I’m sure I wrote a good review of this movie in a different timeline.

Maybe I got into a car accident, head on collision, slammed my head into the steering wheel. I went into a coma, woke up 4 years later, ate through a straw for a month, re-learned to read and write, became incredibly proficient as a writer, fell in love with my nurse (who’s probably also a model), then rediscovered my love of cinema after scrolling through TV channels and watching Elf. After dedicating the next ten years of my life to watching film, I discover this film yet again, and pour my heart and soul into writing the letterboxd diary entry, perhaps using fancy words, descriptive allegories,…

Before I talk about another Kieslowski classic, I'd just like to ask a quick question to anybody who has seen the following of his films. But I was just wondering what would be the best way to do this: should I watch A Short Film about Killing and A Short Film about Love before or after The Decalogue?

Now, Blind Chance is quite a strong example of Kieslowski's minimalist style getting stretched out as far as possible. In his colors-trilogy he already did this masterfully in both the visual aspects (the colors) and the substance (the three political ideals of France). In his 1987 feature he dissects the possible outcomes of chance with a man on his way to catch…

"Every generation craves for light. It needs reassurance and faith... in a better, more just path." -Werner,

- Krzysztof Kieślowski Ranked: boxd.it/9adnu

To be, or not to be... a Communist.

A man tries to catch a train by running for it. Kieślowski then offers three possible timelines that could result from the attempt to catch the train in order to show how such a seemingly insignificant event can dramatically alter a life. I love a story about the intersection of politics and love and I love a romantic concept like chance so even the description of this film gets high marks for me. Add Kieślowski's mastery of the camera and you have a very special film.

I love the direction…

Written and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Blind Chance is a thought-provoking masterpiece that ponders on that split second that can change anyone's course of life. In any given moment, when presented with alternate scenarios, we may sometimes wonder if things had been different had we chosen another course of action. Blind Chance offers an intricate foresight into a three-way branch of one man's life-altering decision, and the domino effect is has on the future of his life.

Kieślowski has plenty to say on the politics of the time, which is why the film was so butchered on its original release. Criterion gracefully assisted in restoring many of the lost segments, allowing modern audiences to see, almost in its entirety, what…

Criterion Collection Spine #772
(Foreign language film)

Have you ever considered that the entire course of your life could have pivoted based on the events of a single moment?

"It's for the 10th July, but my wife's birthday is on the 9th ... and I'd like to go a day or two later ... I love my wife very much ... There's a connection on the 11th via Paris."

From the Director of 'The Three Colors trilogy', Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blind Chance tells a multiple versions story of a young Polish man's life, with how the result of a fateful attempt to catch a train was able to splinter the course of his life into three possible directions. This was another…

Blind Chance

“I still think that, together with Munk’s Bad Luck and Zanussi’s Illumination, Blind Chance belongs to our most important achievements of intellectual cinema.”
Tadeusz Sobolewski

“All my films, from the first to the most recent ones, are about individuals who can't quite find their bearings, who don't quite know how to live, who don't really know what's right or wrong and are desperately looking.”
Krzysztof Kieślowski

Blind Chance was Kieślowski’s fourth fictional feature film, and he wanted to explore the formation of individual values amidst the landscape of contemporary Polish society and politics. Production began in 1981 during a period free of censorship in Soviet-occupied Poland, and compared to Western filmmaking: profit was not the ultimate goal because…

The alternate paths/timelines/futures story is one that I remain skeptical about. I don't dislike it, but it has to be done extremely well for me to enjoy it. Often they hinge on small moments, trying to show how those moments have ripple effects that alter our lives. While this is not wholly untrue, part of me keeps screaming in the back of my head about how every small moment is built upon other small moments before it, and why choose just that one? I dislike the way such stories tend to defeat themselves with a narrow scope.

Kieslowski's doesn't really win me over in that regard either. His vision of this plot is pessimistic--Witek doesn't really fare well no matter…

Quite an influential film it seems (Sliding Doors, Run Lola Run anybody?), it's just a shame that the film gets bogged down in a blend of Polish political jargon and happenstance. Quite a slog to wade through and not really inspiring any real sense of wonder.

The concept of three separate timelines in which our protagonist Widek experiences different fates and consequences is a bold idea, and even more bold is it to not interweave but to tell each story separately. The first story takes up the bulk of the film whereas the other two 'rewinds' are less fleshed out, all three timelines see Widek adopt different political and relationship allegiances. The performances are cold and reflective of the Polish…

#CriterionChallenge2021 No. 16 - 1980s

Having seen several Krzysztof Kieślowski flicks at this point, I knew there would be some sort of framing device, and I knew that connections would become more clear as it played out, but for some reason I was sort of grumpy and impatient through the first hour while I waited for it to make sense. I think it's because I went in with an expectation that it was going to have some sort of "gimmick" that I was just waiting for it to reveal itself and it took a good while to do so.

While I really do like his movies quite a bit, I do want to see one that doesn't straight up have…

One of the most striking openings I have ever seen. Really shocking. You know when a Kieślowski is not going to be a happy experience from the very start!

I have loved 'Three Colours: Blue' (I have, shamefully, yet to see the other two) and 'A Short Film About Killing', but the opening 20 minutes of 'Blind Chance' reminded me of my difficulty in really getting into 'The Double Life of Veronique', which I think inadvertently put me off watching his films for a while. The music was beautiful, but there was a little too much going on for me to become invested in Witek's story.

The concept of the film is fascinating, however: Witek runs to catch a train…

After watching The Double Life of Véronique and knowing I would be interested in a handful of additional Krzysztof Kieślowski films, I decided to start with this pre-/early-prime work with an interesting concept at its heart. I love how Kieślowski clearly has interest in considering these philosophical values and directly captures them in his writing and directing. 

The premise does not disappoint, with an interesting set of narratives from a broad perspective. However, I found the individual narratives surprisingly difficult to follow, both because of the timeline-jumping structure (in which Christina and I both thought the movie was jumping timelines when it actually was not – there is an odd lack of scene-to-scene continuity at times) as well as its…