Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowśki
16 Episodes
Few filmmakers contemplated such weighty philosophical themes with as much authority as Polish cinema titan Krzysztof Kieślowski. Originally a documentary filmmaker, he turned to narrative with early narrative features like CAMERA BUFF and NO END that remained rooted in social reality—often garnering controversy for their dissident commentary on life in Communist Poland. It was with internationally acclaimed features like A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING, A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE, THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VÉRONIQUE, and the career-capping Three Colors trilogy that Kieślowski revealed himself as his generation’s leading heir to the transcendent cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky and Robert Bresson, exploring universal metaphysical questions—of life and death, freedom and fate, sin and morality—through an increasingly refined, symbol-laden visual style.
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The Tram
Episode 1
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1966 • Poland
While a film student in Łódź, Krzysztof Kieślowski made the 1966 silent short THE TRAM, about a flirtatious boy and a pretty girl. The film is presented here courtesy of the Polish National Film, Television, and Theatre School in Łódź.
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The Scar
Episode 4
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1976 • Poland
Krzysztof Kieślowski embarked on one of the major careers in world cinema with this feature debut. Building on the director’s documentary background, THE SCAR is a richly observed story of community, politics, and ambition in a rural Polish factory.
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16:24Episode 5
Seven Women of Different Ages
Episode 5
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1978 • Poland
Krzysztof Kieślowski made more than twenty documentaries, including this wryly observed short, which profiles seven ballet dancers, one for each day of the week. From a fledgling student to a star ballerina in her prime to an older dancer now cast...
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1:53:35Episode 6
Camera Buff
Episode 6
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1979 • Poland
A reflexive meditation on art and documentary and a key film in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s career, CAMERA BUFF follows a factory worker's growing obsession with filmmaking after he captures the birth of his daughter on his new 8 mm camera.
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13:25Episode 7
Railway Station
Episode 7
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1980 • Poland
Krzysztof Kieślowski began his career making documentaries. Presented here is RAILWAY STATION, one of his nonfiction shorts.
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15:00Episode 8
Talking Heads
Episode 8
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1980 • Poland
Krzysztof Kieślowski made more than twenty documentaries, including the following short. In TALKING HEADS, Kieślowski poses the questions “What year were you born?” “Who are you?” and “What do you most wish for?” to forty different people, rangi...
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2:03:16Episode 9
Blind Chance
Episode 9
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1981 • Poland
Starring Bogusław LindaBefore he stunned the cinematic world with the epic series DEKALOG and the THREE COLORS trilogy, the great Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski made his first work of metaphysical genius, BLIND CHANCE, a compelling drama a...
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1:25:52Episode 11
A Short Film About Killing
Episode 11
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1988 • Poland
A shocking, powerful film expanded from episode V of Kieslowski's legendary Decalogue, A Short Film About Killing considers societal violence in its many forms through the story of an idealistic young lawyer and the brutal murderer he is called ...
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1:27:49Episode 12
A Short Film About Love
Episode 12
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1988 • Poland
An expanded version of episode VI in Kieslowski's legendary Decalogue, this film examines love, longing and sex through the story of a young postal worker who spies on a promiscuous woman in an adjacent housing project.
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1:38:11Episode 13
The Double Life of Véronique
Episode 13
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1991 • France
Starring Irène Jacob, Philippe Volter, Sandrine DumasKrzysztof Kieślowski’s international breakthrough remains one of his most beloved films, a ravishing, mysterious rumination on identity, love, and human intuition. Irène Jacob is incandescent a...
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1:38:52Episode 14
Three Colors: Blue
Episode 14
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1993 • France
Starring Juliette Binoche, Benoit RégentIn the devastating first film of the Three Colors trilogy, Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter. But BLUE is m...
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1:39:44Episode 15
Three Colors: Red
Episode 15
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1994 • France
Starring Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis TrintignantKrzysztof Kieślowski closes his Three Colors trilogy in grand fashion, with an incandescent meditation on fate and chance, starring Irène Jacob as a sweet-souled yet somber runway model in Geneva whose ...
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1:32:06Episode 16
Three Colors: White
Episode 16
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski • 1994 • France
Starring Julie Delpy, Zbigniew ZamachowskiThe most playful and also the grittiest of Kieślowski's Three Colors films follows the adventures of Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish immigrant living in France. The hapless hairdresser opts t...