Arguably one of the most influential Polish film directors of the last twenty years, Kieślowski's films have won worldwide acclaim, most notably the Three Colours Trilogy and the made-for-TV Decalogue, nominated for several international awards including the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival, and have since become cult favourites. Much of the director's earlier work is of a much smaller scale, made in Communist Poland. A graduate of the world-famous film school in Łódź, he honed his skills making documentary films before moving onto feature films, some made between Poland and France.
Films on the programme at the Mid-Manhattan Library include Camera Buff (1979), a film about a factory worker who has found himself a new hobby: making amateur films. The pass-time soon turns into an obsession, soon taking over his formerly happy life. James Berardinelli praised the film in his review on ReelViews.
...while the movie is about the love of a craft, this isn't a nostalgia-drenched account of that appreciation. Kieslowski developed Camera Buff's deceptively complex script so that it addressed weightier themes: obsession, censorship, and the battle between artistic integrity and personal sacrifice,
Camera Buff is screened on the 11th of April.
Kieślowski's Double Life of Veronique (1991), is the director's first film co-produced in France. His film, which touches on themes of identity, love and humanity sees actress Irene Jacob playing two characters: Polish Weronika and French Veronique. The two have never met but are connected by a mysterious link. Glenn Heath Jr. writing for Slant Magazine writes that
The Double Life of Veronique a fluttering opera of duality and déjà vu seemingly suspended in motion. Through the parallel characters of Polish singer Weronika and French music teacher Veronique ...Kieslowski envisions a modern world where the combination of touch and fate can reconcile life's incomprehensible mysteries.
The Double Life of Veronique is screened at on the 9th of May.
The director may well be most famous for his Three Colours Trilogy, the first film of which will be screened as part of the series. Juliette Binoche, Three Colours: Blue (1993) follows Julie, the widow of a famous composer who is trying to come to terms with the death of her husband and daughter. Despite several difficulties, she eventually tries to complete his unfinished melody. The film is poetically photographed by Sławomir Idziak and scored by Zbigniew Preisner. It was won the best European Film at the Goya awards. In a Washington Post review Desson Howe wrote that in the film
the rehabilitation of a human spirit after painful tragedy is given stunning, aesthetic dimension. A story about a woman (Juliette Binoche) who loses her family in a car crash, this Polish-French production is also a spectral array of blues – cold, heart-chilling and beautiful.
Three Colours: Blue is screened on the 16th of May.
Other films screened as part of the retrospective include Blind Chance (18th of April), A short film about killing (25th of April) and A short film about love (9th of May).
Screenings take place on Thursdays on the first floor of Mid-Manhattan Library starting on the 11th of April, 2012 for Films of Krzysztof Kieślowski.
All screenings are free and seating is first-come, first-served. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, see: bit.ly/kieslowski-nypl