Movie Director:Krzysztof Kieslowski

[agent202]

CRAAAAAPPPPP!!!!

boring overated shit!!!!

[sparky]

boring

Well, I do admit his films do have a paucity of car chases. But I will give him a pass on that.

overated shit

I wouldn't say overrated, but I would say that I am quite impressed how reactions to his films range from highly laudatory to fury.

I like him (the guy, his films). I love Red. It's my favourite romance. The reactionary Catholic side I cannot detect at all. I cannot remember the reference to AIDS/gays that Guy mentions, and google searches for "kieslowski homophobia"/"...AIDS"/"...gay" hasn't brought up anything, so I will dig out the DVD.

I can understand why he isn't to everyone's taste, but it is bewildering how he can evoke so much ire. He was a bleak and modest humanist (in my eyes) who filmed straightforward allegories with grace and simplicity.

[sparky]

as a hero ? certainly
all this woman has for problems is...

finding out her husband was unfaithful, etc)...

I don't see it being a necessity for a film's protagonist to be afflicted by the worst of all evils of the world in order to make it compelling. I like the fact that the problems afflicting his characters were often mundane. In fact, I would say it is more difficult to make a good film about a normal person than it is to make a successful film about a sensational or unusual person. This is demonstrated by looking at the mind-numbing list of "Best Film" Oscars over the past couple of decades - freaks (those perceived as) fuel popcorn.

Now, whether his films are good or not, well that's a matter of le goût des autres (sorry). My ex-girlfriend found a lot of his symbolism heavy-handed (Eardiebe seems to feel this too), but again, I didn't. This may be connected to my general tactlessness.

[boilermaker]

...and i take serious issue with his statement that the film is inferior to the novel..

Yes thankyou, me too and that's by far the most interesting statement on this thead so far. I get sick to death of the cliche that the novel is superior to film. They're both entirely different mediums though I do prefer my fiction on celluloid most of the time.

I thought White was the weakest of the Three Colours trilogy.

[Eierdiebe]

just recently saw the Double Life of Veronique for the first time and i didn't particularly care for it. in fact, on the whole the film struck me as rather shallow. despite all the nice cinematography and lighting it felt underdeveloped -- like a typical sensual european flick that mostly differs from hollywood fare in its cozy atmospherics and avoidance of crassness.

big whoop.

and the premise, that this young woman had a double and was somehow eschewing danger through her double's mishaps and eventual death, was applied very weakly. (by constast the premise of Le Cercle Rouge, for instance, wasn't put forth very well at all either, but that movie help up in spite of this.)

there are much more compelling and enriching films out there than The Double Life of Veronique.

[Minotaur029]

Anyone else got anything to say about this feller?

[D./Eksvplot]

[blah]

[erskine]

I had to watch one of his movie, when I was in a catholic school, at a religious lesson (!!!).
The movie (don't remember the name of it) was gloomy, and the 'debate' that follows was worse.
What I recall is that it exposed a lot of clichés that western people have about Poland, and eastern communist Europe in general: upset, depressed people, living in a tyrannical, absurd political system; in opposition to the glorious western world, where everyone is free, happy and wealthy..
crap

[sparky]

I had to watch one of his movie, when I was in a catholic school, at a religious lesson (!!!).
The movie (don't remember the name of it) was gloomy, and the 'debate' that follows was worse.
What I recall is that it exposed a lot of clichés that western people have about Poland, and eastern communist Europe in general: upset, depressed people, living in a tyrannical, absurd political system; in opposition to the glorious western world, where everyone is free, happy and wealthy..

The ideological description does not match any of his films, though I suspect that the film might have been White. I suspect that your religious teacher bent the film to match his own prejudices, as I remember the emasculated main protagonist finding his own independence and strength through his return to Poland. It's the lightest out of the trilogy, I really like it.

[erskine]

I guess it was one of the Decalogue film.
It had a sexual issue (impotency).

[sparky]

I guess it was one of the Decalogue film.
It had a sexual issue (impotency).

I think that was "White" then - he is a hairdresser being divorced and humiliated by his French wife at the start, isn't he? There's a funny/painful scene at the start when he phones her to tell her that he still loves her and she is having sex while on the phone with a new lover.

[erskine]

I think that was "White" then - he is a hairdresser being divorced and humiliated by his French wife at the start, isn't he?

I'm quite sure it wasn't "White".
The action didn't take place in France.
Beside, I would have remembered Julie Delpy (she can make any movie "watchable")
Kieslowski expert needed.

[BClark]

i really liked "blue"

[SecondEdition]

I think the film erskine is talking about is Decalogue 2. The woman has to decide whether or not to keep the child that she got out of an affair.

[anarchyinthebronx]

He is okay. No Bergman or anything though.

[Daveksvplot]

Finally saw Camera Buff.

It's a damn good movie.

[ergo space pig]

I've seen four of his films (Double Life of Veronique, Blue, and A Short Film About Killing, and Blind Chance). They're all beautiful and I liked all of them, especially Veronique, but I can't help feeling like I'm missing something in those films. I don't know really how to describe it. I guess I feel like they're above me at some level, like there's something that I don't understand about them that I'm supposed to. His films seem to just gracefully glide past you in a way that I don't know how to react to, I guess. I never feel that way with someone like Tarkovsky or Bergman either, so I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I'm approaching these films the wrong way.

[Andy Est En Feu]

Recently watched the Three Colours Trilogy and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. As a huge Bergman fan I have been inclined to think, that, in order for a film to capture some profound insight into human nature, it must be presented in an overly dramatic setting. It was a really refreshing experience in watching Kieslowski's films that this is not necessarily the case. I will definitely be checking out his other films.

Order of enjoyment, though they are all fantastic:

White
Red
Blue

[Blue of Noon]

Facets dropped the ball when they put out The Decalogue.

In general, I'm fond of them, simply because they were a great resource for cinephiles before the likes of Criterion became what they are today, but in retrospect Facets shouldn't have released The Decalogue if they were going to use such sub-par transfers.

It's a strong series of films and now that much higher standards for home releases have been established, it feels like a mistake that such lackluster DVDs are still in circulation here without anything better to replace them.

It's not like Kieslowski is some obscure director whose films would never otherwise see the light of day.

Seems like Facets just wanted to make a quick buck...or maybe they just didn't give a shit.

[Domagoj]

White.

I can't recall well scenes from Blue and Red.

the Decalogue is in even greater b/w fog.