Since its inception more than a century ago, the cinematic film has been considered one of the most important means of addressing the minds of viewers and motivating their emotions, especially since it combines various types of arts in a way that would be ideal if its makers mastered the use of their tools.
Although the galleries have provided the audience with hundreds of films in various fields over all those decades, only a few filmmakers have been able to leave an almost indelible impact, perhaps the most prominent of them is the Polish director and screenwriter Krzysztof Kieślowski, who is considered one of the The greatest and most influential European director, his works are still taught in universities around the world.
From the dream of the theater to the realism of cinema
Kislovsky was born in the Polish capital Warsaw, but he did not enjoy stability in his childhood because of his constant movement with his sick father in search of a treatment for tuberculosis, until 1975 when he joined a college to graduate theater technicians, and decided to become a theater director, but soon his dream was dashed due to the lack of Special training for theater directors, then he left college and worked as a tailor in the theater, and after about 9 years he managed, after 3 attempts, to enter the film school in Lodz and graduated from it in 1968, and at that time he lost his desire in the theater and turned to making documentaries.
In his early documentaries, Kislovsky focused on the daily lives of ordinary people, such as the TV movie "Workers 71", which dealt with workers' discussions of the mass strikes in 1970, and then an autobiographical film that included documentation of Politburo meetings, and "The Scar"). in which he showed the unrest in a small town due to a poorly planned industrial project.
With each new film, Kislovsky was getting involved in politics more, to find himself in a direct clash with the authorities at the time, which did not hesitate to exercise strict control over his films, so the movie "Blind Chance" was banned for 6 years, then came the movie "Blind Chance." No End (1984) to be more explicit, as it depicted martial law in political trials in Poland.
The best thing a person can see
In 1988, Kislovsky presented the series "Ten Commandments" as one of the most important and in-depth works of all time, director Christophe Zanussi says it is "an eternal work that includes the truth about life regardless of circumstances and different points of reference", while director Stanley Kubrick considered it "The best thing a person can see."
The series consists of 10 short films produced by Polish television, and the cinematic versions of some episodes have won many international awards, so that the series inspired by the Ten Commandments has become a cinematic doctrine to this day.
"Kishlovsky did not favor the sovereignty of the individual, but rather insisted on the moral and spiritual interdependence of people... The work revolves around the issue of mutual dependence, whether it is in individual heroism episodes or in those that dealt with relations between people," says the researcher in films and literature.
Kichlowski's last four films focused on moral and metaphysical issues, but in a more abstract sense, and were some of his most commercially successful.
The first film is "The Double Life of Véronique", which is considered his most poetic work, as it gave a new dimension to metaphysics in cinema, and the film won the approval of critics in Europe and the United States, winning three awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
The success of "Vronika's Double Life" allowed Kichlovsky to finance his latest work, "Three Colors", which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, in addition to 3 Academy Award nominations.
A great legacy despite the early departure
Kislovsky officially retired from filmmaking after the premiere of his last film "Tricolor" in 1994, after directing 41 works whose impact is still evident on many filmmakers and series.
Kislovsky says of his style of work, “No matter what my films are about, I have always looked to unite the feelings of myself and my audience. I like the sense of regret and powerlessness that I feel when I see someone crying at the station, when I watch people trying in vain to get close to others, and when I see people eating leftovers. Food in cheap restaurants, and when I see the bitterness on the face of a woman with spots on her hands, and I see the panic on the face of men because of unfulfilled justice, I want this pain to reach the viewer, and this is what I think I have succeeded in making in the recipients.
Less than two years after his retirement, Kislowski died on March 13, 1996, while undergoing open-heart surgery after suffering a heart attack. He was then buried in the Poviski Cemetery in Warsaw.