Jeremy's Sight and Sound List

Those not familiar with the Sight and Sound magazines annual list of the greatest films of all time I encourage you to check it out. They poll a bunch of film critics and film directors and they give their top ten best films of all time. It's quite interesting to see. The next list won't be until 2012, but I figured I give my top ten list of all time. Sight and Sound didn't ask me but I don't care, like I said lists are fun.

I myself have come to a realization that I in no way have a number one favorite movie of all time. For awhile I would've said "It's a Wonderful Life" and it still is, but then I must remember other films that have had just as much of an impact on me. My list has been alphabatized since I didn't have the heart to number them. In some way they are all number one films, and in one way or another have influenced me and my life greatly.

2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
Casablanca (Curtiz)
City Lights (Chaplin)
The Decalogue (Kieslowski)
It's a Wonderful Life (Capra)
Jules and Jim (Truffaut)
Late Spring (Ozu)
My Dinner with Andre (Malle)
The Three Colors Trilogy (Kieslowski)
Tokyo Story (Ozu)

Jeremy's Top Ten Films of 2009

Due to some unfortunate cash flow problems I have been unable to see as many movies as I've wanted to. However that is not to say I didn't see as many as I could. I continue to do lists because let's face it, they are fun. This is not to say my opinions change. Some days it feels like my number 2 or 3 should be my number 1. However at the end of the day, the day being today, these are my top ten films of last year, enjoy.

1. Summer Hours: Some may wonder why I enjoy foreign films so much. Here's the reason, most of the time I find them wiser, quieter, and contemplative. These are the attributes I find I'm becoming more attuned to in my movie watching. That being said, "Summer Hours" is a joy to watch with great acting and a story about a family who become disillusioned after the death of the matriarch. The remaining children don't know what to do with the mother's estate which is the only thing that seems to keep them together. After viewing the film I thought much about it and can't wait to go into more detail as I get more familiar with it.

2. Up: Pixar's best movie to date which is saying something. Probably the one film this year that is for everybody who likes going to the movies. It's equal parts moving, funny, and exciting which makes up for the best kind of entertainment, also the best 3-D movie of the year.

3. A Serious Man: Another masterpiece from the greatest American filmmakers working today. A metaphysical comedy about that unending question why do bad things happen to good people. "A Serious Man" is a seriously dark film one of the darkest films by the Coens, but it's hilarious. The timing and pace of their dialogue and scenes are seamless.

4. Goodbye Solo: Two of the best performances of the year were in this film. "Goodbye Solo" is the story of two strangers who soon form an unlikely bond that you wouldn't see coming. The ending avoids cliche and sticks to the motivations of the characters. This is small minimal stuff that respects its audience by only showing what you need to know.

5. Inglorious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino's World War 2 reinvention film is a joyous movie from the very first shot. Viewing it a second time just made me more aware at how well Tarantino constructs his war opus.

6. Up in the Air: A timely witty dark comedy about the times we live in. When I first saw "Up in the Air", it affected me in a very personal level, and I would say has more in common with my number 3 on the list than most people are giving it credit for.

7. Fantastic Mr. Fox: Wes Anderson's lovely trippy animated flick is the most lighthearted comedy of the year. Like the best of animated movies, it's highly inventive, colorful, and very, very funny. Anderson has always had a very animated aesthetic in his films, and it was probably only a matter of time until he finally decided to do one literally. It's one of his best films.

8. The Girlfriend Experience/The Informant: Steven Sodebergh is probably the most prolific filmmaker going right now, making at least one movie per year, and in some cases two. He's able to seamlessly work in both streams of independent and mainstream filmmaking, so much so that perhaps we take his films for granted. He continues to be interesting. Both the minimal "The Girlfriend Experience" which follows around a call girl at the height of the economic crisis and the dark comedy "The Informant" featuring Matt Damon in one of his greatest performances are two of his best films.

9.Sita Sings the Blues: I stumbled upon this film by the high recommendation by Roger Ebert. I looked for it ever where until I became aware the filmmaker refused to pay the copy write laws to the old blues songs that were used. This didn't prevent her from making the film available to download for free on her website or by donating money towards it. Either way you choose to view it, the film is at your disposal. The film is animated which deals with a woman's relationship issues and relating it to an old Indian folktale. Check this one out, it's worth it.

10. Limits of Control: Jim Jarmusch's polarizing film with a plot that is needless to say either non-existent or irrelevant. What's relevant is the lynchian atmosphere, Jarmusch is able to conjure up. It is something I've never seen by him before and I found it extremely fascinating. For those intrigued, the story follows a spy who meets up with many interesting characters, all of whom seem to talk in code. It leads the spy and the viewer into questioning things such as reality and dreams. It's a trippy ride for anyone inters ted.

Since Ebert does it, I'm gonna do it too my Jury Prize is going to two films "The Class" and "Departures". Both films would've made my top ten list but since they were both officially released in 2008 they don't qualify, however I did see them in 2009 so I thought I'd give them special consideration with this category. "The Class" was the winner of the Palm D'Or at Cannes in 2008 and is probably the most realistic view of a teacher's life in a tough school. The French film dispels with the cliche of sentimentality and simply shows a teacher doing the best he can do under difficult circumstances.

"Departures" was the winner of The Best Foreign Film at the Oscars last year. It's Japanese and tells the story of a cellist who must take a job as an undertaker. Unlike "The Class", the film is full of sentimental moments, but the story itself is sincere enough to be a winner.

And finally....I'm happy to say for the first time in Jeremy and the Movies history, I do not have a Worst Movies of the Year list. That's not to say I've seen any bad films, but by the same token I would say there is something redeeming in all of the films I've seen, therefore I didn't see the point in naming them the worst since I know I could've done a lot worse. Okay FINE "Fame" was pretty terrible.

More Thoughts on The Three Colors Trilogy

Some time has passed since I watched Kieslowski's "Three Colors trilogy" for my blog. It's strange however, I feel like I've lived with these films for the past week, I've been able to watch other films in my spare time, but my mind always wonders back to these three.

I still have images of Julie scraping her fist across a stone wall to feel something in "Blue", or Karol and Mikolaj sliding down an ice river in "White" or Valentine walking down a runway while Preisner's melody is playing in "Red". Each film is a mystery, and each is romantic in some way.

The second time I saw "The Three Colors Trilogy", I remember going for a walk as soon as "Red" ended. It was a late summer night, it was dark save for the street lamps illuminating the only light. There wasn't a car on the road, I took a small walk around my street and came back. I don't remember what I thought about, but I remember wanting to feel a certain type of sensation. Maybe I just wanted to breath in the night air, and digest what I had just seen.

When I came home I remember sitting there quietly, I was alone but didn't feel lonely. I didn't say a word, I sat there thinking for what may have been a short or long time, I don't remember.

Afterwards, I was awakened by the realities of life again, I was on that similar plain we often find ourselves everyday. Soon life began again and I was out of my stupor, but I still remembered the feeling of seeing those films, experiencing something special even if it was just for me. "The Three Colors Trilogy" revitalized a love of movies by showing they can once again surprise us no matter how many we have seen. They also revitalized a feeling of contemplation, connection, and understanding. Whether this was Kieslowski's intent I don't know, I still try to grapple with his absolute truth as he probably was as well.

Make no mistake, these films are special to me, I think of them fondly from time to time, it may sound silly to think of a film that way, but not to me. Film is art, and it's a special treat to see great art present itself to you. We are never alone.

Three Colors: Red

Maybe you're the woman I never met.(The Judge to Valentine in "Red")

Kieslowski's "Red" is a wonderful film. This is a blunt statement and one I don't throw away at any given time. When I was first introduced to Kieslowski's "Three Colors Trilogy" over three years ago or more, I was truly affected by it like no other film has. "Red" is the perfect finale to the great trilogy and to the great director's career. It encapsulates much of what Kieslowki explored in many of his films.

As with the last two, "Red" is connected to the color on the french flag, (Red=fraternity). The fraternity Kieslowski chooses to explore has to do with a retired judge and a young student. Kieslowski's muse Irene Jacob from "The Double Life of Veronique" plays the student Valentine, and former french matinee idol Jean-Louis Trintignant plays the judge.

The film begins when Valentine accidentally runs over a stray dog in the street. Seeing the address on the dog's collar, she takes it back to its owner who is the Judge. Initially we see the Judge is indifferent, so Valentine cares for the dog herself. Later when the dog is healed, she runs away and goes back to the Judge's house. Valentine then finds that his house is full of surveillance equipment, as we find out The Judge is spying on his neighbour's phone conversations. Valentine is shocked and repulsed, but she stays and her and the Judge have a conversation. At the end, she has awakened something in him, and later he sends letters to his neighbours confessing his actions.

While this is going on, another story is unfolding about a young law student named August (Jean-Pierre Lirot) who lives on the same street as Valentine. August and Valentine never meet, they are shown together on screen a few times in near misses, but as the story unfolds we find his story is strangely connected to the Judge's.

Like "Blue" and "White", "Red" isn't really about what it's symbolizing. The fraternity between Valentine and the Judge works as a springboard to explore further themes of coincidence and chance, but also about connection and communication. "Red" can be seen as a companion piece to "The Double Life of Veronique" which also explored a somewhat alternate universe where two versions of the same woman could co-exist. In "Red" we see two versions of the Judge with him and the young August, it's about a second chance, and Valentine is the missing piece to all of this.

"Red" is the very reason I started falling in love with Kieslowski's films, it remains so elusive and mysterious, the more I watch it, the more I love it. It's the kind of movie that you can't watch just once, but of course I could say that about any of Kieslowski's films.

Much has been said about "Red" already by people who have seen it more times than I have (although I like to think I'm catching up with those experts). Like I found with "White", I see "Red" to be a deceptive love story. We are left to wonder if The Judge can live through this younger version of him and erase the mistakes of his past, so in that way it's a romantic fantasy, which is something I understand Kieslowski himself took it as.

It's easy to fall in love with Irene Jacob in this film, I think I have a little bit myself. She is a vision of loveliness when she first walks onto screen, Kieslowski must've seen something very warm and loving in her, it's sometimes hard to see if a woman like Valentine actually exists. In an interview, I was shocked to learn Jacob described the film as being harsh, and she described her scenes with the judge to be unpleasant. However she even admits that Keislowski must've seen in her the ability to portray Valentine as someone who could only be good which is why I think we don't get any of the harshness on screen.

"Red" is a film full of compassion and humanity, which is probably why I love it so much, but on top of that I continue to come back to the same questions whenever I see a Kislowski film. Are we apart of this sort of connection that we don't know about? Do we have a soul? Are things preordained? Is everything just luck or coincidence? Myself I go back and forth, but I always find it intriguing when someone like Kieslowski comes and opens up a new paradigm for me to examine. If one were to ask me if films can be life changing, I would say yes, this is one of them.

Three Colors: White

Everything is possible (Mikolaj in "White")

"Three Colors: White" represents equality, but as per usual in Kieslowski's universe, there is a sense of irony to it. The film isn't about equality so much as it is about revenge. Kieslowski uses a comedic story about revenge in order for the main character to achieve equality.

"White" is the story of Karol Karol (In English this name is translated as Charlie Charlie, Annette Insdorff suggests it may be a reference to Charlie Chaplin)played by Zbigniew Zamachowski. Karol is a Polish hairdresser living in Paris, who is getting divorced by his french wife Dominique (Julie Delpy). Dominique is arguing that their marriage was never consummated because since they were wed, Karol has proven to be impotent.

After the trial, Karol suffers more humiliation as his bank account is frozen and is left out on the street. He seeks shelter in Dominique's hair salon, but she finds him the next morning. After a brief sexual attempt by Karol in the salon where again he fails her, Dominique sets the salon on fire and calls the police accusing him of breaking and entering and vandalism.

Karol retreats to the subway a broken man, but by chance he runs into a fellow countryman Mikolaj (Janusz Gajos), who agrees to smuggle Karol out of the country back to Poland in return for an unusual favour.

After cleverly hiding out in a piece of luggage, Karol arrives in Poland, however not until the suitcase he is hiding in is stolen by some thieves who find him inside and beat him to a pulp, but soon after, Karol starts to plot his own revenge.

Of the films by Kieslowski I have seen, "White" is definitely his most playful and humorous. I myself consider it to be a light comedy, but there are aspects of darkness in it. Karol goes through a series of unpleasant events perhaps more than most characters do in a comedy. There are also dark moments including the suicide attempt of one character and the theft of a dead body to fake another character's death. Despite all this, "White" deceptively remains a love story.

"White" can also be thought of as a modern look at Poland after it turned from communism to capitalism. Karol's plot could not have worked under a communist country, as he is seen climbing is way up, stealing and borrowing money, buying land, and becoming what resembles a modern capitalist.

I think what makes "White" unique is its very particular sense of humour, it's very dry and minimal, it gets by with observation and wit, something that I found refreshing when first seeing it. For its star, Kieslowski uses Zamachowski, the same actor who starred in "Decalogue 10", which was also the lone comedy in that series as well, he has a very distinct face, it's very droll but expressive when it needs to be. His performance carries the film it's full of cunning and sincerity.

"White" is probably the most underrated of the three colors trilogy which, but like all of the three films, it's joyful, mysterious, and perceptive. One of my favorite moments in all of movies happens in "White" when Karol and Mikolaj are sliding down an icy river, and Mikolaj shouts out with joy. That moment for me is so real and touching especially after we have found out a little bit more about his character, it's moments like that I suspect Kieslowski couldn't be all cynical as he is sometimes perceived to be.

Three Colors: Blue

You've always got to hold onto something. (A Street Musician in "Blue")

Krzysztof Kieslowski's final series of films were "The Three Colors Trilogy", the greatest of all trilogies. As with "The Decalogue", the idea to do a trilogy based on the three colors of the French flag came from his co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz. The idea was to take the symbolism of each color (Blue=liberty, White=equality, Red=fraternity)and base a film on them. However like how he based "The Decalogue" on one of the Ten Commandments, his ideas for these themes were more abstract, and philosophical.

The trilogy begins with "Blue", based on the idea of liberty. Kieslowski's concept isn't the political kind of liberty the French flag suggests, but a personal kind, basically he's asking the great philosophical question, can a person truly be free?

"Blue" is the story of Julie (Juliet Binoche) who is the one survivor of a car accident that killed her composer husband and young daughter. While recuperating at the hospital, Julie attempts suicide with some pills she steals, but realizes she cannot do it. Insteady, she decides to get on with her life by giving up her past. She leaves her house making sure all her servants are cared for, and gives up all of her possessions wiping the slate clean. Her husband was composing music that was to be played in a ceremony for the Unification of Europe, she was his close collaborator and takes what she believes is the last copy of the music and throws it in a garbage truck.

Julie finds a new apartment away from anyone who would know her, the one thing she keeps is a blue mobile, something that perhaps is a reminder of her daughter. The mobile is the only thing from her past that she hangs in her new apartment.

The idea of liberty Kieslowski takes is the thought of having someone who wishes to be free of her past without any reminders, but is that actually possible? Julie is a woman who chooses a life of solitude after her husband and daughter die, but she can't help but becoming involved in the lives of the people around her. One of the most important relationships she makes is with a prostitute who lives in her apartment. After Julie declines signing a petition by her building to throw the loose woman out, the two become friends.

Another complication begins when Julie finds out her husband had a mistress, who is pregnant with his child, then there is the re-appearance of his music for the unification of Europe that she thought was destroyed. All these experiences are ways to prod Julie back to life. Kieslowski seems to be saying that in order for Julie to exist in the world, she can never be fully free from her past. But Kieslowski is saying this is not a bad thing, "Blue" is mostly about grief, and Julie's reluctance to participate in its ritual. The things and people she encounters are ways to remind her that life goes on and she must choose to be a part of it in order to survive.

All through the film there are moments where we feel Julie is repressing her grief, and Kieslowski avoids cliche by keeping her mourning intimate and quiet. Julie never sheds a tear or cries out in anger. Kieslowski uses more cinematic means at his disposal such as showing Julie rubbing her fist against a stone wall, perhaps suggesting her want to feel something painful or to feel alive. Another poignant moment comes when Julie is sitting by the fire destroying remnants from her purse that remind her of her family. In her purse she sees a piece of blue candy which probably belonged to her daughter. Kieslowski uses the candy as a substitute for Julie's tears as we see her devouring it almost as a way to stop her from crying out.

Like all of Kieslowski's films, "Blue" is beautiful to look at, here he uses the same cinematographer he used in "The Double Life of Veronique", and of course it's easy to see his blue motif throughout the film as he does with white and red in the later films. Kieslowski even alludes to the rest of the trilogy here by using The Unification of Europe music. In a way he is unifying Europe with these three films as they take place all over Europe; Blue=France, White=Poland, Red=Geneva.

At the end of "Blue", Julie doesn't get the freedom she hopes for, but Kieslowski seems to be saying she's happier without it. By choosing to be connected to her past, she is able to get on with her life, and she is able to grieve. "Blue" becomes less a movie about liberty, and more one about healing.

The Double Life of Veronique

"I feel like I'm not alone, not alone in the world." (Weronika in "The Double Life of Veronique")

The first image in Kieslowski's "The Double Life of Veronique" is Warsaw Poland seen upside down. The next image is that of a young girl Weronika lying in her mother's arm with her head arched back, we realize it is through her eyes we are seeing Warsaw. At the same time in France a young girl named Veronique is holding a leaf while listening to her mother speak to her. There is a link between these two girls, a connection."The Double Life of Veronique" is about the metaphysical, the unexplained, it's about unraveling the mysteries of life.

We find these two girls grown up into a young woman, they are both played by the beautiful Irene Jacob who would win Best Actress at Cannes for her performance here. Jacob plays Weronika in Poland, she is a young singer living with her widowed father. Weronika is seen as vibrant, full of life and love, but we also learn she has a heart condition. While staying with her Aunt Weronika wins a singing competition and gets the opportunity to sing at a concert, however as a warning she suffers a mild heart attack in a park. During the concert, her heart fails, she collapses and dies, there is a shot afterwards of the camera moving above the audience, perhaps it is her soul escaping. The last we see of Weronika is through her eyes in a glass coffin as dirt is shoveled upon her. Does she see this happening?

In France, Veronique is making love to her boyfriend, afterwards she senses something is wrong, although she's not quite sure why. We find out Veronique is also a singer, but she suddenly tells her instructor she wants to quit and only wants to focus on teaching as a music teacher to young students. At the school where Veronique works, she watches an assembly with her children featuring a marionette performer, he tells the story of a ballerina who performs for an audience, dies and turns into a butterfly. Afterwards, the plot turns into a mystery as Veronique gets a mysterious phone call featuring the music that Weronika was singing when she died, which incidentally is the same music Veronique is teaching her students.

As with all of Kieslowski's films, I am full of questions, does Weronika represent Veronique's absolute double, was she her soul mate, I think Kieslowski makes room for each of these interpretations. As he did in "The Decalogue", Kieslowski uses the a glass and mirror motif which sometimes distort the image. While on a train to visit her Aunt, Weronika looks through a glass ball which seems to bend the world into two, is Kieslowski suggesting an alternate universe? Veronique herself also has a glass ball, but the two also share similarities, both have widowed fathers they are close to, they both sing, they are both kind, and both are sensual and sensitive women. With both women, the use of mirrors are used to reflect meaning there are in fact two of them. There is also the use of string which both are seen wrapping around their hands, this could be seen as a metaphor of a link between the two also as an unraveling of the mystery Veronique feels compelled to solve.

"The Double Life of Veronique" is one of the most beautiful modern films ever made, done by cinematographer Slawamir Idziak, they used special filters to achieve their dreamlike effect at times it's as if the film is bathed in a golden color as if in sunlight. There is a moment when Veronique is awakened by what looks to be a reflection of sunlight shining on her face done by a boy with a magnifying glass living near by. Veronique sees this, but when the boy leaves, the light is still there, it leads Veronique to another link to the mystery, could this be Weronika's soul helping her on her quest?

There is also an air of mystery throughout the film, but it's also delicately beautiful. This is not a Hitchcock kind of mystery Veronique is trying to solve, but it's something more intangible, something that can't be thought out in words. I remember seeing an interview with Kieslowski saying that the reason he chose film was because it was only through visual expression could he fully explore the things that interested him. It is in fact through film techniques such as sound effects and music that Veronique ultimately solves the mystery.

The effect of "The Double Life of Veronique" is very powerful, Kieslowski delves between two worlds, the real, and the possible. Like all the films of his I have seen it is philosophical with and ends openly. I don't think it is done to discourage the viewers but to ponder the questions it raises. "The Double Life of Veronique" begs repeated viewings in order to get closer to what Kieslowski was talking about. Is there an alternate reality? Does the soul exist? Are we connected? Are we alone in the world?

The Decalogue

"Everyone seems to accept the Ten Commandments as a kind of moral basis, and everyone breaks them daily. Just the attempt to respect them is already a major achievement. If I had to formulate the message of my 'Decalogue', I'd say 'live carefully, with your eyes open, and try not to cause pain.'" (Krzysztof Kieslowski on his series "The Decalogue")

I'm still fairly new with "The Decalogue" myself, but after seeing this extraordinary group of films only about six months ago and again as I prepared myself for this project I'm still fascinated by it and continue to grapple with its beauty, mystery, and philosophical questions.

"The Decalogue" was originally intended for Polish television between 1988-89, but since then it has grown in reputation as a cinematic achievement. As Kieslowski puts it, the only difference he saw in working in television was the pay was lower and you had to work faster, that didn't mean the work was any less special.

Kieslowski is often credited for coming up with filming ten films about the Ten Commandments himself, when in fact it was his co-screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz a former lawyer. This was the second film project the two worked on together after their film "No End" in the early 80s. In fact most of the stories in "The Decalogue" came mostly from Piesiewicz's own personal experiences or experiences as a lawyer.

From what I understand by Roger Ebert's introduction to the series, Piesiewicz knew nothing about screenwriting, but he knew how to talk, and together he and Kieslowski hammered out the concept of "The Decalogue" and each of its stories which took over a year. It was decided by both of them to set the stories in modern Poland instead of biblical times, this way they could examine how a contemporary society deals with the commandments in everyday settings. Kieslowski also made the decision to use different cinematographers for each story in order to achieve a different look. The one link to the stories is the apartment complex shown throughout "The Decalogue" where all of the various characters live in. Occasionally we see main characters from one film pass by in others either in hallways or in elevators just as you would see them everyday, this would further incorporate a feeling of connection between people.

Another key link has to do with a mysterious onlooker who appears in eight out of the ten films. He is a silent observer who appears in key moments in the films usually when a main character must make a crucial decision. Who exactly is this man? Some say he is a Jesus or a God character who looks at these people with pity, Annette Insdorf who wrote the book "Double Lives, Second Chances The Cinema of Krzsztof Kieslowski", compares him to an Angel like the ones in Wim Wenders "Wings of Desire", someone who silently observes but cannot or do not intervene. The fact that he appears in the films only adds more to the ambiguity to the pieces, Kieslowski himself refused to say who he was or what he represented.

Another interesting fact about "The Decalogue" is how Kieslowski chose to title each episode. Instead of clarifying which episode corresponds with which commandment, Kieslowski simply titles them by numbers (ie. "1", "2", "3" etc.) which gave more ambiguity about which rule each film was linked to. When the films were shown at the Venice Film Festival, the segments were issued a title to give a more clear view to what they were suppose to focus on. Kieslowski himself didn't intend for this to happen since for him, the films either directly or indirectly involved some or all of the commandments at once.

For a bit more insight into each film I'll give a quick synopsis but I'm reluctant to reveal much since what I found to be wonderful about "The Decalogue" as in most films was not knowing too much about it going in. Kieslowski's films are better when they reveal themselves to you.

Decalogue 1: A University Professor and his brilliant young son live together in an apartment building. After seeing a the lifeless body of a dog outside their building, the boy has questions of death, God, and faith, and is given different answers by both his more practical father and his more spiritual Aunt. The plot also deals with the fact that the boy is a computer whiz and how a computer can have absolute proof in its data than people do, does that mean it's infallible? The story takes a surprisingly tragic turn. This to me was probably the most spiritual film in the series as it questions whether or not we can take anything on faith.

Decalogue 2: A woman's husband is dying, she is pregnant, but he is not the father. She asks his doctor if her husband will indeed die for if he lives she will choose to have an abortion. The doctor cannot give her an absolute answer, however something happens that causes him to make a fateful decision.

Decalogue 3: A man is forced to spend Christmas with his ex-lover in order to find her missing husband, however it is shown that she is a compulsive liar and seems more and more compelled to have her husband remain missing.

Decalogue 4: In a story that seems to examine paternity vs. biology, after a young woman finds a letter from her deceased mother, she is convinced her father isn't her biological one.

Decalogue 5: After a man kills another, he stands trial and faces the death penalty.

Decalogue 6: A young man is obsessed with the woman living across from him. He uses his telescope to watch her, but she soon finds out what he's been doing and invites him over.

Decalogue 7: A young woman steals away her young sister from her mother. It is revealed that she is in fact the young girls real mother.

Decalogue 8: The most blatantly philosophical portion of the series as a woman seeks out the older woman who refused to shelter her during the Holocaust.

Decalogue 9: A man who discovers he is impotent tells his wife to take a lover, she refuses, but it is then revealed that she does in fact have a lover.

Decalogue 10: A comical tale of two brothers who inherit their deceased father's stamp collection only to find out it's worth a fortune, but there may be other people interested in the collection as well.

The films in "The Decalogue" are all moral tales, but the answers to the questions are never black and white. Kieslowski seems to have his own ideas to what these answers are, but he lets us decide for ourselves. I look at the films to be like riddles, some don't seem to have a solution, but all are meant to be contemplated.

The characters here are all human beings, with real feelings and real problems. These are universal issues, and Kieslowski perhaps bravely dares to incorporate morality in what on the outside looks to be an immoral world.

I would say not all of the films does incorporate God or religion in them, however some very bluntly do. It depends on the situation such as in "Decalogue 1" where the young boy questions what life and death are all about for the first time, however in "Decalogue 6" involving a peeping tom and a promiscuous woman, God isn't muttered between either of them, however these characters share a common moral dilemma.

The brilliance of Kieslowski is how he is able to put these complex ideas into a cinematic aesthetic. There is an ongoing motif of reflection in the films, people are sometimes seen distorted through glass or a mirror by someone else or themselves. They are not seen as completely whole, even though I'm not an expert to what Kieslowski was meaning behind this, I think he was trying to show that people aren't always what they appear to be, but also we must be careful not to judge them as it is impossible to know a full human being.

When I watch or even think about "The Decalogue" it is impossible for me not to think about my own ideas of God, religion, life, and death. Is there morality in this world? Do things happen for a reason? Is there a divine plan? But mostly when I think of "The Decalogue" it gives me a hope in humanity. There are characters who do wrong things but we come to realize perhaps why they did what they did, and in other cases, we can see ourselves in them as well. It's the complexity of life we are forced to examine, and perhaps we walk away with a better understanding of it.

Although I don't know much about Kieslowski, what I have read and observed about his work thus far makes me think he was a cautious optimist. He's not afraid to show a bleak, dirty, immoral world, but he refuses to throw away a meaning to it all, as long as we probe these questions, we can reach a truth.

(Photos from top to bottom: "Decalogue 1", "Decalogue 5", Decalogue 6")

Kieslowski: The Student Films and Documentaries

I've begun my exciting journey into the life and cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski, to me one of the master's of cinema. I wanted to explain more why I've decided to explore this particular director. There are certain films I feel a personal connection with, it happened more than once with Kieslowski. The first instance happened when I viewed his "Three Colours Trilogy", then again with "The Double Life of Veronique", and finally with "The Decalogue". Much like I was with Ozu, Kieslowski seemed to happen by accident, I didn't know the name, I knew of the films and that they were important in film history, but I wasn't expecting a vision that touches my own sensibilities so directly.

Like Ozu, Kieslowski is a filmmaker not initially recognizable like Welles, or Hitchcock, or even Truffaut or Godard, he is rather someone who is discovered overtime. I've come to regard his films as some of the greatest achievements over the last 30 years, and I felt the need to understand them and their creator even more. So I've come to this little project of mine, simply for my own benefit as I further develop my own film education.

I wanted to begin at the beginning, most of what I know of Kieslowski's work has to do the final third of his career beginning with "The Decalogue", and ending with "The Three Colours". I was interested to find where this man came from and the kind of environment he was brought up in.

The extraordinary thing about Kieslowski's career is how it started, he began in Communist Poland. He was born in Warsaw in 1941, his father was a civil engineer which required the family to move around a lot, Kieslowski later said that the constant travel is what initially made him curious about the world. He originally intended to become a theatre director when he entered The Contemporary Theatre, and since advanced studies were required he entered film school as an intermediate study. He applied at the Lodz Film School, the same place that housed such students as Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda. After being rejected a twice, Kieslowski was determined to get in and finally did after the third try.

From what I understand about reading about Lodz Film School, it was like a safe haven for artistic people in communist Poland. It was the only place where you could view American movies, and be benefit ted from having international guest speakers. This allowed Kieslowski to get a bigger aspect of the world.

While studying at Lodz, Kieslowski made a number of student films, some of which I was able to view.

Concert of Wishes: A 17 minute short dealing with a school bus full of juvenile students with the exception of one thoughtful looking bespectacled outcast. While the the students are playing football at a rest stop, the outcast goes off to spy on a young couple on a motorbike. The boy is rather rude and indifferent to his girlfriend in the beginning, but later when the girl is taunted by the students and the bus driver on the street, he flings her away and the two ride off together in love. The young outcast perhaps in a moment of defiance kinks the student's football out of sight.

Of the student films by Kieslowski, I liked this one the best, I found it to be romantic and idealistic at the same time wise about young love. Throughout the film we get the sense that Kielowski's idea of young love is a rather fleeting one.

The Office: A hard to follow six minute short mostly because it had no subtitles, but the idea is still there. It follows the no end bureaucratic nonsense of a Polish office. We see people in line ups waiting to be served, we see office workers behind counters telling people where to go and what to do. The final image is the back office with countless files and papers that seem to still have to be sorted through.

Although you can't understand what is being said, Kieslowski uses strong imagery to show his story and the idea of bureaucracy at an office building is a universal language we can all understand.

The Trolley: A very effective short film which I found to be very dreamlike. A lonely young man leaves a crowded place and hops on board a trolley. There he sees a girl, she smiles at him, later she is asleep and he observes her. He then leaves the trolley but becomes obsessed with seeing the girl again, he runs after it.

The film was done in black and white with no sound at all. For me it was very dreamlike and hints at the kind of romantic obsession later seen in other Kieslowski's work.

The Face: A rather avante guarde short film with a man (I think it may be a young Kieslowski himself) who seems to despise his own face. He seems to be an artist with many self-portraits, which he decides to destroy.

The title of the film is pretty much what you get. It is very much an experimental student film again done with no dialogue but this time with a musical soundtrack. If it is Kieslowski in the film and I am almost 99% sure it is, it's interesting to see him act in front of the camera letting out what seems to be youthful angst.

After his education at Lodz, Kieslowski did what one who is familiar with only his later work wouldn't expect, he worked in documentaries. Throughout the seventies, Kieslowski would direct over 30 short documentaries, many of which would go on to win international prizes. What I find interesting is how much his personal philosophy of film changes from this time to his later work. Kieslowski the young filmmaker praises documentaries at the time.

In a 1979 interview he says "When I make a fiction film I always know how it will end. When I shoot a documentary I don't. And it's exciting to not know how the shot will end, not to mention the whole film. For me the documentary is a greater artform than fiction filmmaking because I think life is more intelligent than I am. It creates more interesting situations than I could invent on my own."

It was later that Kieslowski decided to change his tune a little bit. After making the documentary "First Love" about young couple who are having a baby, Kieslowski felt that while he was filming he was intruding on their personal lives.

"The documentary camera doesn't have the right to enter what interests me most, He said in an interview, "the intimate, private life of individuals. I preferred to buy glycerin at the pharmacy, and actors to stimulate crying, than filming real people crying, or making love, or dying."

From my standpoint, I do understand Kieslowski's reasoning behind this moral stance, many documentaries which I see do make me feel squeamish as the camera become more intrusive perhaps to get to the truth to something that the people weren't prepared to share. This type of documentary for me is difficult to watch and perhaps Kieslowski's comment can be seen as a forerunner to outlandish reality television (just a thought).

Although he would continue to make documentaries for four more years after this comment, he would venture into fictional filmmaking for a period.

Of the many documentaries Kieslowski directed I viewed three of them.

Factory: This was one of his first professional films as it shows a Polish factory juxtaposing images of the labour workers against that of an executive meeting. Through the meeting we learn that the future of the factory is uncertain, there is a lack of equipment and needs in the factory, we are left at the end with a feeling of uncertainty.

Kieslowski never considered himself a political filmmaker, yet his documentaries can be interpreted to have a very political undertone to it. What he is showing is life in communist Poland, they are without certain necessities to make a country work. I think what Kieslowski was showing was Polish life and he couldn't help it if it was a bleak one.

Hospital: This was my favorite of the documentaries I viewed, a 32 day in a Polish Hospital. As in "Factory", the film depicts the rotten conditions of the working environment. If this weren't a documentary you might mistake it for a very dark comedy. There are moments where surgical instruments break off in the middle of an operation, a nurse has to hold an electrical cable a certain way in order for an certain instrument to keep operating, and one patient even worries about being tortured by the doctor. The film uses time as it clicks off what happens every hour in the shift and what it documents. Kieslowski doesn't seem to intrude with his camera, he is only there to show what is going on. The doctors and nurses are shown as good people, understaffed, and overworked, despite its bleak world, it creates a perfectly vivid and exciting look at the workings in a hospital.

Railway Station: Made in 1980, this would be one of Kieslowski's two final documentaries. Again showing a public environment in Poland, an overcrowded railway station where people are waiting endlessly for a delayed train. The film has a lot in common with Kieslowski's student short "The Office" as it shows the long line ups and impatient people who have to put up what looks to be government incompetence.

By this time Kieslowski had made some fictional films, and in this film you can see a bit of playfulness involved with telling the story. For instance, there are many shots of the railway surveillance camera moving around and Kieslowski puts in some ominous drum muisc to enhance the rather depressing state the people are in.

After viewing some of his student films and documentaries, I found Kieslowski more interesting than ever. Like many artists he started from humble beginnings, his ideas changed as he experienced more, but he always seemed to have this great need to show a certain truth in all of his films.

Before viewing his short documentaries, I also viewed a short entitled "The Musicians", a 10 minute documentary and a film Kieslowski considers one of the greatest ever made. It was directed by a Lodz film professor Kazimierz Karabacz and depicts aging factory workers who play for a local amateur symphony. Along with their conductor, the band starts off with playing and fine tuning their instruments until they finally make some actual music.

As Kieslowski puts it "It is so rare for a short to express so many things, in a manner so beautiful and simple, about the need to create which is inherent in human beings. Because , in addition to satisfying our elementary needs-survival, eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sleeping after work- we all aspire to something which gives meaning to our life and elevates it."

It is this aspiration to find meaning in our life that Kieslowski would later study in his later major work, and which this blog will focus on next.

(Above photo from Kieslowski's student film "Concert of Wishes")