"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU" - QUIET CINEMA BY PAWEŁ ŁOZIŃSKI
In the latest film by Paweł Łoziński, from the very beginning to the end, we see only the faces of the three protagonists: mother, daughter and the therapist. The interior of the therapist's office is minimalistic, so that it cannot distract anyone and it does not suggest anything more than what is necessary. The entire drama takes place on this quiet stage.
Once again, Paweł Łoziński proves that he is the master of building "simple" stories, works of art which do not need visual fireworks in order for the viewer to fully awake, to see himself in the film story. The backyard in the film "The Way It Is" and "The Sisters," the interior of his own apartment in the film "The Ukrainian Cleaning Lady," the cancer ward in "Chemo" and the claustrophobic recreational vehicle, in which the director, together with his father, also a film-maker, set out on a journey to Paris - spaces in the documentary films by Łoziński are symbolic, what matters are problems and issues affecting universal truths and interpersonal bonds.
In "You Have No Idea How Much I Love You," Hania and Ewa, mother and daughter, come to the therapist to solve their problem; thanks to the therapy, they want to find common ground. Step by step, we follow the therapeutic process. The daughter starts, she speaks about how her throat gets stuck whenever she feels that her mother is close. Then, the mother has her say and we learn that she came here primarily for her daughter. The therapist waits and listens to them, and when he starts to speak, he establishes the therapeutic contract, asks the basic question: "Why have you come here?" When the goal is set, the therapeutic dialogue can start.
The film by Łoziński tells about psychotherapy, we can have a closer look at the work of a therapist, a person who helps, who is armed with empathy, patience and concentration. He is not a judge, does not support one of the sides, he is the servant of the creative dialogue. He explains emotions and expresses them in words. Without him, the conversation between mother and daughter would not make sense. Professor de Barbaro watchfully captures the women's words, gives the protagonists time to take a look at them, or alternatively, to withdraw them, to understand that they can hurt with their speech. It is all so that they can accurately use words to express the feelings which they hide inside. Watching the film, we come to the conclusion that emotions which are unnamed and unspoken cannot be correctly interpreted by another person.
But you cannot say that the documentary film by Łoziński is an advertisement of psychotherapy. For the documentary film-maker, the film therapy is a pretext to show a poignant story about people entangled in a negative loop of emotions. Telling about the others, the film tells us a lot about ourselves, about our emotions and feelings. The stories brought up by the protagonists are universal. "You have no idea how much I love you" - the title of the film, the sentence spoken by the mother, is on one hand an expression of love, but on the other hand, it brings pain, gives the sense of pressure, of the heaviness of maternal emotions. The state and the situations, in which the protagonists find themselves, are very familiar to us, everyone can identify with the women, we are not only passive witnesses, but we experience the power of psychotherapy ourselves.
Ascetic form, which is a symbolic background of the main drama, helps us in all this. Close-up portraits by Kacper Lisowski, focused on the faces of the protagonists, the editing by Dorota Wardęszkiewicz are subordinated to the natural rhythm of the therapy - the minimalism, felt from the very first frame, and the precision both give us the sense that nothing important has been overlooked here.
"You Have No Idea How Much I Love You" is another film by Paweł Łoziński, which reveals the therapeutic power of a documentary film, and at the same time - in particular when we recall the previous film by the director, "Father and son" - makes us realise that the camera cannot always replace the third party, that is, a real qualified therapist. In "Father and son," Łoziński pointed the camera at himself and his father. Two outstanding documentary film-makers, two strong personalities set out on a journey from Warsaw to Paris, a journey which is meant to be their therapy together. But the film's artistic success does not guarantee that the film-makers will solve their common problems. As a result, two separate films were made - one by the father, and another by the son. And that is why in his latest film Paweł Łoziński does not put himself in the position of the therapist, he leaves this role to the real professional.
Daniel Stopa