“Love Without Warning”: Joanna Kulig in American style. How did you fare?

• “Love without warning” It is a romantic comedy film directed by Rebecca Miller and starring a Polish actress Joanna Coleg She starred alongside Hollywood stars: American actress Anne Hathaway (“The devil wears a cloak”) Maricy Tommy (“Spider-Man: Far From Home”) i Petra Dinklage (“game of thrones”).
• The film's events take place in New York and its characters are: a composer experiencing a creative and existential crisis, his psychotherapist wife, a ship captain with stalker tendencies, the artist's stepson, an immigrant from Poland, and her daughter.
• The film can be seen on Polish cinema screens from March 15.

It falls like a bolt of lightning from the sky, turning the lives of its “victims” upside down without warning. He takes no prisoners. He does not accept logical arguments – or accepts them only to ignore them, anyway. The mind has no chance of debating with it. Pills won't help. Treatment won't do much either. Love has its own rules, it is unbearable and stubborn. He knows best. Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman claimed that it could only be removed by erasing the memory (“In Love Without Memory”). In Love Without Warning Rebecca Miller (director and screenwriter) chooses a form that is less radical, not futuristic, and decidedly more romantic. This does not mean that he gives us a typical Hollywood romantic comedy. Phew, fortunately none of those things.

Miller throws many unsuspecting New Yorkers into the emotional maelstrom. They are living a peaceful life in the eternal crisis of modern man, when suddenly the nefarious Cupid chooses them as the target of his arrows.

Opera composer Stephen (Peter Dinklage) suffered from artistic blockade. He is unable to produce any note that would satisfy him, so his therapist wife, Patricia (Anne Hathaway), suggests to him what is best in such situations: a break from the routine. There's no point sitting in front of the piano, crying on the couch, and tearing your hair out. Steven needs to walk his dog and talk to strangers. And in fact – it works. More than enough. Because that's how the guy meets Katrina (Marisa Tomei – almost unrecognizable in the blonde version), a love-addicted tugboat captain. The arrow hits perfectly, although initially one-sided, causing a torrent of adventures, both positive and negative, always with a pinch of salt, even when things get dramatic.

And that's not the only arrow in “Love Without Warning” either.

The second (and third) infects Patricia's son, Stephen's stepson Julian (Evan Ellison) and Theresa (Harlow Jean), Magdalena's daughter (Joanna Kulig). Here, things seem clear: a pair of teenagers fall in love with each other, convinced that the world is theirs, curious about each other, about their bodies and their souls, aware that life could turn out differently, but they are willing to try. Because they believe in love and that it will remain even when they grow up.

Perhaps this romance would have developed more smoothly if Teresa's stepfather, Trey (Brian D'Arcy James), had not decided to interfere. This Reconstructionist enthusiast, a court stenographer with friends in the police, a local lawyer, and a radical traditionalist, has not much romance, but a lot of prejudices.

The latter may also appear in the context of 'class', but does not have to. Because it soon turns out that Magdalena works as a cleaner for Patricia. How will this knowledge affect the relationship between the young lovers? How will the well-to-do therapist and her composer husband react? Like Magdalena – when she found out she was cleaning toilets at her daughter's boyfriend's mother…

The knot is tied, and the arrows are fired! The meandering fate of love has begun.

Rebecca Miller's work is romantic, yes, but not in a Hollywood fantasy style, but in an out-of-New York style. “Made in Brooklyn” is actually an entire trend of American independent cinema (and perhaps Off-Broadway theatre), from which Marisa Tomei and Peter Dinklage originated. “Love Without Warning” is closer to the films of Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, or to the early Woody Allen films of “Annie Hall,” and perhaps sometimes “Girls” (especially when Theresa is on screen) than to “Maid in Manhattan.”

The lives of the characters may seem quite ordinary, and they don't all have to shine as if they just stepped off the edited cover of Vogue. However, they can be upset, disheveled, have their own weaknesses, and even craziness and credible panic attacks, but that doesn't mean that Anne Hathaway, as psychotherapist Patricia, won't wear an outfit that shows off her account balance. Maybe it's just a mask after all? Exactly, because in “Love Without Warning” the heartbeats have different colors. Not only can an inner voice push you into the arms of your other half, it can also…

Patricia was hit by an unusual arrow. It seemed a little different. Of course, the beautiful house she inherited from her grandmother and the sick people with their problems are not what she is looking for. Is he just suffering from burnout, a cheating woman crisis, or is he following a real need? I deliberately write as little as possible about the choices that Anne Hathaway's heroine faces, because it is the most bizarre and surprising path and topic in the world of romantic comedies, even if it is treated lightly. But it's still a romantic comedy, even though it's standalone, but it's not a psychological drama.

Rebecca Miller's script follows its own path. Sometimes an author takes a leap, brings up a big topic, and then finds a quick and easy solution to it. As if it were enough to snap a finger – instead, it makes time jumps during which all these difficult psychological processes related to changes must occur… However, it has its charm and lightness. Maybe instead of these shocks and efforts, it is sometimes better to see that their impact can be positive? Miller avoids sensationalism and focuses on simplicity as much as possible. Above all, he believes that no matter how complicated things are, a happy ending and peace can be achieved. This applies to everyone.

“The lives of every person in this garden are the stuff of opera,” Stephen says in one scene, and in this short sentence you can perhaps find the full meaning of “Love Without Warning.” Anyone can become the hero of their own opera and their own romantic comedy. “Everyone is shaken, everyone is going through an inner transformation,” says Joanna Kulig in an interview with a Polish magazine. “At first, they feel miserable about something, but through the course of events and meetings, they suddenly develop such a complete and valuable love for themselves.” Radio about the movie.

exactly! Joanna Coleg. Americans noticed this thanks to the Cold War. “I often thank Bowie (Pawlikowski) because thanks to his film I can experience more wonderful things,” says the actress in an interview with the Polish Press Agency. Her talent was noticed by Rebecca Miller, but also by Michael Keaton, who invited her to the film he directed, “Knox Goes Away”. “Love…” was supposed to be filmed before the pandemic, but when the crisis struck, it put the whole story in question, but it ended happily – with the premiere opening not only any event but the Berlin Festival. Itself.

Magdalena's character is present on screen almost equally with those of Dinklage, Hathaway, and Tommy. She is not just a housekeeper or a cleaner sweeping a rich house, her character gradually spreads her wings and begins to play an increasingly important role. It's also what makes a certain plot possible at all. And he cleans – he cleans because he wants to maintain some independence. She can choose not to work, but she wants to have her own money and not depend solely on her husband. Yes, she is under his control, but that does not mean that she is always in every decision. Although this is not a creation like the Cold War, he is a full-blooded and multidimensional character. Perhaps the fact that Joanna Kulig breathes life into her paper bloodstream is obvious. It is not surprising that the American partners quickly accepted this idea.

In an interview with Daria Burica for the Polish News Agency, the actress says: “She (Rebecca Miller) immediately went to my heart and the bond between us quickly developed. Later, I was worried about whether she would also work with Anne Hathaway, and whether we would be open to each other.” Or will it be a very formal connection and we won't have the opportunity to get to know each other better? At the same time, we liked each other very much. Peter and Marissa were great too. The opportunity to meet them and see how they work was a really great experience. I'm grateful to all my colleagues For their support “They showed me on set. I really learned a lot.” I have no doubt that they also came from Joanna.

Is it worth spending an hour and a half of your time? For Joanna, for sure. But not only. “Love Without Warning” is a small, humble cinema with a big heart and soul. Not a hit, but just close. Because anyone's life could be the subject of an opera. Just look at them like that. Look like this and you will see everything.

6/10

“Love without warning” (She came to me), dir. Rebecca Miller, USA 2023, Distributor: M2Films, Premiere in Polish cinema: March 15, 2024.