Fate fucks up everything

'Blind Chance' (1980) is the fifth movie by Krzysztof Kieslowski that I have seen (the earlier ones: Blue, White, Red, and the Decalog Series) but chronologically speaking, it was one of his earliest movies.

Read the plot here. I will write only the things I thought were interesting:

- The first few scenes are a bit confusing to follow as we are introduced toa number of characters who often speak to the camera (or to someone, the hero of the movie perhaps, standing behind the camera). But they make perfect sense when the movie ends and you can connect these scenes and characters with the rest of the story once the movie is over.

- Our hero is a 20-something yound guy named Witek who is training at a Medical School in the city of Lodz, Poland. Right at the beginning of the movie he gets a phone call at the school form his father who is about to die. His father's last words to him - "You are free of any obligations" (wonder what that means but all I know is that Witek packs his bags and gives up the mdeical school and runs to catch a train to Warsaw)

- Now here is where the interesting thing happens, there are three versions of the story that Krzysztof Kieslowski presents before us -

First version: Witek catches the train; makes friends with a Party member in the train and ends up joining the party; he meets a girl from his teenage years; falls in love with her but she hates the Communist Party, and Witek struggles to have it both ways; utlimately he loses the love of the girl and also misses a flight to Paris at the end

Second version: Witek misses the train and ends up getting arrested by a cop and spends time in prison and later starts working for the underground democratic youth movement in Poland; He falls in love with the sister of an old friend; his colleagues in the underground though suspect that Witek cares more for the girl than for their cause, he again does not get onto the flight to Paris

Third version: Witek does not catch the train and meets a beautiful blonde female from his medical school whom he ends up falling in love with and getting married eventually; they have a baby; he becomes a successful doctor at the medical school in Lodz, refuses to join the Party but does not join the underground democratic movement either, and manages to get onto the flight to Paris. (Note: the last scene is quite superb)

- If you think this sounds familiar its because this idea has been copied multiple times now in movies like 'Sliding doors' and 'Run Lola Run'. While I liked Run Lola Run very much and think Tom Twyker did something 'original' with the idea even if he borrowed it from somewhere else, I think 'Sliding doors' was just 'nice' (and nice is not a good word in my dictionary) and it was ridden in cliches. But 'Blind Chance' is the grand-daddy of all these multiple 'what-if' scenarios type of films that try to explore fate, choices, coincidences, connections between events and people.
(Note for the cineastes: Interestingly, Tom Twyker also directed 'Heaven' which was written by Krzysztof Kieslowski before he passed away)

- This is not coke-and-popcorn entertainment but it is not too difficult to follow either. If you have never seen a Krzysztof Kieslowski movie, you will still be able to appreciate the movie if you keep your mind engaged. (Note: You may have to spend some time after the movie thinking, recalling scenes, and connecting them all together to tie all the loose ends together)

- I don't know who scored the music (especially the score that plays when Witek is trying to catch the train to Warsaw) but it was pretty damn good.

- This movie was actually banned in Poland and wasn't allowed for public screening until 1987. There was an interview in the DVD with a former official of the Party whose job was to review the film scripts during the communist days and who was a very good friend of Krzysztof Kieslowski. Talking about Krzysztof Kieslowsk and the censorship laws in those days, she said: "He was an author of his own thoughts and consciousness. It was his reality, his country, his times, so he had to make do within that frame"
(Its ironical that Andrei Tarkovsky in Russia and Krzysztof Kieslowski in Poland were making avant-garde cinema under repressive regimes while their counterparts were making blockbuster crap in the 'free' world of Hollywood. In fact, the Soviet party bosses had no idea what Tarkovsky's movies were really about and had no clue if they should allow something to be made if they didn't understand any of it)

I highly recommend this movie. Its a piece of art. Its accessible. Its superb!