the Krzysztof Kieślowski features

next March would have marked his 80th birthday :(

i still need to see dekalog in full (i know!). between veronique and red. blind chance and no end both very great. three colors trilogy introduced me to like... "cinema," very close to my heart forever for that. i also wrote an essays about each one, not sure if i stand by the first two anymore but writing about red drew me so much closer to the movie and confirmed it as my fave of the trilogy

I watched No End just a few weeks ago, and that had a suitably topical flavour of a society in decay trying to ban leftist dissent, the Solidarity movement. Great performances from the lead actress and the old Walther Matthau-faced lawyer. The supernatural humour is almost mainstream in a sense, it feels like its playing to big screen emotions, at times it felt like a prototype for Patrick Swawzye's Ghost. And well, the ending in particular maybe. I feel like that's sullying a good film with a bad one, but the comparison feels kind of apt. Nevertheless most of it concerns the trial of a hunger striker, and the different political and personal tunnels created by each of the characters, each trying to cope with their task using desperate tools for unknown rules.

May not be the most enjoyable of his films, but feels maybe the most relevant for right now.

I don't know if I've told this story before, but here goes.

I bought the Dekalog several years ago, in the Facets edition, not long after falling for Three Colors and Veronique. It was a pricey title (listed for about $100), but iirc I lucked out over at deepdiscount and got it for 50-60% off. I'm stoked, so as soon as it arrives, disc 1 is in my DVD player and...

Episode 1 is amazing, but wow did it hit me so hard that I've yet to carry on with the rest.

It's been like 12 years now.

Blind Chance is one of the most astute movies I've ever seen in terms of depicting how and why people develop an ideology (or lack thereof)

I have to admit I found Double Life a little dopey, if gorgeous, on a recent rewatch. kinda pleasantly coasts on Jacob's beauty a lot of the time.

Lots of Decalogue hits hard and sticks with you forever, but if there's any consolation the final installment offers a tiny respite in the form of comedy, albeit very dark comedy.

Among pre-Blind Chance features, I can vouch for The Scar, Camera Buff and No End — all great.

I love Camera Buff, Dekalog feels like cheating, also it's TV

That's like saying the Bible is just a book, maaaaan.

The #1 and #2 from this poll don't seem debatable. Granted, I still need to see Blind Chance.

A Short Film About Killing or Red, the latter one of my key cinematic experiences

assuming the early features ppl are vouching for hold up, he must have one of the most consistent filmographies ever

Dekalog, and it's not even close. Otherwise, Red.

xpost You mean thematically?

Or qualitatively?

I've seen Blind Chance and the last six of these films. Kieslowski's aesthetic seems so much of its time, both visually and in terms of the "high-art" aura that starts taking over with Veronique.

I voted Three Colours: White. Something about its gentle cynicism makes me feel that the film is closer to his personality than Blue and Red, which feel a little bit like he is putting on airs.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Crazy. Madness. That Dekalog didn't top this.

didn't see this poll, I liked the Three Colors films and really liked Dekalog, and especially A Short Film About Killing expanded from Dekalog 5.

Still haven't seen The Double Life of Veronique