I had the opportunity to watch "Love at first sight" in late January 2012 , during the Jaipur International Film Festival,in India.
On that occasion, the Indian and international audience at Jaipur, interrupted the screening of the film with 3 rounds of rapturous applause. I was then able to follow the festival destiny of "Love at first sight" via the Internet. It has since circulated through 3 continents, numerous festivals gaining several awards.
Plot wise - the film seems simple.
A shy and yet passionate new tenant develops an intense infatuation with the feminine beauty from the balcony on the opposite side of the street. The emotional tone of the film is very well balanced between densely lyrical and gently comic.
Anxiety, painfully naive hope of success with a woman from a different league, the adrenaline experienced by the protagonist during the balcony scenes -are viscerally transmitted to the audience. The protagonist's strong intoxication generates an immediate and compulsive need to attract the attention of the girl. A whole gamma of improvised sketches, ranging from twisted, juvenile macho postures verging on the ridiculous, to narcissistic suave gigolo looks exercised from the balcony, are displayed without any results. Or so it would appear....
The mise en scène is exuberant yet economical. Three different moods and emotional states, the escalating fixation, juvenile pathos and contained disenchantment are condensed in fluid, successive shots. The physical postures of the romantically tortured / devastated protagonist are highly suggestive of his emotional tribulations yet never theatrical or melodramatic while the atmospheric light succeeds in creating an emotionally heightened atmosphere, just like in a Rossini opera or tango.
A very reassured directing style applied to a lyrical, comedic love story that succeeds in capturing within 14 minutes, much more about the elusive nature of romance and passion than the whole history of the romantic comedy genre in Hollywood. An original, refreshing love story divorced from any of he perversely overused, infantile clichés and failed attempts at humor from normal romantic comedies, should be celebrated as a small, luminous star on the gray, bleak sky of contemporary cinema.
And let's not forget the essential : for the cinematic hubris to reach it's final and terminal stage , the feat is achieved without a single word of dialog!!!
