Review of A Short Film About Killing (1988) by Augustin C — 11 Aug 2013

"Thou shalt not kill.".

A dark look at the human's psyche, A Short Film About Killing unleashes a debate on how moral is relative from the personal perspective of whoever handles it given any situation. Despite some random emotional fillers that distract the viewer from the original intentions of the film, Kieslowski accomplishes a disturbing sepia tone for highlighting relevant issues, among which are:

- The contradiction of a death sentence as a condemnation of murder.

- The events that are behind the curtain of each individual: his personal life background that we do not see.

- The implications of standardizing human actions and restricting them to what has been accepted as an agreeable consensus.

It is easy to point the finger towards what you condemn, but remember that when you point with your index finger, there are three other fingers pointing at you. Silence is the wisest judge. Remember that our nature is flawed and dual, but complex too. In that sense, I also think that the intentionally darkened corners in the film plays a role. Notice several things about it:

- It only appears when the main characters are on screen, but not during the landscapes or neutral events.

- 90% of the times, the killer walks towards the dark corner, whereas the sentence executioners walk to it around 50% of the times (mmhh...), and the lawyer usually walks towards the bright side.

Maybe an invitation from the Polish auteur to form our own opinions? Great idea; I'll accept that invitation and construct my criticisms.

85/100.