KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI: I'M SO-SO
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
Denmark/Poland, 1995 Running Length: 0:56 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Nothing offensive) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Shown at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, 5/1/97, 5/6/97, &=20 5/11/97
Cast: Krzysztof Kieslowski Director: Krzysztof Wierzbicki Producer: Karen Hjort Cinematography: Jacek Petrycki Music: Zbigniew Preisner In Polish with subtitles
On March 13, 1996, the self-effacing Polish film maker, Krzysztof=20 Kieslowski, died of heart failure in a Warsaw hospital. The film world=20 mourned, especially when it was revealed that Kieslowski, who had been=20 retired since the completion of RED in 1994, was contemplating a return=20 to work with a new trilogy of films about heaven, hell, and limbo. What=20 we are left with in the wake of the director's passing, however is an=20 extraordinary r=E9sum=E9 that includes such memorable features as CAMERA=20 BUFF, DECALOGUE, THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE, and the THREE COLORS=20 trilogy (BLUE, WHITE, RED). Less than a year before his death,=20 Kieslowski agreed to be the subject of a short documentary by his long- time assistant, Krzysztof Wierzbicki. The hour long film, which was=20 made for Danish television, featured Kieslowski's recollections of his=20 life and movies, along with several candid shots of the director=20 relaxing and enjoying his retirement. What was initially intended as a=20 fairly inconsequential interview unwittingly turned into a remarkable=20 tribute. =20
Does I'M SO-SO offer any new insights into the director's psyche? =20 It does, even for those who have poured over his autobiography,=20 KIESLOWSKI ON KIESLOWSKI. During the course of one hour, there's hardly=20 any topic that goes untouched by Kieslowski, which speaks highly not=20 only of the subject of the film, but of the interviewer, Wierzbicki. =20 Kieslowski has always shunned the spotlight (preferring to "sit in a=20 dark room and smoke"), so it's a credit to this film's director that he=20 was able to present such a candid and moving portrait.
Kieslowski confesses that because he knows Wierzbicki (as well=20 several other men in the crew), "We can discuss=85 meaningful and personal= =20 topics." He goes on to talk about, in some detail, his philosophy of=20 documentary film making. After saying that he made documentaries --=20 movies about "people who lead real lives" -- to describe the world that=20 we live in, Kieslowski goes on to reveal a series of stringent=20 guidelines that he followed. For example, he believes that everyone is=20 entitled to their privacy and certain things should not be photographed=20 for the screen. "Can you film a real death and use it as a=20 documentary?" he asks. It's meant to be a redundant question.=20
Admitting that he turned the camera on himself in every picture=20 that he made (like the protagonist in CAMERA BUFF at the movie's end),=20 Kieslowski never saw himself as anything more than a film director with=20 a bleak view of the world. "I have only one good characteristic. I'm a=20 pessimist=85 The future is a black hole." He also doesn't claim to have=20 the answers to the questions posed by his films, saying that "Knowing is=20 not my business, not knowing is." And he indicates that he believes all=20 interpretations of his films to be valid, stating that he made movies so=20 that everyone could take something different from them.
I'M SO-SO presents a broad overview of Kieslowski's career, zeroing=20 in on a few select films for more in-depth discussion. These are: =20 1980's TALKING HEADS ("an experiment"), 1976's THE CALM, 1979's CAMERA=20 BUFF ("the film shows the camera's power"), 1981's BLIND CHANCE, 1988's=20 DECALOGUE ("we wanted to brush up those 10 well-written sentences"), and=20 1994's RED. At one point, Kieslowski also reveals that he once met an=20 Italian man who had experienced something very similar to the story=20 presented in THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE.
The title comes from Kieslowski's belief that people should not lie=20 about how they're feeling just for the sake of polite conversation. As=20 a result, when someone asks him how he's doing, instead of replying=20 "Well" or "Very well", he says "I'm so-so." In truth, however, there's=20 nothing "so-so" about this particular motion picture. KRZYSZTOF=20 KIESLOWSKI: I'M SO-SO is a striking picture of an extraordinary man who=20 made some of the most powerful films of the last two decades. This=20 movie will live alongside the director's body of work as an important=20 and informative companion piece.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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