NO END
(BEZ KONCA)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
Poland, 1984 Running Length: 1:47 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Mature themes, sex, nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Cast: Grazyna Szapolowska, Maria Pakulnis, Aleksander Bardini,=20 Jerzy Radziwillowicz, Artur Barcis Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski Producer: Ryszard Chutkowski Screenplay: Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz Cinematography: Jacek Petrycki Music: Zbigniew Preisner U.S. Distributor: New Yorker Films In Polish with subtitles
NO END, the first collaboration between writer-director Krzysztof=20 Kieslowski and lawyer-turned-screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, takes=20 place in a Poland that is under the cloud of martial law. More than any=20 of the director's other internationally-screened features, this one=20 requires some (however rudimentary) knowledge of the political situation=20 in Poland during the early-to-mid eighties. Martial law was declared in=20 late 1981, and, in the resulting climate of uncertainty and tension, the=20 courts began to pass two-to-three year sentences on anyone caught=20 painting graffiti, found in possession of an underground newspaper,=20 breaking curfew, or participating in strikes or other resistance=20 activities. One of Kieslowski's objectives in NO END was to explore=20 potential ramifications of this situation from a noncritical=20 perspective.=20
Although NO END garnered Kieslowski more overseas recognition that=20 he had attained for CAMERA BUFF, things weren't as pleasant at home. =20 According to the director, this film was not at all well-received during=20 its initial run. Discussing the Polish reaction to NO END, he said, "It=20 was received terribly by the authorities; it was received terribly by=20 the opposition, and it was received terribly by the Church. Meaning, by=20 the three powers that be in Poland. We really got a thrashing over it. =20 Only one element didn't give us a thrashing, and that was the audience=85=20 they went to see it=85 Never in my life have I received as many letters or= =20 phone calls about a film=85 And all of them, in fact -- I didn't get a=20 single bad letter or call -- said that I'd spoken the truth about=20 martial law. That that was the way they experienced it, that's what it=20 was like."
NO END is really three stories in one, all of which revolve around=20 people connected to a lawyer, Antoni Zyro (Jerzy Radziwillowicz), who=20 dies just before the film begins. There's Ulla (Grazyna Szapolowska,=20 who later appeared in DECALOGUE 6, A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE), the=20 lawyer's widow. Only after his death does she realize how much she=20 loved her husband and how little meaning her life has without him. The=20 there's Dariusz (Artur Barcis), Antoni's client, who has been jailed for=20 leading a labor strike. After Antoni's death, Dariusz is forced to=20 employ an older, more cautious lawyer (Aleksander Bardini), who believes=20 in compromising with the state to obtain a lenient sentence. Finally,=20 there's the ghost of Antoni, who silently haunts his friends and family,=20 watching as they continue their lives.
Pre-echoes of BLUE abound in this film. Ulla's grief over her=20 husband's death is like Julie's in the 1993 feature. Both women=20 discover their husbands' secrets, and both turn to available men for=20 sexual satisfaction. Adding to the similarities, Zbigniew Preisner's=20 haunting score for NO END can be heard often during BLUE as a=20 composition by "Van Den Budenmayer". However, while Ulla's story is NO=20 END's most powerful element, the emotional impact here is less than what=20 Kieslowski achieved with the first installment of his THREE COLORS=20 trilogy.
From a purely intellectual perspective, Dariusz's story is probably=20 the most intriguing. His dilemma is simple: accept his new lawyer's=20 strategy of compromise and go free, or retrain his integrity and go to=20 prison. Dariusz agonizes over the choice. He has a wife and child to=20 feed -- something he can't do if he's in jail. Yet he believes=20 passionately in the rights of the workers and the unfairness of martial=20 law, and it makes him feel like a fraud to consider "selling out." =20 Kieslowski carefully balances both sides of the predicament, presenting=20 them to the audience almost as if asking us to render a verdict. In the=20 end, Dariusz' decision is perhaps inevitable, but it gives him no joy. =20 Kieslowski uses this sort of ethical and/or moral dilemma frequently in=20 his movies. CAMERA BUFF, BLIND CHANCE, and DECALOGUE all explore=20 similar situations.
The metaphysical element of NO END, while intriguing in concept,=20 doesn't work all that well on screen. We never get much sense for what=20 Antoni's ghost is feeling. He's only in four scenes, and remains=20 something of an enigma -- an impotent watcher who occasionally attempts=20 to communicate with the living by leaving unexpected signs. Kieslowski=20 uses Antoni's ghost as a metaphor for the average person constrained by=20 martial law -- possessing a clear conscience yet unable to do anything=20 to affect change.
The three motifs of NO END frequently cross and occasionally=20 entwine. Kieslowski doesn't always handle these interconnections well;=20 in fact, there are times when the different stories mesh clumsily. =20 Nevertheless, the film is so packed with ideas that there's never any=20 shortage of material worth pondering, and Ulla's emotional torment=20 touches the heart. Even though elements of the whole don't blend=20 seamlessly, NO END still leaves a lasting impression. Looking back on=20 the full body of Kieslowski's films, NO END can be viewed as an=20 important entry, because, despite its flaws, we can observe embryonic=20 forms of several themes that the director explored more fully in=20 DECALOGUE and THREE COLORS. Thus, NO END functions both as a compliment=20 and a precursor to the director's most lasting works.
Kieslowski quotes are from KIESLOWSKI ON KIESLOWSKI, Faber and Faber,=20 1993. - James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews