NO END (72)

Directed by: Krysztof Kieslowski (1984)

Starring: Grazyna Szapolowska, Maria Pakulnis, Aleksander Bardini

The Pitch: A lawyer's death has repercussions both on his widow (who can see his ghost) and on a political prisoner whose case he was defending.

Theo Sez: Second viewing almost a decade later, and an embarrassingly different rating for this sombre drama : presumably, it's just not a young man's movie - "humourless drama in a plodding, fussy, rather deadly style" was my comment ten years ago. On the other hand, maybe what made the difference this time round was simply greater familiarity with that style - the trademark Kieslowski style already in place, with its precise emotional detail (the camera constantly alive to the small unconscious gestures that reveal state of mind, things like our heroine fidgeting nervously with her stocking as she talks), the wondrous images with about six shades of light in each frame, and Zbigniew Preisner's lush liturgical score. What's surprising is the emphasis on politics, a reminder that the film was made during a particularly fraught time (after Jaruzelski had imposed martial law in Poland), though also proof that nothing dates faster than current affairs (as opposed, of course, to the timelessness of emotional affairs) ; it's perhaps significant that, after the Iron Curtain fell and he was able to travel freely, none of Kieslowski's films were set wholly in his native country. Nonetheless, on second viewing the film's theme (which seemed obscure) is now very clear - juxtaposing two strands, the political prisoner being urged to compromise and the bereaved widow being urged to move past her husband's death (and to ignore the evidence of his ghost), its point is the importance of keeping faith, whether in one's beliefs or emotions, even when it goes against self-preservation ; the ending (our heroine's suicide), which seemed gratuitously bleak and doom-laden, actually makes perfect sense. It would be a moving, powerful film even without the inimitable style ; with it, it's like a fine story told by an old friend.