Kieslowski. I’ll be the first to admit I still have some work to do on Kieslowski’s work in the late 70’s and early to mid-80’s. His strengths here are his brilliant 572-minute top 10 of the 1980’s masterpiece Dekalog and his Blue/White/Red trilogy. These are staggering works. Like many others on this list he died really young (55). I will say that Red has faded on me a little over the years. It used to be a film I had in my top 10 of the 1990’s and I no longer think that to be the case- but I’m overdue for a revisit.
Best film: Dekalog. Individually they are fantastic but together they make for one of the most important and best films of the 1980’s.
total archiveable films: 10
top 100 films: 1
top 500 films: 3 (Dekalog, Blue, Red)
top 100 films of the decade: 4 (Dekalog, Blue, Red, The Double Life of Veronique)
most overrated: The Double Life of Veronique- #360 all-time on TSPDT and I didn’t find it to be any higher than a HR. I’ve only seen it once though which seems really insufficient for any director as deliberate in his approach to formal cinema as Kieslowski is.
most underrated: Red and Blue are two films I’m slightly higher on than the TSPDT consensus. For Red I’m at 198 and “they” have it at #261. For Blue I’m at #165 and TSPDT at #269. However, TSPDT is notorious for being slow to most newer films into the top 100 so #261 and #269 for films that came out in the 90’s are pretty impressive.
gem I want to spotlight: Blue. For years I’ve had Red as the stronger but I think blue is the more vibrant visual film and if forced to now, I’d give it the edge for that reason.
stylistic innovations/traits: Kieslowski is known for his rigorous moral and philosophical discussion but I also love his theme of interconnectedness (certainly influences Magnolia and Iñárritu amongst others) and fate (Coen brothers) His photography is luminously beautiful and his work in believable color production design amongst the greatest in the artform’s history.
top 10
- Dekalog
- Blue
- Red
- The Double Life of Veronique
- A Short Film about Killing
- White
- No End
- A Short Film About Love
- Blind Chance
- Camera Buff
By year and grades
| 1979- Camera Buff | |
| 1982- Blind Chance | |
| 1984- No End | |
| 1988- A Short Film About Killing | |
| 1988- A Short Film About Love | |
| 1989- Dekalog | MP |
| 1991- The Double Life of Veronique | HR |
| 1993- Blue | MP |
| 1994- Red | MP |
| 1994- White | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Is Kieslowski the greatest master of color? I just saw Blue. Many other directors with phenomenal use of color in a certain film had a lot of their work in black and white or were concentrated on other things slightly more than color design. I’m talking about Hitchcock (Vertigo being perhaps the number one use of color in film), Kurosawa (Ran), Greenaway (C,T,W & L), Kubrick (2001), Antonioni (Red Desert), and such. However, Kieslowski may be focused on the concept more than any other thing. I will have to see some more of his movies to be sure, but do you think he can be called the best utilizer of the concept?
Check out Cries and whispers, Fanny and Alexander of Bergman
@Graham and Aldo, British/’American technicolor of the 40s. Powell and Pressburger, matter of life and death, peeping tom, Hitchcock’s rope and vertigo.
@Graham– I’m maybe a little too close to the Kieslowski study I just completed to answer this. I certainly think his case is as good as any. Aldo is right to bring up Bergman and those two mammoth accomplishments in color in particular, Azman with Powell– particularly The Red Shoes. Godard with Pierrot le Fou and Contempt. Demy, Yimou Zhang, Wes Anderson maybe– Kar-Wai Wong– and your mentions of Ran, Greenaway, Red Desert are key— but I can’t say anyone is more aligned with the use of color than Kieslowski unless I’m forgetting something.
I’m not sure whether the Three Colours trilogy were produced together, but if they were wouldn’t they be considered a single entry like Dekalog, LOTR and Kill Bill?
@Declan- I think you could make that argument. I don’t know if they were shot at the same time (like the other ones mentioned). I don’t think it ultimately matters– but this topic is on mind again (as it was earlier this year when I was doing the Kieslowski study) with Steve McQueen’s Small Axe. One film? Five films? both?