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Channel4.com (UK) Blind Loves (Slepe Lásky) Review By Sam Jordison July 1st, 2009 Rating: 4.5 StarsA Slovakian documentary looking in on the lives of several sightless people and the ways in which
they find love.Most of the people in this documentary will never be able to see themselves on the screen. They are nearly all completely blind or very partially sighted and this knowledge makes watching Blind Loves a disconcerting experience. The film studies their movements, clothes and faces so closely that, as viewers, we can't help but judge them on their appearance - while being confronted by reminders that
they cannot do the same.This disconnect is handled cleverly by debut director Juraj Lehotsky and his talented cinematographer Juraj Chlpik. They use muted lighting effects, unusual angles and intense close ups to reinforce the idea that the camera is hidden and strange to the people on whom it focuses. It's impressive and effectively handled, but the real strength of this documentary lies in the way it also shows that, in spite of the different way they experience the world, these people have a great
deal in common with everyone else. Especially when it comes to love.There's Peter, a middle-aged music teacher who conjures bizarre fantasies through the music he plays while his wife sits with him, quietly knitting sweaters that she measures by touch rather than sight. The pleasure of this insight is marred slightly when Lehotsky resorts to some fairly dodgy stop-motion animation to convey Peter's imaginary life but it's hard to quibble when presented with
a view of the world so pleasingly unusual and yet so reassuringly familiar.Far less serene is Miro Daniel, a blind Roma who has fallen in love with Monika, a partially sighted white girl. His happiness is disrupted because Monika's parents dislike her being with a "gypsy" and worry that the couple will be subjected to ridicule. Heartbreakingly, he spends much of his time listening over and over to Monika's old ansaphone messages (much as a sighted person would look through photographs) and waiting, staring at nothing, checking the time again and again on his talking clock. It's tense and emotional, especially when Monika falls pregnant and they have to make
some tough, tough decisions.The third subject, Elena, is also pregnant and although she and her husband Laco worry about whether they will be able to keep the child - and whether it will be able to see - Lehotsky skilfully brings out the hope and quiet joy in their situation, not to mention some fascinating material about how
blind children are expected to adapt to the world.Finally we meet Zuzka, a 14- year-old girl who is about to go on a date that is blind in more ways than one. She's hooked up with someone in an internet chatroom, and things are complicated by the fact that her intended amour doesn't know that she can't see. The narrative is sketchy and less involving than the others, but again the filmmakers make small details pay: especially Zuzka's touching teenage utterances and expression of hopes for the future in which she will experience
"incredible things".Director Lehotsky's delicate affection for his subjects is infectious. Clearly a labour of love, the three years he spent filming ensures he has a wealth of quality material to throw at us. Some of these moments will bring tears to the eyes of the hardiest cynic. One sequence in particular (which suggests that even though those in the film might not be able to see it, they do have unique ways of being able to experience it) is nothing short of wonderful. To say more would spoil an expertly
delivered surprise. VerdictA film that is unashamedly sentimental and all the better for it. It's not at all sickly and even
quite acerbic at times, but it is sweet. SOURCEhttp://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=173095§ion=review&page=all#reviewnav
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