Review #122: 'A Short Film About Killing' (1988)

The film centres around the lives of three main characters. The first is Piotr (Krzysztof Globisz), a smart and confident young lawyer who is celebrating just passing his bar exam. Jacek (Miroslaw Baka), is a young misfit who spends his time gaining pleasure from causing other people's misfortune. And Waldemar (Jan Tesarz) is an overweight, cruel-looking taxi driver who drives around being generally unpleasant. In a seemingly random act, Jacek catches a ride in Wademar's taxi and then proceeds to murder him in cold blood for apparently no reason. After being arrested, Piotr is assigned to Jacek's defence and must face the possibility of seeing his client face the death penalty.

Expanded from Krzysztof Kieslowski's TV series Dekalog, it focuses on 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' of the Ten Commandments. In Dekalog, each episode focuses on one of the Commandments. It shows the ugliness of murder and death in general, and asks if any killing is necessary. The murder of Waldemar is messy, and Kieslowski isn't afraid to show it. It isn't like the murders you usually see in films, which are quick and final - here it is awkward, difficult, bloody and nasty. But the climax is equally as horrible to watch, and there lies the genius of this film.

There's no question as to where Kieslowski's opinions lie. This is a film against capital punishment. Piotr makes a stand against it in one of his first scenes, and must face it head-on with his first client. In a powerful scene, the arrested Jacek talks in his sell to Piotr about the tragedy of his childhood, and you find that you're asking yourself if this person truly deserves to die, even given his crimes.  The whole film is a very simple idea played out with such a ferocious complexity, with some beautifully grim cinematography that really adds to the almost apocalyptic atmosphere.


Directed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Starring: Miroslaw Baka, Krzysztof Globisz, Jan Tersarz
Country: Poland

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie