Book Description
Krzysztof Kieslowski, who died in 1996, perfected his art in movies lled with mesmerizing images of beauty and danger. His best-known lms, Blue; White; Red; The Double Life of Veronique; and The Decalogue, remain watershed events in lmmaking history. Author Annette Insdorf, Kieslowskis close friend and translator, offers a revealing portrait of his life and monumental body of work. From the gold-bathed images of The Double Life of Veronique to the emotionally dark, visually haunting Blue, Kieslowskis lms explore personal and social issues with inimitable brilliance. This paperback edition includes an updated introduction with information on the much anticipated release of Heaven (March 2002)which Kieslowski wrote and planned to lm, before he died unexpectedly in March 1996.
Customer Reviews:
Double Lives, Second Chances........2005-02-02
Kieslowski changed my life. I watched RED first, then WHITE and Finally BLUE. I've never watched anything that moved me so. So much better than anything that comes out of Hollywood( except for the occasional Shawshank). Ann Insdorf does a great job narrating the DVD--in the 'extras' section of the trilogy. Based on her performance, I bought 'Double Lives'. I enjoyed her personal observations of the master at work. I loved her book. My only complaint is I wanted more analysis of the Trilogy(and the Decalogue). But she gives a fantastic job on the Trilogy DVD set. She's a true scholar of the sage.
Blue White Red.......1999-11-30
I have been an enormous follower and keeper of Kieslowki's work since a fateful afternoon when I stumbled upon a showing of "Blue" several years ago. This of course came to a bittersweet juncture when K died in 1997. Regardless, this book accurately captures the the development of this extraordinary director... and writer. Insdorff presented some interesting insights in her writing amidst some oversights: the car in Blue was a Puegeott, not BMW, and no mentioning of "Blue's" Julie's accident interruption in court in "White". Although Kieslowki's beginnings and earlier works like his string of documentaries and "Decalogue" are crutcial to his foundation as an outstandingly brilliant director as showcased in the Three Colors trilogy, I wished more expoundment was made on the his final three works which is truly poetry in images.
Book Description
Krzystof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy earned him the deserved reputation as "one of the world's premier film-makers' (Independent). In these films, based on the colors of the French flag and the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity--the three ideals of the French Revolution--Kieslowski has crafted three parables of contemporary existence. In Blue, Julie loses her child and husband in a car crash. In order to shield herself from the intensity of her grief, she strips away all remnants of her former life. This attempt is doomed to failure as music inexorably brings her back to a purpose in life. In White, Karol, a Polish hairdresser, is divorced and abandoned by his beautiful French wife and finds himself destitute on the Paris streets. He meets a fellow Pole, who ingeniously smuggles him back to Warsaw in a suitcase. Working on the black market, he soon rises to the top of Poland's emerging capitalist class. Still obsessively haunted by the image of his wife, Karol sets out to make her pay the price for her betrayal. The third and final part of the trilogy, Red, explores a strange, tentative relationship that gradualy grows between a beautiful young model and an embittered, retired judge. It is through the wisdom of her innocence that he finds the courage to engage with life again. Kieslowski brings the trilogy to a close with an event that weaves the disaparte threads into a seamless work of art.
Customer Reviews:
Three colors, three emotions.......2004-05-06
Cinematic genius Krzystof Kieslowski wrote and directed his own films, including the famed Three Colors Trilogy, made up of "White" ("Blanc"), "Red" ("Rouge") and "Blue" ("Bleu"). Taking the three concepts behind the French flag (liberty, equality and fraternity), Kieslowski created a colorful, emotional masterwork.
In "Blue," Julie loses her composer husband and her young daughter in a horrible car crash. Enveloped in her grief, she leaves her country mansion and takes a small apartment in Paris. But the haunting memory of her husband's music -- and the love of his former coworker -- keep drawing her back to her old life.
In "White," Polish immigrant (and born loser) Karol Karol is divorced by his sexy, ruthless wife Dominique. She takes all his money, his home, sleeps around and rubs it in his face, and leaves him penniless in the street. But Karol turns the tables on his beautiful Dominique when he becomes a rich man, and begins to spin an elaborate plot against her.
In "Red," the warm-hearted model Valentine accidently runs over a pregnant German shepherd. She takes the dog to its owner, but finds that he's a cold-hearted, callous ex-judge who uses a radio to spy on his neighbors. Valentine's disgust prompts the judge to turn himself in, and a strange friendship is struck between the embittered old man and the idealistic model... one that will change both their lives.
Obviously, reading the scripts for the Three Colors Trilogy can't quite recreate the experience of actually watching the film. The characters -- especially Julie and Valentine -- don't seem as rich without Juliette Binoche and Irene Jacob. And what words can recreate the swell of shimmering violins whenever Julie fades out? But Kieslowski's screenplays hint at the splendor and grandeur of his visions for these films. He brings the words to life in a way that few screenwriters can, and his descriptions of the characters and how they look, act, feel is phenomenal.
The Three Colors Trilogy is a modern classic of cinema, with its haunting characters and beautiful direction. So check out the wonderful screenplays that launched those films. Beautiful, heartfelt.
No question about it -- pick up this book!.......2000-04-19
This book is a screenplay of Kieslowski's famous movie trilogy. The films are amazing, and the book is no less terrific. It has three great, interweaving stories, all great read by themselves but a masterpiece when read together. This is one book I will read over and over again, and so will anyone else interested in a great script or story.
Book Description
Krzystof Kieslowski untimely death in 1996 robbed cinema of one of its great visionaries. Decalogue, The Double Life of Veronique and the Three Colours trilogy earned Kieslowski his reputation as a world-class film-maker. He was notoriously reticent, and even dismissive of his work and talent, but these frank and detailed discussions showed a passion for film-making that animated a life disrupted by both Hilter and Stalin and the legacy these figures left in Eastern Europe. His struggle to work as a film-maker mirrors the struggle of Poland to reassert its identity. In 1989, when the Berlin Wall collapsed and Eastern European states overthrew the oppressive Soviet burden, his orientation gravitated towards France. Moving between Poland and France, Kieslowski created some of the most important cinematic works of the Nineties.
Customer Reviews:
Filmmaking doesn't get any more real than this..........2006-09-04
In his own words, Krzysztof Kieslowski tells you about the agony and the ecstacy of the independent filmmaking process.
The late Polish filmmaker is up to the challenge, delivering his characteristic frankness nestled within the pages of this short retrospective work, narrated in his own words, and magnificently edited (translated, too?) by Danusia Stok.
The book is tailor-made for "idie" filmmaking buffs, and supplies a glimpse into the enticingly magical personality which was Kieslowski's. Eschewing a typical rote autobiographical style, Kieslowski divulges key details about himself via the device of his extensive filmography -- revealing things about his thinking process and the high value he places upon delicate human emotionality through a step-by-step examination of his long filmography.
Spanning his early years as a prominent documentary filmmaker during the stifling years of Polish Communism and state censorship -- especially during the imposition of Marshal Law in Poland during 1980-1 when Kieslowski couldn't work for half a year -- and ending with his magnificent trilogy "Barwy" (Three Colours: Blue, White, Red), we're subjected to a feast of Kieslowski-isms regarding his thoughts pertaining to such diverse notions as:
** casting for acting talent.
** Kieslowski's penchant for making his ENTIRE crew a part of the idea-generating process for his films.
** the nature of artistic filmmaking in Europe compared to commerical filmmaking in the US.
** the demands of time on a filmmaker's personal life.
** the differing range of skills between Western and Polish filmmaking crews.
A right pity Krzysztof Kieslowski is no longer with us to share to a burgeoning generation of up-and-coming filmmakers what might very well some none-too-optimistic viewpoints on the state of today's "international" filmmaking.
The book is written in Kieslowski's typical unassuming style -- par for the course from the Polish master. The late director doesn't bowl you over with how much he knows about film history, or about the complicated craft of filmmaking. Kieslowski doesn't tell you that he's better than you or me. Rather, through a detailed accounting of his past achievements, Kieslowski's emphasis is always upon that which is most human: the wellspring of all his works, and the central reason why filmmakers must indeed make films, in his esteemed opinion.
Still, I found the book ended suddenly.
Not shockingly so, just that the work might have gone on for much longer than its seemingly scant 227 pages. There's so much to know about this magnificent paragon of the film community, and if anything, it will be a primer for further reading on the man, the legend, and his favourite subject: films.
Five-stars.
-- ADM in Prague
All you ever wanted to know about the man and the director.......2006-08-16
Reading the book was like watching another wonderful Kieslowski film. His casual authentic narrative throughout the book gives it a touch of a documentary almost.
I appreciated every page of his life story, as he tells it so that his personal story as a director - from his childhood through filmschool, his first films right to the Three Colours trilogy - is combined with the situation in Poland, with the Communist times, the censorship, the hopes and the fights with the system, the fears, the communication with the public through hidden messages, and the victories when succeeding to outsmart the censors.
All wrapped up in one, sprinkled with wit and natural story-telling style, the book is all you ever wanted to know about Kieslowski and the background of his life and filmmaking.
In the interviews throughout the book, he not only talks about the films, he also explains why he had to do them the way he did - both, the story and the style - about his personal beliefs, about his life and work in the Communist Poland (in which I could see similarities with the former Czechoslovakia, where I was born, as well), and about how it shaped his views.
Real reading pleasure, educational and entertaining, this book is one of the best I have read lately! And, I believe it gives another dimension in understanding of his films as well.
a must for Kieslowski's fans.......2006-04-11
Kieslowski is one of my favorite film directors, maybe because I can identify with so much of what he shows in his films... So I was very happy to read "Kieslowski on Kieslowski" and learn about his years in the Film School and the events and memories connected with the making of many of the movies. The autobiography, edited by the director's friend, Danusia Stok, is very good and a must-have for his fans, but it is an autocreation, not a katharsis! It cannot be forgotten that Kieslowski was an artist also in his life so this book is not just a collection of facts.
The book also contains sharp comments and a very good background on the situation in Poland and how difficult it was to push one's own vision. The collection of photos is a valuable addition as well.
In His Own Words.............2003-10-21
He wanted his audience to be interested in his films....and so we are. He wanted to stir people to something...he does. He wanted to inspire us...and that he did. Fans of Krzysztof Kieslowski, film buffs and aspiring filmmakers alike will get as much out of his story told in "Kieslowski on Kieslowski" as through his cinematic works of art.
Although not a very long career, due to his untimely death, it certainly was an illustrious one. And how fortunate we are to have had the filmmaker who brought us the beautiful and moving films "The Double Life of Veronique", the "Three Colours Trilogy" and the unbelievably intuitive "Decalogue", tell us in his own words his views on life and what he was thinking during the filming of these works.
The book, wonderfully edited by Danusia Stok, takes in Kieslowski's early years as a child, his film school years, his early short films and finally the feature films. Kieslowski is open and frank about his life and his work. He didn't see himself as a genius at all(we fans may tend to disagree on that point),quite the contrary he tends to point out what he feels were mistakes and his shortcomings. He talks of working in Poland, having to skirt around the political upheaval around him, films he made that were never shown to the public, and his quest for trying to make the stories as authentic as possible.
He discusses each and every film. He gives much of the credit to the cast and crew and although he touches on what the films meant to him,he usually speaks more of the technical aspects of each than the analytical.He talks of what was going on in the world, his life and his mind during the making of each film. The feature films are given more time and one whole chapter is devoted soley to "Three Colours"(these films were still in the editing stages at the time this book was written).
Included are many still photos of working on the sets, and personel pictures with his family, the actors and his collaborators. There is a section devoted to notes on many of the names and events, and also a complete filmography with a brief summary and list of credits for each film.
"You make films to give people something, to transport them somewhere else and it doesn't matter if you transport them to a world of intuition or a world of the intellect"....Krzysztof Kieslowski
Kieslowski lets us know in this book that we don't have to analyze each scene...just enjoy it for what it is. This book is a must read for fans and filmmakers alike!...So...enjoy...Laurie
Kieslowski unbuttoned.......2001-02-05
Possibly the last of the really great European art film directors discusses his life and work. The tone of this book was a bit of a surprise. Unlike such visionary auteurs as Bergman and Tarkovsky, Kieslowski is funny, sarcastic, and deprecating, both about himself ("I was a complete idiot") and his country ("Poles will willingly drown another Pole in a glass of water"). And the art of cinema comes across here as a somewhat ridiculous chore, with fleeting and intermittent rewards. You may spend some time puzzling over whether Kieslowski is being accurate and sincere, or just having you on.
However, there's a wealth of insight and information in this book, about KK's films, the art of cinema in general, Poland and its history, and the ideas that animated KK throughout his career. If you have yet to discover such great films as "The Decalogue", "The Double Life of Veronique", and "Blind Chance", reading this book will whet your appetite. If you already know them, you'll gain further insights. And this book is just a great read, almost like a first-person confessional novel in its style. Stories like the one about how Kieslowski feigned insanity to avoid military service make it entertaining even if you don't care about movies!
Customer Reviews:
Decalogue.......2000-07-17
This 10 episode masterpiece is now available on DVD, at a reasonable price. Many of us would like to study this work. The publisher should be encouraged to reprint the Kieslowski/Piesiewicz book.
an interesting book about an interesting ideal.......2000-04-11
this was a very intriguing book based on, what i have been told, a series of short films directed by the author. i have not watched the films, but if they are as good as this book makes them out to be, i really would like to watch them. i would recommend this book to anyone interested in an interesting concept, such as basing films on the ten commandments, and probably anyone who enjoyed the films would enjoy this book as well.
Amazing, Chilling, Odd.......2000-03-30
Krysztof Kieslowski interprets the Ten Commandments through ten short sketches of modern day lives. Each sketch corresponds to how an individual grapples with one of the biblical commandments. Riveting in writing as well as on-screen.
Book Description
Since his death in 1996, Krzysztof Kieslowski has remained the best-known contemporary Polish filmmaker and one of the most popular and respected European directors, internationally renowned for his ambitious Decalogue and Three Colors trilogy.
In this new addition to the Directors'Cuts series, Marek Haltof provides a comprehensive study of Kieslowski's cinema, discussing industrial practices in Poland and stressing that the director did not fit the traditional image of a "great" East-Central European auteur. He draws a fascinating portrait of the stridently independent director's work, noting that Kieslowski was not afraid to express unpopular views in film or in life. Haltof also shows how the director's work remains unique in the context of Polish documentary and narrative cinema.
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Krzyszt of Kieslowski (Pocket Essentials (Trafalgar))
Monica Maurer
Manufacturer: Pocket Essentials
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ASIN: 1903047250 |
Book Description
Film theory is in crisis. The dominant psychoanalytical paradigm is contested by cognitive models and post-theory. In the background is a wider crisis in cultural studies, particularly as regards the public role of the politically engaged intellectual.
In this major new study Slavoj Zizek challenges both cognitivist-historicist accounts of cinema and conventional film theory. Arguing that the reading of Lacan operative in the '70s and '80s was particularly reductive, Zizek asserts that there is "another Lacan," in reference to whom film theory, cultural studies, and critical thought as such can be transformed and revitalized. He supports and expands this argument with an extensive reading of the work of Kieslowski and, in a substantial appendix, with a discussion of the relationship between Christianity, Gothicism and the "progressive digitalisation of our life-world."
Customer Reviews:
Zizek requires more than surface understandings.......2005-04-12
it's difficult to access Zizek's work especially if you have no points of reference,and refuse to delve deeply into the sources of his thought not only Lacan, but Hegel Marx,and Badiou.
Zizek yes many times drops shibboleths, quips and sarcasm but that's his style. What makes Zizek interesting to read however (no matter what he writes) is that he disrupts and tests the given symbolic order of things, What's That? that is what is usually shuved down our throats(via CNN,MTV,celebrated talk shows) as analysis or theoretical renderings that simply amount to the same "mantra" of views usually the liberal kind that is suspect of philosophic/cultural theory or "critique" especially when one so high powered a thinker as Zizek comes into the field of play, since you cannot understand him or say anything critically of him, He is deemed then"Dangerous".
In reality Zizek's sensibility is wholly suited to speak about Kieslowki's work, Lacan works quite well into getting behind what triggers desire,or wantings,fears and anxieties,where the "symbolic" order exists how it is continually nurtured through cultur as film. "The Decalogue" is one such film that tries to test the high symbolic order through the word of god or "g-d" and it inspires fear in all of us, we fear what we don't know, isn't that what religion (any of them) do they instill fear in us, because we don't know, or are told we don't know,"You want to know? follow us. . . " Kieslowski's language is,modern threadbare,very straightforward, we get wonderful views of Poland,Warsaw; yet he's able to instill a kind of "mystery" in the common shape of things;and this 'unknown' of the word of "g-d" or god; ten commandments,his own spirituality interfaces with our own which makes these ten short films quite powerful. Zizek I think is claiming a kind of "stasis" in Kieslowski,that we should view the "Decalogue" as one film not as ten little ones a distinction; an interesting view,very modern, and since his films have a kind of lean functionalism,things just simply move without gimmick unfolding the narrative logically.When viewed this way I think the ten shorts comes across in all its diverse richness;almost as if ten novellas all have inter-referenced schemes and threads that link them all in known and unknown way. Zizek explores various Lacanian topics without specifically mentioning them, as "sinthome", "object petit a" something you really don't need but needs to be there anyway,something we think of ourselves that needs to fit in someplace but cannot for it doesn't know what it is yet.Lacanian analysis claims to not expose what you don't know(as Freud) but merely affirms who and what you are right now in order to at least maintain some coherancy and stable moments within yourself.Like a young man's love for a mature woman he cannot have.The young boy has a series of unknowns he's working with,stalking her, watching her 'peeping-tom like'in this way the boy is not threatened and remains in the stable realm he knows best, his own bedroom where he masterbates;but soon this stability is brokened,with an actual meetings with the woman,like stepping on thin ice, you never know where you will fall in,,including your own suicide, Kieslowski I think often caps many of the "Decalogue"sequences too quickly,as the young boy simply stabbing himself for his oefish awkwardness and has no problem in utilizing gut-wrenching techniques in "Though shalt Not Kill" as the killing of the young boy who killed an innocent cabdriver.People simply die,or their lives robbed previously,as a concentration camp survivor, or fall into an abyss as the young boy not returning home with messages of his demise from an early computer.
If you keep with Zizek I think he delivers insights you will not find within the normal course of theoretical film critic discourse, all you get there is time and tested cliques,predictable "mantras" that really explain the complexity of films like a cooking show, "this was added to intensify. . . ", ". . . this moment will make shudder. . . ",like all you are looking for is what will I get for my money.
Fright of Mambo Jumbo.......2001-07-05
I'm reviewing this book as a fan of Kieslowski. I'm saying this because the Zizek's approach is literary or, more specifically, Marxist-Lacanian. (Don't ask me what that means.)For starters, it's far more entertaining and insightful than Insdorf book on Kieslowski. For instance, Zizek talks about Kieslowski's movies while mentioning David Lynch's. Also, I was particularly intrigued by Zizek's analysis of "The Dekalog." How each episode leads to the next by not engaging on the specific commandment it should be representing. What you get with this book is a grab bag of meditations on post-modern cynicism, Plato via Marx Brothers, and Hitchcock-Lacan connection. Oy vey! For those interested in the cinema of Kieslowski, this might be a book for you if you're either immersed or have a passing knowledge with (drum rolls, please) Post/Theory. Otherwise, this book is a drag!
Book Description
Perhaps the greatest European director of the last 30 years, Krzsztof Kieslowski created a remarkable body of work in a relatively short period of time. His films are loved around the world for their dramatic power and consummate artistry.
Kieslowski's cinematic style stands apart in several important respects: his mastery of abstract imagery, his innovative use of sound and his deliberate circumvention of standard cinematic codes. Unlike many other "art" directors - who often fail to rise above commentary on the medium itself - Kieslowski uses these stylistic liberties to explore his philosophical concerns: fate, God, suffering, and love. Through close analysis of films like The Decalogue, The Double Life of Veronique, Blue, White and Red, Joe Kickasola identifies the unique qualities, and artistic legacy, of this great director.
Customer Reviews:
The in-between..........2007-01-07
This is a great book for one who is looking for an easy-to-understand but in-depth analysis of Kieslowski's various films. Although the most recent trilogy is yet to be incorporated into this text, this book nonetheless serves as both a foundation and structure for studies on the 'transcendental' image. This book also cites varying philosophers and important literary figures. A good sum-up point would be the fact that almost all characters, as described by the author, are in between something, usually dichotomies, like life and death.
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Dix breves histoires d'image: Le Decalogue de Krzysztof Kieslowski (L'eil vivant)
Veronique Campan
Manufacturer: Presses de la Sorbonne nouvelle
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Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 2878540417 |
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