The Cinematic Representation of Gaze in Kieślowski's A Short Film About Love: A Lacanian Analysis

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 1988 Polish production, A Short Film About Love, has inspired diverse interpretations related to the themes of human isolation, relationships, and social contexts. This paper examines the film through Lacanian lens, focusing particularly on the concept of the gaze as it unravels the complex interactions between the male protagonist, Tomek, and his female counterpart, Magda. Furthermore, the study decodes the mise-en-scène and other visual elements to explore philosophical issues of desire, drawing on the works of Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek. By analyzing Kieślowski's cinematography, this paper aims to uncover the connections between the act of gazing and its integration into Lacanian psychoanalytic registers: the Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real.