The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski: Perfection and Chance

Abstract

This article looks into the essence of the work of Polish director Krzystof Kieslowski (Warsaw, 1941–1996) and his scriptwriter Krzystof P isiewick (Warsaw, 1945). Their cinematography rests on two pillars, which paradoxi cally are confronted: Perfection and Chance or random events. Both pillars have a be aring on common lives in the Western world. The pressure exerted on man by the f irst pillar is countered by the lightness of the second one. Kieslowski ́s cinematog raphy reflects his own views on European society and this very approach separates h im from the frivolity and banality of postmodern cinema, characterized by the sterility and mechanization of cinematographic language. Kieslowski ́s solitary con finement and artistic isolation has given us a product that is a key element in cin ematography as we know it. Kieslowski and Pisiewick created a work that helps us understand our own very self.