to A Short Film about Love is a little less realistic, and maybe a little more romantic. I wrote about it in my review for that version. I actually like that ending (it was suggested by Grażyna Szapołowska, the actress who played Magda. She didn't like the way Dekalog VI ends, and per her suggestion, Kieslowski shot the different ending).
Maybe it goes without saying, but movie viewers are voyeurs. We are the peeping Toms who invade the private lives of every character in every movie we watch. Much of the time, we watch and see what Tomek sees. Then, when the point of view shifts, we watch Magda watching. It's interesting because although the point of view has shifted, we are still focused on Magda more than what she sees -- which is not much, hidden in darkness, a drawn shade, and a smaller window.
We all are curious and we all would probably like access to the lives of other people, wouldn't we? But even if Tomek watches her, he cannot really learn all that much about Magda. How much do we actually know about her? She's an artist who comes home at 8 p.m. She drinks milk and doesn't have blinds on her picture window.
And how much do we know about Tomek? He stole a telescope. He works at the post office. He lives with his friend's mom and was raised in an orphanage. He claims to have a good memory, being able to remember events all the way back to birth (although he also admits he doesn't remember his parents).
What attracts Tomek to Magda? That's the question that the movie never explains. Maybe there is no real explanation. If Magda starts to like Tomek, it would be for his innocence and honesty, although his actions show that he's not always so innocent and honest. But his youth and inexperience may help Magda overlook that? It's also interesting that they talk about her relationship with another "thin boy" -- the boy who moved to Australia. How old was that boy? Was he similar to Tomek in any way?
To watch this film requires careful observation, but the limits of observation are evident. We cannot go too deeply beneath what we can see. We see and think we understand, but there's much left underneath that we can't see, and our true understanding is limited.
Rating: 5/5 stars
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