The Films of Krzysztof Kieslowski

I was reading The Chronicle of Higher Education this morning (an online journal of higher education [go figure] issues and discussion you can find at http://chronicle.com/), and read an interesting article on the films of Krzystof Kieslowski and the moral philosophy of Charles Taylor (a Canadian btw). I have actually never seen any of Kieslowski's films, that include The Decalogue series and the Three Colours Trilogy (Blue, White, and Red). But after reading this article, I'm highly intrigued to go to Generation X (our local arthouse film store) and find them. Apparently they deal with deeper issues of isolation, subjectivity, community, and morality. Kieslowski's characters search for transcendence, some sense of the divine, and some reason to hold on to metaphysical moral narratives.

Here's an excerpt from that article:

"In his films, Kieslowski raises all sorts of philosophical puzzles, but he does so less through explicit dialogue than through complex artistry -- the silent framing of what initially appear to be isolated objects, the imageless presentation of sound, the tendency toward abstraction in the use of colors and objects, and the subtle interweaving of lives and plots. In those and other ways, Kieslowski's films enhance our appreciation of moral and metaphysical phenomena in ways philosophical argument cannot."

The Chronicle is actually offering a free month, so you may be able to sign up for it. It may be the only way you can read the articlle. But check it out and see what you think.

Kieslowski will be some of my next viewing...right after I see Napoleon Dynamite of course (see previous post I am a liger...)