• Kieslowski’s third feature, it was actually released in 1987 (which would make it his fourth film) because it was delayed because of political censorship. 99.99% of the time I use the release date, but this seems like the obvious outlier
  • A bold narrative- choosing three different paths for Kieslowski’s protagonist Boguslaw Linda’s Witek. The films namesake isn’t being cute- this is a meditation on chance and fate. Small differences in his life lead to three different paths—it seems impossible that this wasn’t a major influence on Tom Tykwer’s (superior) Run Lola Run
  • A gorgeous standalone frame with a car on top a hill 2 minutes in- Kieslowski using the naturally elevated topography to design the frame

A gorgeous standalone frame with a car on top a hill 2 minutes in- Kieslowski using the naturally elevated topography to design the frame

  • Kieslowski’s camera is much more active here than his two prior films—a handheld camera tracks along with Linda on the train, and with him up the stairs as he’s being dragged by kidnappers
  • Twinning—and Kieslowski’s interest in different paths could come again in The Double Life of Veronique of course and Red (running into people from the other strands). Linda’s character talks about how had a twin when he was born – “I’m alive because I was born first”. We have the slinky on the stairs scene where it stops. And in one scene he casually pulls a woman back from traffic in a crosswalk.—fascinating.
  • His different paths include different political beliefs (one underground one not), religious beliefs (one catholic, one not), and success (he’s a doctor in the last path)
  • The key scene in the film is the scene where the paths part ways—the scene of him attempting to catch a train, he knocks a coin out of a ladies hand on accident, a guy picks it up and orders a beer— the first time he makes the train and works for the government, the next strand (1 hour in when the film resets, just after a freeze frame) he doesn’t make the train and goes to jail and becomes part of the underground (there’s a scene in the film missing that couldn’t be restored that the censors destroyed). At 98 minutes he uses the freeze frame again)—and repeats the train station fate scene for the third and final time

The key scene in the film is the scene where the paths part ways—the scene of him attempting to catch a train

  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 1981