Blind Chance (1981)

Okay, so I can intellectually appreciate what's going on here. Kieslowski has set up a no-win situation in order to comment on the oppressive nature of Poland's political climate circa 1981. Basically, the message is that you were fucked. If you joined the Party, you were fucked. If you joined the underground, you were fucked. And if you tried to avoid taking sides, you were fucked. But cinema must work as cinema before it can work as protest screed, and I'm afraid I find this film too much of a transitional work for its didacticism not to overwhelm it. Others have pointed out that at this point, Kieslowski was moving out of more overtly political cinema into nuanced, quiet observational cinema. Camera Buff was able to strike a balance between both camps, but the protagonist of this is a boring, passive lump, which throws off Kieslowski's usually delicate touch. With that in mind, the film stops feeling illustrative and becomes defeatist; the final image is a glob of spit in the eye of everything, including the viewer.

Grade: C+