Review of A Short Film About Killing (1988) by Reid V — 03 Jul 2011

Grim, uncompromising, opaque: these are the first words that come to mind when viewing Kieslowski's "A Short Film About Killing.".

One of two full length films to emerge from his famous "Decalogue", this film focuses on the dark side of human nature. No attempt is made to balance the scales with any glimmer of hope and Kieslowski is relentless in achieving his goal.

The film is about 3 polish men and how their fates are intertwined. The murders, one the cause of spontaneous violent desire and the other a calculated act of the state, are both agonizing to watch. The audience is given no heroes to root for or villains to wish ill upon. Instead, Kieslowski wishes to show the senselessness of these acts and that killing perpetuates killing.

While the films subject matter wades heavily in the macabre, the images themselves are rendered in a way that makes the image very dark and foreboding. There are no brilliant or bright colors here and some of the characters appear to be surrounded by an encroaching circle of darkness. In one of the murder scenes, the screen almost goes to black when killer realizes his victim is actually dead.