Krzysztof Kieslowski

A guy who makes perfect, beautiful movies about life, the universe, and everything.

Trolley (1966) -- Also known as Tramway. Four minute student film about a guy who falls in love at first sight.

The Face (1966) -- Five minute student film where a guy destroys portraits. I dunno.

The Office (1966) -- Five minute student film that seems to be Kieslowski just filming an office, being sort of obsessed by some of its details.

Concert of Wishes (1967) -- A short student film. Interesting enough to watch, but a little confusing in terms of story.

From a Night Porter's Point of View (1977) -- It is as the title implies, an interesting eighteen minute documentary about a guy who does as much as he can with the little authority he has, essentially hating and wanting to control everyone.

The Decalogue (1988) -- Ten movies with the themes of the ten commandments. Individually, they're all pretty great--as a whole, they're exceptional and it's hard to believe they even exist, that so many good little movies could have been written and made in a row. I think everyone should watch these. The individual movies are discussed below.

The Decalogue 1 (1988) -- The first of the ten-part Decalogue movies (that cover the ten commandments), this seeming to be about having no other god before God, in this case a father's faith in science. This sets up the series nicely, with that particular kind of tragedy that runs throughout these movies. The kid is really good.

The Decalogue 2 (1988) -- This one isn't quite as good, primarily because the woman annoying the doctor begins to annoy me. Still a nice little film, but I didn't get into it as much.

The Decalogue 3 (1988) -- A wholesome Christmas story. Just kidding. This one is really good.

The Decalogue 4 (1988) -- A great mini-movie, an odd take on the commandment "honor your mother and father." Janusz Gajos is awesome.

The Decalogue 5 (1988) -- The "thou shalt not kill" movie, about the inexplicable insanity that might cause a truly pointless murder, followed by an even stronger impression the movie gives about the horrific-ness of capital punishment. Heavy stuff. By this point in the Decalogue movies, you're wondering how Kieslowski manages to be this great.

The Decalogue 6 (1988) -- Seemingly the usual stuff about young peeping toms, older jaded women, the "lessons" she tries to teach him about sex and love, and the infatuation she eventually has with him (all of which has been done before)... but somehow Kieslowski makes it a big ol' thinking film once again.

The Decalogue 7 (1988) -- The two main characters in this one (the young mother and the grandmother) are pretty unlikable, which makes the movie a little less likeable too (the daughter, father, and grandfather, on the other hand, are very likeable). You're not really "rooting" for anyone by the end -- indeed you probably change sides two or three times before giving up -- which, again, makes this one as nicely complicated as the rest.

The Decalogue 8 (1988) -- The "don't lie" one (sort of, as always). Features a great performance by Maria Koscialkowska.

The Decalogue 9 (1988) -- Another one on adultery and neighbor's wife. As is the case with many of these, it's a simple story that's somehow more compelling than you'd ever think it could be.

The Decalogue 10 (1988) -- The funniest (maybe the only all-out funny) of the Decalogue movies, and pretty darn great for that reason. Zbigniew Zamachowski and his loveable, subtly comic face is as good here as it is in the upcoming movie White.

A Short Film About Killing (1988) -- The Decalogue 5 was expanded to create this feature-length. It doesn't have as much of an impact the second time around (I didn't feel sorry really for the kid the second time), and it works better within the context of the Decalogue, but it's nice by itself.

A Short Film About Love (1988) -- The Decalogue 6 was expanded and changed a bit (different, though not necessarily better) to make a feature-length movie. Works less well as a movie on its own than it does as part of the Decalogue.

Blue (1993) -- Gorgeous, beautiful. I haven't seen anything quite like it. The color blue has never been so effective. This is also some of the best use of music since Amadeus (it has the same sort of musical narrative). This movie gets better the more I think about it.

White (1994) -- The second movie in the "Three Colors" trilogy is great also. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "romantic comedy" as some have, since -- though it's certainly not as heavy as the others -- it's pretty serious stuff.

Red (1994) -- Both a nice ending to the Three Colors and also a nice ending to Kieslowski's career. Everything in the world is tied together nicely here.