SARA REVELL

94033920@94.humber.ac.uk

UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLNSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE

DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA

MEDIA REPORT 1998

AN ANALYSIS OF HOW THE METAPHYSICAL IS

CREATED THROUGH THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IN
KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKIS THREE COLOURS TRILOGY

SARA REVELL
BA (Hons) European Audio-Visual Production

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURE ONE Photographs by Krzysztof Kieslowski

Ed. D Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski.
London.
1995. P.47

FIGURE TWO Julie behind a hospital door

Three Colours : Blue. 1993

FIGURE THREE Anna behind the rear windscreen

Three Colours : Blue. 1993

FIGURE FOUR The car crash

Three Colours : Blue. 1993

FIGURE FIVE Julie in the hospital room

Three Colours : Blue. 1993

FIGURE SIX Julie behind the blue chandelier

Three Colours : Blue. 1993

FIGURE SEVEN Karols credit card is destroyed

Three Colours : White. 1993

FIGURE EIGHT Karol sees the white porcelain bust

Three Colours : White. 1993

FIGURE NINE Auguste sees the poster of Valentine

Three Colours : Red. 1994

FIGURE TEN The final image of Valentine

Three Colours : Red. 1994
INTRODUCTION

European cinema has undergone tremendous change during the 1990s

due to the fact that the fall of communism in Eastern Europe allowed a
greater number of film directors to work more freely in Western
Europe. Amongst this emergence of talent came Krzysztof Kieslowski,
a Polish documentary and feature film director. Kieslowski moved to
France to film his final work, the Three Colours trilogy. Ironically,
the
end of Communism forced him into Western Europe because it was the
only way he could get sufficient funding for his films, but the
European
aspect enriched his perspective of film making, enabling him to
collaborate with some of Frances most talented actors.

The Three Colours: Blue, White and Red take place in France, Poland
and Switzerland respectively but it was not the political or
geographical
plane that interested Kieslowski. It was the human one. Kieslowskis
untimely death in March, 1996 is still recent enough for people to
make
the analogy between his life and his films. The idea of human life
being governed by fate and external forces is one Kieslowski played
with in many of his feature films. The credibility of the
metaphysical
within his films could be treated with scepticism but Kieslowski
seldom deals with extraordinary characters. His work as a
documentary film maker taught him that real people are often a lot
more intriguing and that interest can be manifested from the seemingly
ordinary.

In the following chapters I intend to look at how Kieslowski created

this other world within his films and how with the cinematographers
who worked alongside him, he introduced his audience to the emotions
of the protagonists.

The first chapter will serve as a background to Kieslowskis life and

career, discussing some of the events in his childhood and adolescence
that had a particularly significant effect on him. His rather modest
upbringing was later reflected in his films as he strove to portray
truth,
something that contravened the socialist realism doctrines spawned by
Stalin. He disliked the glamour associated with the film industry and
resented the publicity brought on by the success of his later films.

The second chapter leads on to Kieslowskis time at film school in

Lodz, where he began his career as a documentary filmmaker. Despite
working through the politically turbulent post-war Poland, Kieslowski
was able to direct some important films. His early documentaries were
also an important link to the characters created for his feature
films. In
particular, No End and Decalogue can be noted for the cinematography
styles which attempt to create a metaphysical plane.

Finally, chapter three discusses how the cinematography generates the

notion of a metaphysical aspect within Three Colours: Blue, White and
Red. It clarifies how Kieslowski and his cinematographers drew on
their wealth of experience and knowledge to create three visually
stimulating films. I hope to reveal how Kieslowski created this other
plane whilst analysing how he was able to present the three major
themes of liberty, equality and fraternity through the use of colour,
lighting and framing. The importance of this being that he
simultaneously entertained the notion that in todays society, all
three
are unobtainable. Kieslowskis films have a place in contemporary
society because of this contradiction. We may speak of liberation and
equality but can we ever really attain it and more importantly, would
we ever want to? By looking at Kieslowskis films, I will attempt to
uncover the reality behind the appearances.

CHAPTER ONE

Krzysztof Kieslowski was born in June, 1941 in Warsaw. Although

there are no records of where his family were during the Second World
War they left Poland returning a few years later to live in the
Regained
Territories 1 which is where his sister was born in 1944. For the
next
twelve years, Kieslowski and his family travelled around Poland
between sanatorium towns where his father was treated for
tuberculosis. But Kieslowski regretted the brevity of his
relationship
with his parents, especially his father. My father eventually died
of
TB.... He had been ill for twenty years and I suspect he didnt want
to
live any longer. 2 His father was forty-seven when he died.
Kieslowski reflected upon how he probably died an unfulfilled man,
both professionally and emotionally because he was never able to
properly support his family. Having to spend so much time away from
his own wife and daughter, Kieslowski was able to relate to his
fathers
frustration on a personal level as well as an artistic one. The
premature
loss of a relation is explored quite explicitly in No End and Blue
although the tragedy of death also surfaces in Decalogue 1 and The
Double Life of Veronique. It is interesting to see how Kieslowski
only
really confronted this theme in his later feature films. It may have
been
an indication of how deeply his fathers death affected him that he
felt
unable to approach it earlier on, but Blue is a good indication in
itself
of how death can affect the individual. For Julie, the protagonist in
Blue, the hardest part was allowing herself to mourn the loss of her
family. For those who have never experienced this, Blue is an
interesting example of how long it can take before you even start to
grieve. It is people and relationships that Kieslowski believes his
films deal with, not the politics which have so often overrun the
lives
of Polish people.

During World War Two and the six years of occupation, Polish people
stopped going to the cinema to avoid the disturbances provoked by
special groups who released gases into the auditoriums. The
Propaganda Department of the Polish Underground persuaded people
to boycott the cinemas in order to prevent the Germans from making
any money or indoctrinating Poles with their own propaganda. 3
Subsequently, Polish cinema boomed after the war and people crowded
to see films. Kieslowski was seven years old when he was taken to see
his first film Fanfan la Tulipe, although he admits not being able to
remember anything whatsoever about the film. At this time,
Kieslowski lived in Sokotowsko in Lower Silesia, a sanatorium of
about one thousand inhabitants. The travelling cinema played at a
hall
in the town about once a week and not being able to afford the cinema
ticket, Kieslowski and his friends would climb upon the roof to try
and
see the screen through the ventilators. These vents were great to
spit
through, down at the audience. We were jealous that they could go to
the cinema and we couldnt. 4 The post war era produced many films
that went out to peoples hearts because the subject matter usually
concerned its audience and their own experiences. Andrzej Wadjas
Kanal for example, was important to the Varsovians. They could
directly relate to it because they too had endured the Warsaw Uprising
and people really had travelled through the sewer system and knew of
its dangers. Cinema became more and more a part of peoples lives so
it is not surprising that Kieslowski wanted to partake in it too.
At fifteen, Kieslowski had left school and had no intention of ever
returning. His father suggested he go to a firemans training
college.
My father knew perfectly well that when I got back from that
firemans training college Id want to study. 5 Kieslowski lasted
three
months at the training college before he returned home, desperate to
return to school. A distant uncle who happened to be the director of
the College for Theatre Technicians in Warsaw enabled Kieslowski to
carry on his education. Kieslowski described it as The best school
Ive ever been to..... They showed us that culture exists. 6 At
the
theatre college he was allowed to indulge his passions of reading and
visiting theatres and cinemas without having to worry about the
politics
and commerciality that later overshadowed his enjoyment of film
making. During his studies Kieslowski decided that he wanted to
become a theatre director. He was enchanted by this golden age of
Polish theatre which produced many talented directors, writers, actors
and designers. But to become a great director, Kieslowski had to
first
complete some form of higher studies so he decided to apply to the
Film School in Lodz. Why not study at film school to become a film
director, as a way to becoming a theatre director?7 But the tough
entry requirements meant that it took Kieslowski three years before he
was successfully admitted into the school. By the time Kieslowski
started at Lodz, he was disillusioned with the theatre, which by 1962
had come to the end of its beautiful period.

At Lodz, Kieslowski was able to make at least one film a year and
made both feature films and documentaries. He also discovered other
great directors, this time in cinema, and admired the intelligence and
imagination of Ken Loach, Orson Welles, Federico Fellini, Ingmar
Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky. It is possible to see how Julies
character in Blue is partly summed up by Eugenias line in
Tarkovskys Nostalgia:
Youre not free. You all seem to want freedom but when you
get it you dont know what to do with it or what it is.8

It may be purely coincidental that Kieslowski thought in the same vein

as Tarkovsky, but this alliance in their work may have been brought on
by the fact that they had both lived and worked under communist
regimes. People were encouraged to follow certain governmental rules
and regulations but all the while dreamt of democracy. Kieslowski
stated that Blue was about personal, not political freedom, but the
fact
that he lived through many different political climates must have
aroused an interest in him to investigate the possibility of total
freedom. This difficulty to define freedom and the impossibility to
attain it makes it an enigma, thus making Julies story in Blue all
the
more tragic. We know that eventually she will have to recognise her
predicament and admit that she too has feelings towards other people
and can therefore never be totally independent.

Kieslowski finished at Lodz in 1968. Whereas he had enjoyed

relatively few constraints, his successors had less and less artistic
freedom as the Communists set about throwing out Jewish teachers and
introducing new forms of censorship. They supported certain
movements in order to destroy those movements dedicated to the cause
of presenting the real world. Stalins socialist realism doctrine was
again put into practice during the 1970s so that only choice films
such
as literary adaptations could be made safely. 9 As the idea of any
independent Polish path to socialism was rejected by the Communist
government, so Kieslowski and his colleagues found themselves
becoming more involved with politics in order to defend their
profession. Kieslowskis only voluntary involvement was when he
worked as Wadjas vice-president, effectively working as acting
President of the Polish Film-makers Association from 1977 until 1980.
He disliked having to make compromises in the name of other people
and felt it both immoral and embarrassing. He realised then that he
did
not want to be responsible for others and that in the future he would
only compromise his own films and not other peoples work.

Kieslowskis aversion to political involvement became an important

facet to critics of his work.

While he claimed to despise politics, his films are about the

relationship between how people live, who they are and the world they
inhabit, which to me is the
essence of politics. 10

It seems that the politics of Kieslowskis films are incidental. In

the
time he was making films in Poland it was practically impossible to
avoid criticism or censorship from the government, the opposition or
the church. The Stalinist regime had forced film makers to work
through metaphor in a way that they could still be understood by the
audiences.

Politics were just a backdrop - he was interested in human voice and

moral complications, the drama of duty and weakness, the fight for
human dignity. 11
Kieslowskis early documentary work brought him into contact with
people who did not lead extraordinary lives but were interesting
nonetheless and it is this emotional and psychological layer within
human beings which is most often brought out in the characters of
Kieslowskis feature films. Julie in Blue suffers the internal battle
of
duty and weakness as she fights to erase the memory of her dead
husband and daughter whilst trying to remain strong and independent
throughout. The fight for human dignity is explored in White with
Karol trying to restore his own after being spurned and shamed by his
wife, Dominique. Moral complications arise in most films but they are
investigated in greater depth in The Decalogue and also in Red, as we
hear the various dilemmas going on in the lives of Joseph Kerns
neighbours. It is not surprising that Kieslowski was so interested in
these issues. Roman Polanski also tended towards philosophy and
human psychology in his work and was noted by colleagues for his
concern with visual realisation of theme, emotion and idea. 12
However, Polanski was more preoccupied with evil in the forms of
rape, personal pleasure and victimisation in the world. Although
Kieslowskis films are less gruesome, these common themes could be
related directly to the political and social structures of Poland in
the
twentieth century. From the struggles and difficulties that the
Polish
people encountered in World War Two, it seems that the film makers
emerging from the post war generations developed a particular style of
their own. As children, both Polanski and Kieslowski escaped to the
cinema to avoid the pain of everyday life. Consequently, their films
are very sensitive to the fact that human beings are highly emotional
entities. I suspect that like Polanskis films, many of the underlying
tragedies in Kieslowskis work are real and relate to personal
experiences of life in Eastern Europe. This shared history sets them
apart from other film directors and in a sense, has probably created a
unique genre of cinema. The Poles have spent much of this century
struggling to maintain political independence and it seems that the
social situation in turn has spawned a generation of film makers who
were responsible for the conception of a Polish cinema. The great
Polish directors who preceded Kieslowski also fought to extricate
themselves from the socialist realism restrictions in order to portray
Poland and the heroism of ordinary people. Aleksander Ford was
criticised for his portrayal of five youths on probation for theft who
become successful and useful members of society in Five Boys from
Barska Street. The authorities disapproved of the idea of criminals
becoming heroes. The same idea is explored in Kieslowskis A Short
Film About Killing where one is forced to think about whether or not
the state should have the right to execute a murderer. It is a
controversial film that confronts peoples sympathies with the
criminal.
Directors like Ford, working in post-war Poland, faced periods of
great
changes influenced by the political climate but Polanski noted how:

They did their best to campaign for artistic originality and freedom,
standing up to party hacks and ministry bureaucrats at considerable
personal risk. 13

Their struggle should have made work easier for the directors of
Kieslowskis generation but even they were faced with partial and
total
censorship of their work if it dared oppose the government, or at the
start of the 1980s, the ideals of martial law. Throughout his
career,
Kieslowski was no stranger to censorship of his work, documentaries
and features alike. Even when he moved away from Poland to make
Three Colours he faced commercial censorship. Piotr Jaxa-
Kwiatkowski who worked as cinematographer on some of
Kieslowskis early documentaries expressed his preference of the
censorship in a communist Poland as opposed to the present day
commercial censorship. In their days at Lodz, financial support for
their work was never an issue. In 1956, when Wladyslaw Gomulka
was brought to power as Party Secretary, the film industry underwent
the reorganisation which resulted in the creation of the production
studios. The vetting stages of the screenplay and the final film was
a
process that film makers acquiesced to so that their own conceptions
would not be abandoned.

In Poland, like in other socialist countries, the cinemas are an

important instrument in the dissemination of culture, serving the
realisation of the indices for the cultural policy of the state.
14

Despite the stringency of the communist government, the availability

of financial backing enabled directors to produce some important
films.
They were important to the Polish people who found the socialist
realism themes to be unrealistically schematic and offensive. It was
then that new fiction and documentary cinema styles emerged,
addressing historical, philosophical and psychological themes. But
the
films produced by these Polish directors were also exceptional in that
Communist censorship forced them to work through metaphor. In
essence, the overall social and political attitudes helped shape
contemporary Polish film making because the personal experiences of
directors such as Kieslowski, Polanski and Wadja allowed them a more
subjective viewpoint. For example, Karol Karol in White is oppressed
and downtrodden by his French wife Dominique, but he is determined
to better himself. Karol could be seen as a metaphor for Poland
itself,
having been violated by neighbouring countries and only now really
able to start rebuilding itself. In Kieslowskis later feature films
it is
fascinating to see how many of these themes and ideas evolved from
his own upbringing and experiences in Poland.

CHAPTER TWO

Kieslowskis documentary period began at the film school in Lodz. It

was not until 1981, some twelve years later that he decided to stop
making them altogether. Kieslowskis graduating film was entitled
From the City of Lodz and was literally a portrait of the city and its
people. Even before this film, Kieslowski was photographing the
people he saw in Lodz.

Old people, contorted people staring out into the distance, dreaming
or thinking of how it could have been, yet reconciled to how things
were. 15 [FIGURE 1]

This idea manifests itself in Blue. Although Julie is trying to

escape
her past, you cannot help thinking that she still dreams of how her
life
could have been. Near the start of the film we see Julie hide behind
a
hospital door, her face framed by a pane of reinforced glass. [FIGURE
2] Kieslowskis early photographs, framing people and faces
through
windows adds a touch of vulnerability to its subjects. They are all
peering out into the world, not quite sure whether it is safe to come
out.
Lodz had only been slightly damaged by the Second World War and as
no renovations had been carried out, the city was in a very poor
condition. The state of Lodz must have had some sort of effect on
its
inhabitants; even in these photographs, the people look lost.

All my films, from the first to the most recent ones are about
individuals who cant quite find their bearings, who dont quite know
how to live, who dont know whats right or wrong and are desperately
looking. 16

Although Kieslowski moved to France to make the Three Colours

trilogy, he never gave up his home in Poland. This description of his
characters could have been applied to the Polish people themselves.
It
is impossible to imagine what the Polish nation had to endure in World
War Two through six years of brutal destruction by German and
Russian occupants. In nearly every family there is as least one
person
who died in battle, was executed, or perished in a concentration
camp.
17 It would be no wonder that the Polish people felt unsure of how to
live, not knowing what was right or wrong, having been wronged
themselves for many years by other countries. In 1970, Kieslowski
made a documentary in Warsaw that dealt with former soldiers who
had lost their sight during World War Two. Kieslowski appealed to the
emotional side by asking them to talk to the camera about their
dreams.
Dreams and visions are an important facet in Kieslowskis work and
often add the metaphysical layers to his feature films that I shall be
discussing when looking at the Three Colours trilogy.

It was not until 1978, in his documentary From A Night Porters Point
of View, did Kieslowski try to manipulate his films for artistic
purposes. He used an East German film stock called Orwo film to
exaggerate the colours, thus creating the desired effect of a visual
distortion of the world. The protagonist was meant to be a
distortion
of a
human being and Kieslowski wanted the colour to accentuate the
grotesqueness of the world around him. 18 Although this was a
documentary film, it displayed Kieslowskis early fascination to
experiment with colour in order to exaggerate certain characters and
themes. The cinematography in his later feature films also
demonstrated how effectively colour and lighting can be manipulated,
but in this earlier film it is interesting to see how Kieslowski was
intent
on painting such a sullied picture of Poland. It appears to have been
an
effort to heighten the reality of the degenerated environment in which
he was living and working at the time. This is something repeated in
Decalogue and White. When Karol fights his way out of a telephone
booth or buys a corpse on the black market, they are symbolic of the
dysfunctional state of Poland. Due to the ongoing political problems,
Kieslowski was aware that his country was falling further into chaos
and disrepair and chose to show this in his films simply because the
normality of the situation was unavoidable.

Kieslowskis first long film was Personnel (1975), which dealt with
the
life of a young man who comes to work as a tailor at the opera. The
story bears a strong resemblance to Kieslowskis own experience of
working in the theatre and having his dreams of glamour and beauty
shattered.

Theatre and opera are always a metaphor for life. Its obvious that
the
film was about how we cant really find a place for ourselves in
Poland. That our dreams and ideas about some ideal reality always
clash somewhere along the line with something thats incomparably
shallower and more wretched. 19

Throughout his career, Kieslowski defended himself against the use of

metaphor within his films saying that it was the spectator who created
the metaphors, but in Personnel it was natural that he should want to
juxtapose theatre and life. Seeing behind the scenes in a theatre is
like
a stage in growing up and realising how things really function and
that
everything is not as magical as we may have believed. The tailor in
Personnel could therefore be regarded as an early incarnation of the
protagonists within Three Colours. They all have their own ideal
realities shattered because they are exposed to the pain that human
relationships can bring. This detail could be seen as characteristic
of
Kieslowskis feature films because losing his father early on in his
life
and being deprived of this relationship affected him until his own
death.

Witold Stok, the cinematographer on Personnel remarked on how

Kieslowski still wanted to retain a documentary style for Personnel:

Although it was supposedly his first feature.... Krzysztof had this

idea
of a documentary look, he wanted hand-held camera, even in quite
static situations. 20

The fact that Kieslowski was still primarily a documentary film maker
must have influenced the cinematography style in his early feature
films. It is interesting how he exercised more control over the look
of
his films at this time. Later on he relied a lot more on his lighting
cameramen and gave them greater artistic freedom. The result of this,
especially in Three Colours, are three films loaded with signs and
symbols which direct the viewer towards the possibilities of
coincidence and fate. In Personnel, Kieslowski had to use the theatre
to show how Polish people were disillusioned with their lives.
Censorship prevented him from directly criticising the political
situation, which was increasingly responsible for the general
depression
and dissatisfaction. His later films still fell foul of the censors
but
because of his familiarity and the necessity of working through
metaphor, the creation of metaphysical layers became inherent in many
of Kieslowskis subsequent films.

In 1981, just before the introduction of martial law, Kieslowski was

in
the final stages of editing Blind Chance and Short Working Day. Blind
Chance was remarkable because it addressed the idea of fate, a theme
that fascinated Kieslowski. It certainly had an impact on Polish
audiences who realised the great significance of accidents and the
fact
that many things are beyond human control.21 The story line dealt
with
three possible endings, three different outcomes. Kieslowski called
it a
description of the inner world. The conception of looking within his
characters and into the powers which meddle with fate is one that he
considered later on in Red.22 We are bombarded with an intricate
system of events and array of symbols which makes Valentines life
seem pre destined from the outset. The feeling is that Kieslowski has
manipulated scenes more than he would want us to believe. Valentine
only has one ending to her story but any alternative that could have
been suggested would have been unsatisfactory. The camera
movements, the framing, the props, everything points to a future that
has already been decided. But Blind Chance is an experiment of this
idea. Kieslowski liked the idea that we are all governed by fate and
every day we make decisions that could dramatically change our lives.

The opportunity to make choices was something that became rather

difficult for Polish people with the imposition of martial law on
December 12, 1981. In reaction to the waves of strikes in October of
the same year, troops began the dissolution of occupations and
strikes.
Solidarity was banned, civil liberties were suspended and union
leaders
were arrested.23 According to Krzysztof Zanussi, martial law was
most significant to Kieslowski not as a political experience, but as
aesthetic and moral because people showed their true colours. The
measures solved nothing as it became clear that nobody in Poland was
prepared to sacrifice themselves or even fight for the cause in which
they believed. The state of martial law was lifted in 1983 and during
this time, Kieslowski had been working on his film No End. After
giving up on a project to make a film about the law courts, he struck
on
an idea to make a film that would capture the atmosphere of the
courtrooms but would also address the loss of hope and energy that
that
people had felt during the period of martial law. No End was an
important project because it marked the beginning of the collaboration
between Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, a young defence lawyer
during the early 1980s. Piesiewicz went on to co-write the
screenplays
for the rest of Kieslowskis feature films but for their first film
together, his knowledge meant that he was able to contribute more in
creating the atmosphere and goings on in the law courts. The other
significant thread within this film is that Kieslowski addresses the
metaphysical. The story deals with Antek (a dead lawyer) and his
widow. Then theres the most metaphysical part... the signs which
emanate from the man whos not there anymore, towards all that hes
left behind. 24 No End begins just after the young mans death and
during the film it is suggested that he has been reincarnated as a
black
Labrador. We see the dog waiting for Anteks son outside the school,
like a dutiful parent. Later on, an old judge is introduced to us as
Anteks tutor. His name is Labrador. Just the name Labrador tells us
that perhaps there is a form of wisdom to be found within a dog, in
particular the black Labrador who, if he is a reincarnation of Antek,
could be seen as a shadow of the old judge. There is an interesting
passage in No End where Labrador is speaking of Antek:

Evidence was beneath him. So were politics.

Hed appeal to peoples consciences, even their emotions. 25

This would be an appropriate description of Kieslowskis approach to

documentary film making, but it is intriguing to look at the leading
characters within his feature films and remark upon how this could
also
be said of them. Despite the importance of the metaphysical concept,
Kieslowski did not feel that it worked within No End. However, these
ideas were again precursory to Kieslowskis final films, especially
Blue, where the narrative also deals with a woman trying to come to
terms with the loss of her husband.

The ideas within these earlier films obviously inspired Kieslowski and
Piesiewicz in writing possibly their finest films together. The
problems
of having too many subplots in No End were tidied up so that for each
episode within Decalogue, there was one clear driving force, meaning
that more attention could be given to the cinematography. Decalogue
is a series of ten, one hour television films, loosely based upon the
Ten
Commandments. It concentrates on the inhabitants of a large housing
estate in Warsaw and was an examination of what was going on inside
the characters. Part five (which was made into the feature length A
Short Film About Killing) was the directors third collaboration with
Slawomir Idziak. Idziak put green filters on the camera so that the
world of the killer became crueller, duller and emptier. In contrast
to
this, when Idziak worked on The Double Life of Veronique, he used a
golden yellow filter to make the world appear more beautiful than it
really is. Kieslowski commented that the warmth portrayed emanated
from the actress (Irene Jacob) rather than the hues but I would be
inclined to disagree. The moment where we see Veronique stop to feel
the sunlight on her face is like the moment in Blue when Julie is sat
on
a park bench, bathing her face in the warm glow of the suns rays.
[FIGURE 3] Both women momentarily shut out the rest of the world
and the halo of golden yellow light on their faces gives the
impression
that they are mentally in a more beautiful place.

Kieslowski used a different cinematographer for each episode of

Decalogue (with the exception of Piotr Sobocinski who made parts
three and nine) so that each story would be narrated in a slightly
different style. I gave my lighting cameramen a tremendous amount
of freedom. Each one could decide how and where he put the camera,
how to use it, how to operate it. 26

This system also worked for Kieslowskis last work, the Three Colours
trilogy. The idea for Blue, White and Red came from Piesiewicz but in
choosing three lighting cameramen, Kieslowski realised that he needed
three people who knew how things worked in the west. The trilogy
was filmed on location in France, Poland and Switzerland. This
decision was heavily influenced by economic reasons but it was a
contingency that worked in Kieslowskis favour. In the end,
Kieslowski worked with Slawomir Idziak, Edward Klosinski and Piotr
Sobocinski on Blue, White and Red respectively. All three
cinematographers had worked on Decalogue and their work on the
trilogy helped create what was esteemed by many to be Kieslowskis
finest work.

CHAPTER THREE

The Three Colours trilogy was an exercise into understanding how the
three words liberty, equality and fraternity function in todays
world.
Having covered the Ten Commandments in Decalogue, Kieslowski and
Piesiewicz were intrigued as to how these three concepts had been
implemented in the western world. But Kieslowski was not concerned
with looking at them from a political standpoint. Once again, the
ideas
were explored through people and relationships.

The three films can be viewed together or separately, although they do

follow an order of Blue, White then Red. Red ties up all three films,
bringing together all the main characters in its closing scenes. In
Blue,
the protagonist is a young widow named Julie. The story takes us from
the car crash that kills her husband and daughter up to the point
where
she seems to finally accept what has happened. For the rest of the
film
Julie fights to extricate herself from everything and everyone that
reminds her of her former life. Finally, she realises that total
freedom
is unobtainable and in a way she releases herself from her self
imposed
isolation and learns to grieve. In White, the protagonist is Karol
Karol,
a polish hairdresser married to Dominique, a beautiful, enigmatic
Parisian. In the opening scenes, the couple are in the law courts,
with
Dominique filing for divorce on the grounds that Karol has been unable
to consummate their marriage. Left destitute by his wife, Karol makes
his way back to Poland where, while staying with his brother, he
builds
himself back up into a successful and wealthy businessman. He wants
to get even with Dominique and although he achieves this, we see by
the end of the film that the couple are still in love. Red is set in
Geneva
and deals with the relationship between Valentine and Joseph Kern, a
retired judge she meets after running over his dog. The film
concentrates on both characters relationships, past and present. The
way they disclose their lives to each other cements the relationship
and
had the judge been younger, one could believe that this would have
been a romantic liaison. At the end of Red we see Julie, Olivier
(Julies lover), Karol, Dominique, Valentine and Auguste (the young
judge) altogether. It is a gratifying finale to three films which are
so
rich with symbolic and metaphysical layers that they can be watched
time and time again so that each time you can discover something new.

The term metaphysical is usually defined as something supernatural,

abstract and visionary whilst metaphysics is the study of ultimate
reality.27 We rely on our five senses to tell us what is real and
what is
not, but the way something looks can be deceptive. Metaphysics
attempts to ascertain whether or not reality is just an appearance.
In his
studies, Peter Van Ingwagen concludes that:

The outcomes of our deliberations about what to do is undetermined

and that we nevertheless have a choice about the outcome of these
deliberations. 28

Perhaps with the exception of Red, I believe that this is how

Kieslowski would like us to feel about the protagonists in Three
Colours. In Blue, Julie makes a conscious decision to release herself
from all her past responsibilities. The fact that she faced this
decision
was brought on by the car crash that killed her husband and daughter.
The opening of Blue concentrates on the journey Julie is making with
her family. We see Annas (Julies daughter) face through the rear
windscreen, the amber tunnel lights reflected in the glass play around
the image of her face. [FIGURE 4] Throughout Blue, the dominant
filter colour Idziak used was, not surprisingly, blue. But as a
contrast,
amber and gold were used almost as frequently. Kieslowski wanted a
warm colour to make the blue more striking. The method of using
contrasting hues and light intensity was also used by Vittorio Storaro
on Apocalypse Now (1979). Storaro believed it to be the most
emotional film he worked on because he used the light to express the
mood, contrasting sharp with soft, natural with artificial and warm
with
cold. Later on, when Storaro worked on The Last Emperor (1987), he
saw the possibilities of making an analogy between life and light.
Orange, the colour of the family, warm and maternal, and green
signifying knowledge and wisdom were just two devices Storaro used.
29 Idziak and Kieslowski used light and colour in this way in Blue.

The opening scene to Blue is the only time we see Anna before she is
killed and the warm colour of the lights around her infers a sense of
security and well being. As the car stops by the road side, we see
break
fluid escaping from the underneath, so the initial appearance of Anna
being protected within her family is deceptive. They travel on with
no
knowledge of the fate that awaits them. In Red fate is positive
because
it brings Valentine and Joseph together into a fortuitous relationship
but in Blue fate is cruel and removes the two principal people in
Julies
life. Having lost both parents, Kieslowski regretted the fact that
people
often realise too late in life the importance of family. From the
limited
time he had with his parents, we can see how Kieslowski believes
Julies world would be completely destroyed after the accident. The
most poignant image of the opening sequence to Blue is that of the
car
crumpled against the tree. [FIGURE 5] It is a still, silent image.
The
gravity of the situation is brought home as Annas beach ball tumbles
out of the car and out of the frame, just at the time that Anna fell
out of
Julies life forever.

As Julie regains consciousness in hospital, she rejoins the world in a

haze of warm, straw coloured lights. The colours suggest life which
acts as a foil to the grey blue mist that hung above the car wreckage
in
the previous scene. We get our first glimpse of Julie, a green light
with
silhouetted trees is cast onto her pillows. [FIGURE 6] But we are
also
reminded of Idziaks cinematography in A Short Film About Killing
where his green filters were used to transport the audience into the
world of the killer. If the world in A Short Film About Killing
appeared bleak and cruel, the green backdrop in Julies hospital room
is just as ominous, even if the anterior lighting is a softer yellow.
Again it is the contrast of colour, cold and warm, that helps us
understand that whilst Julie is lucky to have survived the crash, she
will
soon be wishing that she too had died. Soon afterwards she attempts
suicide but unable to go through with it, decides to carry on living
as if
she has nothing. No contacts, no relationships and no
responsibilities.
It is fascinating how one cinematographer like Storaro can use green
to
signify wisdom when in another film, Idziak was able to use green as
the colour of death. However, death in Blue points towards freedom
for Julie whilst it held a more disconcerting countenance for Jacek,
the
murderer in A Short Film About Killing. It could be said that Jacek
sealed his own fate when he committed the crime of murder, but Julies
fate was not all her own making. Despite this, Kieslowski is able to
explore the notion of liberty through the way Julie reacts to the
circumstances surrounding her. He argued that attaining freedom is
totally unfeasible, an idea shared by P. F. Strawson: Due to mutual
human involvement and interaction, we experience emotions towards
other selves. 30 So although Julie abandons her home and all the
trappings of her past life, her idea of freedom is illusory because
she
still has conscious emotions.

The short music interludes throughout the film remind us (because of

the profound effect they have on Julie) of Patrice, Julies composer
husband, and also of Olivier, Julies lover, who decides to finish
Patrices concerto. It could be argued that the music is Julies main
link to her former life but there is also the matter of the blue
chandelier.
It is the only object she takes with her when she leaves the family
home. Before returning home from hospital, Julie leaves strict
instructions with her housekeepers to clear out the blue room (as it
is
known). It is uncertain as to whether or not this room belonged to
Anna although the way Julie reacts to the chandelier (the only item
that
remains in the room) is a fair indication that it did. Twice we see
Julie
walking around this object, her face stained by the reflections of the
blue crystals that hang down like huge tears on her face. [FIGURE 7]
This may signify the tears that Julie is unable to shed until the
final
moment of the film. But they also seem to signify the fragility of
life
and the blue blood that now lies in Annas veins. Julies first
reaction
to the mobile is to viciously rip out a handful of the glass beads,
but
subsequently it becomes a treasured souvenir that she takes with her
to
her new apartment. Like the dog in No End, the blue chandelier could
be seen as a device Kieslowski uses to suggest that Annas spirit is
still
very much with Julie during most of Blue. Julies early act to
destroy
this object is out of anger because she is still bitter that Anna is
dead
and she herself is not. But later on, when her neighbour, Sandrine is
admiring the chandelier, Julie is extremely anxious and uncomfortable
that she should be touching it. Julie is trying to protect it in a
way that
she would have been protecting Anna had she survived. The fact that
Julie is always so close to the chandelier when the two occupy the
same
frame and that we see this close up helps the viewer realise that
Julie
will never be free of her emotions. Therefore her life could be seen
as
a paradox. She attempts all the while to avoid human contact
(especially with Olivier), to sell her family home and she never once
goes to the cemetery but she clings to this one item that silently
states
to the audience how much she loved and still loves Anna.

For the second film in Kieslowskis trilogy, the colour importance

initially seems less evident and the overall tone is slightly light-
hearted,
mainly because White deals with the theme of materialism. In order
for Karol to equal Dominique, he has to recover his finances. The
idea
of equality, or indeed inequality, is explored through Edward
Klosinskis intelligent framing of the films protagonist.

Regardless of whether it is the camera or the subject that changes

position within the shot, it is important that they move from one
significant composition to another and that those compositions work
together. 31

White could be seen as a succession of significant compositions. At

the start of the film, Karols status becomes evident as his credit
card is
cut up in front of him. [FIGURE 8] The credit card, although out of
focus, is in the foreground, emphasising Karols decline as he
helplessly looks on. His impotence becomes financial as well as
physical.

Although White is about the idea of human equality, it also about

human love. It becomes clear in the film that Karol and Dominique
rushed into their marriage, but that despite their impetuosity,
Karols
love for Dominique is much deeper and stronger than he first realises.
Julie Delpy, the actress playing Dominique, is on screen for a
relatively
short amount of time but her character has an omnipotent presence
throughout the film. Before he returns to Poland, Karol procures a
white porcelain bust he sees in a shop window at a metro station.
[FIGURE 9] The framing of this protagonist through a shop window is
characteristic of Kieslowski. Like the faces in the photographs of
Lodz, Kieslowski shows us a man who is disorientated and
disillusioned. But as with the credit card, the object of Karols
attention is in the foreground, silently alluding to its own
importance.
Like the chandelier in Blue, the bust reflects the colour of the film
as
well as being a metaphor for one of the characters. Later on in
White,
the bust looms once again in the foreground of the screen, overlooking
Karol as he is tormented in his sleep by what we can only assume to be
a dream about Dominique. But despite its cold, white demeanour, it
is
at one point distempered by an orange light source in Karols room.
The warmth given to it infers a sense of tenderness. One could see
this
as a contrived clue as to how the absent Dominique may be feeling at
that time. Throughout the film Dominique is indifferent to Karols
attempts at a reconciliation but she too discovers how intensely she
cares about him and the altered facade of the white statue appears to
reflect Dominiques own change of heart. By the end of the film we
see Dominique pledge her love to Karol, telling him that if he helps
her
escape imprisonment, she will remarry him. Their story is concluded
at the end of Red, when we see them together, on equal terms at last.

This leaves the fraternity theme in Red to complete the trilogy. Of

all
the films, Red is arguably the most colourful, teeming with red
objects
in practically every scene. The lighting and framing within Red
appears a lot more restrained than in Blue or White. Every shot has a
significant link to a theme or character and it is the complex
structure
of the film that engages its audience. Whereas Blue used blue
filters,
Red uses red components, each signifying a different mood. A red car
light signifies danger, the red cherries on a cafe fruit machine
signifies
trauma and a red jacket signifies the memory of a loved one.
Cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski admitted to exercising a huge
amount of control over the visual elements within the film so that
every
object and every lighting effect would be significant to the viewer.
For
the interior shots he allowed the natural light to dictate the
placement
of the actors. 32

We are used to ignoring the illumination of our everyday

surroundings, so film lighting is also easy to take for granted. Yet
the
look of a shot is centrally
controlled by light quality, direction, source and color. 33

The ability to manipulate these elements effectively evidently

involves
careful planning. Another example of this is cinematographer Ernest
Dickerson, who whilst working on Do the Right Thing (1989)
manufactured reality by regulating costume and set colour, using reds
and oranges so that the audience would feel the summer heat within the
film. 34 In Red, Sobocinski supervised the mixture of light and
shadow
in nearly every scene. The atmosphere created by the natural light
was
believable and the shadows it created helped further the films
narrative.

In the scenes inside the house, the judge is placed so that you can
only see part of his face; he is very closed off. Valentine is in
the light
from the windows, because she is more open as a person. 35
[FIGURE 10]

Even if you are not conscious that the light is being rendered in this
fashion, the effects help the viewer discover the characters within
the
film. It is true that the judge, Joseph Kern, appears more shadowed.
His obscurity immediately makes him all the more intriguing so it is
understandable that Valentine is drawn towards him. In contrast,
Valentine herself is more straightforward and her candour comes
across earlier because we see more of her.

The fraternal relationship that develops between Valentine and Joseph

is real enough in itself, but it is significant because it alludes to
another
relationship which is metaphysical at the time Red takes place.
Throughout the film Kieslowski again plays with the idea of fate.
Across the road from Valentines apartment lives Auguste, a young
judge. In fact, Auguste seems to be a reincarnation of Joseph Kern,
as
his life follows virtually the same pattern of events. We see Auguste
and Valentine pass each other many times, unaware of the others
existence. It is satisfying to see the two of them united at the end
of the
film and the viewer may assume that fate has brought them together.
But the identical lives of Auguste and Joseph could suggest a twist to
the tale because we cannot be sure that Auguste exists and that he is
not
just a variation of Josephs earlier life. The story of a
relationship
between a young judge and an old judge was one that Kieslowski
looked at in No End. For Red, he decided that Auguste should be a
human instead of a dog (although curiously enough both Joseph and
Auguste have pet dogs) but there is still the suggestion of the
younger
mans life shadowing that of the older man. There are two moments in
the film where both Joseph and Auguste stop at the traffic lights and
see the poster of Valentine for the bubble gum advertisement. Joseph
pauses because he knows Valentine. Auguste is momentarily
mesmerised by her because he does not know her but perhaps
recognises her face. [FIGURE 11] If Auguste was to be a younger
Joseph Kern, we could be led to believe that the way Augustes life is
progressing is the path that Joseph would have chosen had he been
given a second chance. This is similar to Labrador when he speaks of
his admiration for Anteks ethics, even when they were sometimes a
little unconventional.

The way in which Kieslowski and Sobocinski controlled such visual

elements within Red suggests an overall sense of the inevitable. At
the
end of Red, Joseph is watching televised news footage of a ferry
disaster. He knows that Valentine was on the ferry and wants to make
sure that she survived. The news report freezes on an image of
Valentine, identical to the one in the poster. [FIGURES 12 & 13] It
is
a reminder of how fate plays a part in the lives of these characters.
Kieslowski may have decided their fate but the unions within Red are
important. Valentine and Joseph benefit greatly from their
relationship, they learn a lot about themselves as well as about each
other. This is something that Kieslowski was very critical of in real
life. He was concerned about how people these days are so wrapped up
in their work that they no longer have time for friends and family.
In
this trilogy, he showed us how this can still be possible.

CONCLUSION

The three films fit neatly together, although stylistically they are
very
different from each other.

The melancholy tone in Blue is filtered through blue gels onto Julie.
White may concentrate more on the framing of the protagonist, Karol,
although the object of his attentions is a pure, white statuette. And
Red
is simply a plethora of red objects which happen to surround the
characters within the film.

Kieslowskis life in Poland and his work as a documentary film maker

all played an intrinsic part in the scripting and direction of the
Three
Colours, but the freedom Kieslowski gave his lighting cameramen
meant that the production was a collaborative process. For Blue,
Slawomir Idziaks role went further than that of cinematographer. He
ensured that he and Kieslowski discussed their thoughts and feelings
about the actors and the staging as well as the technical aspects.
From
this, Idziak was able to select the colours he felt suited the tone of
Blue.
36 In a contrasting style, Piotr Sobocinski learnt from his father
(Witold Sobocinski), also a cinematographer, to interpret reality by
selecting from the jumble of images one sees, just those things which
are important. 37 In Red the viewer is left to decide which images
are
most significant.

White has been criticised for having a weaker ending and appears less
striking at first. There may appear to be a lesser metaphysical
element
because the story does not deal with non existent or dead characters.
However, the absence of people and the effect this can have is
addressed and we can see that Dominiques absence is very similar to
Annas in Blue. Both Karol and Julie have to recover themselves,
having been deserted by a loved one and although we never get to
know Anna or Dominique, their presence and their influence is felt.

When dealing with the three major themes in Three Colours, it appears
that through Julie, Karol and Dominique, Kieslowski is trying to tell
us
that liberty and equality are impossible for humans to attain for any
sort
of enjoyment or pleasure, despite the attraction these ideals may
hold.
Fraternity, however is worth further consideration because Kieslowski
shows in Red that even in this day and age, it is still a crucial part
of
human development.

Within many of his feature films, Kieslowski experimented with the

ideas of fate and chance governing human lives and was drawn towards
a reasoning that the supernatural can exist. In the Three Colours he
explored these ideas in greater depth through the manipulation of
framing and lighting. Most films nowadays depend on action to drive a
narrative whereas Kieslowski resisted this. Ironically he saw this as
a
flaw in his work but from the perspective of an exercise into creating
a
metaphysical layer through cinematography, these films could be seen
as a notable and creditable example. Metaphysics talks of the
incorporeal and the over subtle but Kieslowski manages to present this
in a subtle fashion. The cinematography in his films does more than
just show us the actors, it helps us empathise with the characters.
It
creates a mood and a tone and allows a refreshing insight into the
psyche of the human being.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The American Film Visions of Light : The Art of

Cinematography
Institute &NHK Japan 6 June 1994
Broadcasting Corporation Channel 4
(Producers)

Anonymous Interview with Krzysztof Kieslowski

Available from:
http//www.petey.com/kk/intrview.txt
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Anonymous Cinema Papers

(Krzysztof Kieslowski
article)
No.99, June 1994

Anonymous Sight and Sound

(Three Colours:Blue article)
Vol.4 No.5, April 1994

Anonymous Sight and Sound

(Three Colours:Red article)
 Vol.5 No.5, May 1995

Berardinelli, J Blue: A Film Review

White: A Film Review
Red: A Film Review
Decalogue: A Film Review
No End: A Film Review
Camera Buff: A Film Review
Available from:
http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Bordwell, D Film Art. An Introduction

& Thompson, K Mcgraw-Hill, Inc., USA, 1993

A Collective Work Contemporary Polish Cinematography

Polonia Publishing House,
Warsaw, 1962

Cook, P The Cinema Book

British Film Institute,
London, 1985

De Mello, A Awareness
Fount Paperbacks, London,
1990

Eidsvik, C Kieslowskis Short Films

Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kk/shorts1.txt
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Franklin, A Screen International

(Krzyszstof Kieslowski
article)
No. 894, Feb 1993

Frazer, B Three Colours: Red

Available from:
http://www.panix.com/~bfrazer/flicker/
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Glebocki, Z A Glance at 1000 Years of Polish

History
Available from:
http://www.crl.com/~waldoted/history.html
[Accessed 13 Dec 1997]

Goulding, D Five Filmmakers

Indiana University Press,
USA, 1994
Guthmann, E Lost Souls Find Each Other in Red
Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kk/red.txt
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Idziak, S (sidziak@medianet.com.pl),
daymonthyear.
Three Colours: Blue.
E-mail to S. Revell
(94033920@94.humber.ac.uk)

Internet Movie Belles de Jour: Julie Delpy

Database Available from:
http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/michael/

delpy.html

Belles de Jour: Irene Jacob

Available from:
http:www.netlink.co.uk/users/michael/

jacob.html
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Jacobs, P (smile@petey.com), 5/9 Oct 1997.

Kieslowski Fan List.
E-mail to S.Revell
(94033920@94.humber.ac.uk)

Jacobs, P Cine Kieslowski

Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kk/

Cine Kieslowski: K Chat

Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kklist/pjkchat.htm
[Accessed Oct - Dec 1997]

Jaxa, P (jaxapiot@iprolink.ch), 22 Nov

1997.
Answers.
E-mail to S. Revell
(94033920@94.humber.ac.uk)

Piotr Jaxa
Available from:
http://digimage.org/Portfolio/Jaxa/CV.html
[Accessed 22 Nov 1997]

Kawin, B F How Movies Work

University of California
Press Ltd, London,
1992
Kehr, D To Save the World - Kieslowskis
Three
Colours Trilogy
Available from:
http://web.syr.edu/~ecparkin/
Kiescomment.html
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Kieslowski, K No End
Krzysztof Kieslowski &
Krzysztof
Piesiewicz (Screenplay)
Jacek Petrycki
(Cinematography)
Ryszard Chutkowski
(Producer)
Tor
(Production Company)
1984

Kieslowski, K Decalogue

Krzysztof Kieslowski &

Krzysztof
Piesiewicz (Screenplay)
Ryszard Chutkowski
(Producer)
Polish Television
(Production Company)
1988

Kieslowski, K The Double Life of Veronique

Krzysztof Kieslowski &
Krzysztof
Piesiewicz (Screenplay)
Slamomir Idziak
(Cinematography)
Leonardo de la Fuente
(Producer)
Sideral Productions/Tor
Production/Le
Studio Canal Plus

(Production
Companies)
1991

Kieslowski, K Three Colours : Blue, White, Red

Krzysztof Kieslowski &
Krzysztof
Piesiewicz (Screenplay)
Marin Karmitz
(Producer)
Tor Production/MK2
Productions SA/CED
Productions/France 3
Cinema/CAB
Productions

(Production
Companies)

Blue
Slawomir Idziak
(Cinematography)
1993

White
Edward Klosinski
(Cinematography)
1993

Red
Piotr Sobocinski
(Cinematography)
1994

Levich, P The Motion Picture Guide, 1995

Annual
(Editor) Cinebooks, New York, 1994

Lozinski, P Polish Cinema

Polish Television/Tor Film
Studio/BFI
(Producers)
Telewizja Polska SA/Studio
Filmowe
Tor/BFI

(Production
Companies)
7 July 1997
Channel 4

Mcnab, G Sight and Sound

& Darke, C (Working with Kieslowski
interviews)
Vol.6 No.5, May 1996

Monaco, J How to Read a Film

Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1981
Pallot, J The Motion Picture Guide, 1994
Annual
(Editor) Cinebooks, New York, 1994

Pasek, Z J Krzysztof Kieslowski and his Films

Available from: http://www-
personal.engin.umich.edu:80/

~zbigniew/Kieslowski/kieslowski.html
[Accessed 29 Oct 1997]
Perry, G The Sunday Times
(Three Colours review)
July 1996

Pizzello, S American Cinematographer

(Piotr Sobocinski : Red
article)
Vol.76 No.6, June 1995

Pope, A Sight and Sound

(In Memory article)
Vol.6 No.8, Aug 1996

Rayns, T Sight and Sound

(Glowing in the Dark
article)
Vol.4 No.6, June 1994

Rees, G Three Colours : Blue review

Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kk/blue.txt
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Salter, M Poland: The Rough Guide

& McLachlan, G Rough Guides Ltd, London, 1993

Sampaio, G Krzysztof Kieslowskis Three Colours

Trilogy Dissertation
Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kk/kiesdiss.txt
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Seguin, D White
Available from:
http://www.petey.com/kk/white.txt
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Sobocinski, P CCS-Program (Oscar Nominees)

Available from:
http://www.ccspr.com/samples/
oscar16.htm
[Accessed 24 Nov 1997]

Spotty The Life and Films of Krzysztof

Kieslowski
Available from:
http://wwwnetwiz.net/~rdef/
Kieslowski.htm
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Stok, D Kieslowski on Kieslowski

(Editor) Faber and Faber, London, 1995

Strawson, P F Analysis and Metaphysics

Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1992

Tarkovsky, A Nostalgia
Francesco Casati
(Producer)
Opera Film/RAI-2/Sovin Film
(Production Companies)
1983

Van Ingwagen, P Metaphysics

Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1992

Whyte, A New Cinema in Eastern Europe

Studio Vista Limited,
London, 1971

Wilmington, M Filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski - Screen

giant reportedly
was ready to end retirement
Available from:
http://web.syr.edu/~ecparkin/Kieschi.html
[Accessed 20 Jan 1997]

Zanussi, K A Tribute to Krzysztof Kieslowski

Available from: http://
cinemania.msn.com/Cinemania/

Features/FeatureskieslowskiFF.htm
[Accessed 4 Oct 1997]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the help and support of my parents, Colin

and Nahid, whose help with this dissertation was invaluable.

I would also like to thank Peter Jacobs, for his brilliant work with
the
Krzysztof Kieslowski web site which has allowed me to speak to some
incredible people.

And finally I would like to thank Piotr Jaxa-Kwiatkowska for

answering my questions but also for keeping Kieslowskis remarkable
work alive with his own brilliant photographic exhibition :
Remembering Krzysztof.

1 The Regained Territories comprised some land to the west of Poland,

formerly belonging to
 Germany but returned to Poland in compensation for the eastern
lands lost to the Soviet Union.
2 ed. D. Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.13
3 dir. Pawel Lozinski, Polish Cinema. Channel Four. 1997
4 ed. D. Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.15
5 Ibid. P.18
6 Ibid. P.18
7 Ibid. P.23
8 dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, Nostalgia. 1983
9 ed. D. Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.37
10 Ken Loach, Introduction to Three Colours - Blue. Channel Four.
1996
11 Krzysztof Zanussi, A Tribute to Krzysztof Kieslowski.
12 Daniel J. Goulding, Five Filmmakers. USA. 1994 P.93
13 Ibid. P.97
14 A collective work, Contemporary Polish Cinematography. Warsaw.
1962 P.92
15 ed. D.Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.45
16 Ibid. P.79
17 Zdzislaw Glebocki & Kirk Palmer, A Glance at 1000 years of Polish
History.
18 ed. D. Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.79
19 Ibid. P.96
20 Geoffrey McNab, Sight & Sound. 1996. P.18
21 dir. Pawel Lozinski, Polish Cinema. Channel Four. 1997
22 ed . D. Stok, , Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.113
23 Mark Salter & Gordon McLachlan, Poland : The Rough Guide. London.
1993. P.530
24 ed. D. Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.131
25 dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, No End. 1984
26 ed. D. Stok, Kieslowski on Kieslowski. London. 1995. P.156
27 Peter Van Ingwagen, Metaphysics. Oxford. 1993. P.1
28 Ibid. P.197
29 The American Film Institute & NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation,
Visions of Light : The Art
of Cinematography. Channel Four. 1994
30 P F Strawson, Analysis and Metaphysics. Oxford. 1992. P.138
31 B F Kawin, How Movies Work. London. 1992. P.177
32 S Pizello, American Cinematographer. 1995. P.70
33 D Bordwell & K Thompson, Film Art. 1993. P.157
34 The American Film Institute and NHK Japan Broadcasting
Corporation, Visions of Light : The Art
of Cinematography. Channel Four. 1994
35 S Pizello, American Cinematographer. 1995. P.70
36 Cinema Papers. 1994. P.32
37 P Sobocinski, CCS-Program (Oscar Nominees).

31