I Love You More

AMBIVALENT CHRONICLE OF AN IDYLLIC ROMANCE... ON A SLOW COOK

I have been watching the independent scene for years. I have seen a thousand and one LGBT+ films and I have been able to observe from authentic wonders (praised by many, criticized by others) to senseless fiascos. But here we are facing the first situation.

Independent cinema has always been, in general terms, somewhat misunderstood by the majority. When we enter experimental and/or auteur cinema, the gaps become even more pronounced. And it is that getting out of the Hollywood standard is not an easy task and in this feature film it was evident.

We have a boy from Eastern Europe (that region somewhat misunderstood by the world) who falls in love with a German (who does not seem so German, or at least from my point of view he does not seem so and I do not know if this was a flaw in the script or was intentional). Many here or anywhere will say that this is a repeated recipe. And yes, we agree on that, but... is it really all copied from other films with a similar theme? Well, no, as I said above, experimental/auteur cinema will never be easy to digest and here its Kosovar director/screenwriter never made it easy for anyone to digest, because he wanted to capture in his work a sort of mea culpa, one of those that some more daring filmmakers can do as a sort of "artistic/professional license" for some personal reason. And that obviously has its pros and cons.

I must highlight the performance of Don Shala (Ben in the film). His performance is very similar to adolescent psychology. Erblin Nushi, I must assume, did not have it easy in his casting. Recruiting someone who can play the role of Ben had to be a titanic task, because the psychology of the character is complex and at the same time complicated for any actor. Shala's personality may be so in tune with the character he played that it gave him an incredible authenticity, uncommon in cinema in general. The other performances were good but perhaps the supposed "German" is the one that catches the eye of the film. It seemed that at times (luckily it is very brief) he was uncomfortable with what he did or said. The characterization of the character was not addressed here: he is supposed to be German, right? Because several times I got confused. I say this because I am a regular fan of the independent German LGTB+ scene and the character of the "German" character seemed unrealistic to me (and at times, a bit forced) and this is regrettable, because the film has potential but these things make people not find an explanation and overshadow the great message that its Kosovo director wanted to expose and also makes it fall on its own at times, but Shala's performance and the winding Kosovo landscapes (as if it were a big shout out to the Argentine independent scene, especially to the work of the great Marco Berger) act as saviors.

The script, by the nature of its screenwriter, is biased towards an interpretation open to possibilities. This was my biggest criticism of a much more praised film here; Giants Littles One (Canada - 2019) where we also find the situation that its director is also its screenwriter, although that film's extreme ambivalence, radical twists and good performances made it winners of more exposure and applause but for me, it is a case of higher than usual esteem, typical of independent cinema (and even Hollywood) commercial and suitable for a larger audience. But in I Love You More, fortunately it is much, much easier to understand and empathize (although this bores most people because of the way it was carried out)

In short, we have a good footage that if it weren't for exogenous issues, would have been more popular among the masses who have seen it. But that's experimental/auteur cinema. Something that many will not notice.

6.9/10

The title of my review was taken from the song "Falta De Consideración" by Willie Colón.