Citation

Ballester C. Studies in European Cinema 2009; 6(1): 77-89.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009)

DOI

10.1386/seci.6.1.77/1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The critical film-maker in Central and East Europe, from the late 1950s onwards (until perhaps 1989) explores individuality and the idea of choice (as inherent to individuality), as a means of criticizing the society in which they live. Kies´lowski is one of the greatest exponents of this critical tradition. Nevertheless, the opposition intelligentsia criticized him for abandoning the role of critic in his film Bez kon´ca (No End, 1984). The opposition considered the film too pessimistic to fulfil its role as criticism. It is true that the film is pessimistic in the sense that it depicts a defeated opposition, but this only reflects the mood of the times. Kies´lowski and Piesiewicz's script also manifests the sense of confusion (including that of the film-makers themselves) of a society that yet again had received what seemed to be a fatal blow. However, I believe that Kies´lowski and Piesiewicz were not only not abandoning the critical role of the intelligentsia, but also were offering, or rather searching for, answers to, or ways out of, disillusion, pessimism, and above all, a sense of loss. The film-makers were asking themselves how a defeated society could move forwards. The film-makers do not approach the matter from a 'collective' stand-point; that is, they do not analyze the society as a whole, but as individuals. Bez kon´ca analyzes several individuals' reactions to the defeat, and through these reactions hints at what may possibly be a way to persevere. One could, then, argue that the film is essentially optimistic - even, paradoxically, in Ula's suicide. The film-makers had originally entitled the film Szcze˛sˇliwy koniec (Happy Ending). Perhaps, the 'message' of the film was not blatantly or successfully put across because of the film-makers' own confusion at the time (that is, their own personal experience of Martial Law) and in this sense it is an honest and brave film. Perhaps the authors themselves were not fully conscious at the time, but elements of hope, and determination are to be found in the film. This is the main purpose of this article, to investigate how Kies´lowski was searching for elements for optimism within defeat, finding that optimism within individuality. © Intellect Ltd 2009.

Language: en

Keywords

Kies´lowski individuality Polish cinema of the 1980s optimism within defeat