Blind Loves
The idea of creating a love story using only sight-impaired people is just one of the original aspects of this Slovakian film that sets it apart from its Hollywood counter-parts.

Plot summary

Four sight-impaired Slovakians search for true love.

Released

2009

Genre

Studio

Director

Starring

Peter Kolesar, Iveta Koprdova, Miro Daniel, Zurka Pohankova

The idea of creating a love story using only sight-impaired people is just one of the original aspects of this Slovakian film that sets it apart from its Hollywood counter-parts. Blind Loves succeeds in provoking true emotional reaction without compromising its impressive sense of realism.

The film documents the lives of four individuals and their emotional relationships with the people they love. Miro and his girlfriend are the star-crossed lovers of the film who struggle to find approval from their respective parents whilst, at the same time, trying to have a normal relationship despite the fact they are both visually impaired. Elena is preparing to give birth to her first child and wondering if the child will also be blind, whilst Peter lives out his marital live as he searches for a way to express his unique imagination. Finally, Zuzanna is a teenage girl looking for love in online chat rooms and hoping that her blindness won’t affect her romance.

Blind Loves is filmed as if it were a documentary, this realistic edge makes you all the more involved in the plight of the central characters as well as the fact it makes the emotions of all four of the leads seem all the more authentic and genuine. Also director Juraj Lehotsky’s presentation of each characters blindness is never used to drum up the audience’s sympathy for their situation, in fact by the end of the film it is their disability that makes each person’s story all the more remarkable. The film’s documentary style is combined with a sense of Georges Méliès-esque fantasy that gives it a true sense of originality; Peter’s underwater adventure is sure to leave you both amused and entertained. One minor criticism is that by the end of the film you want to see more; the conclusion to each person’s story is short but sweet but in the case of Zuzanna, leaves you wondering what lies in store for the young girl in search of love.

Although the story of four sight-impaired Slovakian’s and their search for true love may not grab most people’s attention, Blind Loves delivers a heart-warming tale that is as engrossing as it is imaginative. Director Juraj Lehotsky conveys both docu-realism as well as a moving story that leaves you with a sense of joy usually devoid from most Hollywood love stories.

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