Long time no see
Just back from a long overseas trip. The only thing related to Kieslowski during the trip was that I bought the Veronique DVD.
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Is This [Kino Kieslowski] Chat Dead?
on Krzysztof Kieslowski
Just back from a long overseas trip. The only thing related to Kieslowski during the trip was that I bought the Veronique DVD.
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Is This [Kino Kieslowski] Chat Dead?
Revelations of the Human Soul, written by Kathy Fennessy for the Seattle International Film Festival.
Full screening schedule available from here.
Labels: Early works
百老匯電影中心的《奇斯洛夫斯基》特刊重登了李志毅1994年的奇斯洛夫斯基專訪,其中提到一件「真人真事」的「笑話」:
一名富翁害怕乘搭飛機時會遇上炸彈驚魂,連忙著手下查問出現這種事情的機會率,得出的答案是五萬七千分之一。然而富翁仍不安心,再追問飛機上同時出現兩枚炸彈的機會率是多少?資料顯示機會率是億分之一,富翁聽後安然吩咐手下替他購買一枚炸彈先放上飛機,這樣自己再遇上另一枚炸彈的機會便會減到億份之一...結果,冥冥中飛機上竟真有另一枚炸彈,富翁劫數難逃。
真是一宗很「奇斯洛夫斯基」式的個案啊!
簡單地說,這是一個隨著某個決定發生某個結果的故事。多數人感興趣的,自然是「決定」和「結果」的相互關係:究竟「富翁劫數難逃」,是命定,意外,還是甚麼?
這個短短的故事當然不能就此命題提供答案。如同奇氏的電影一樣,它為讀者提供了寬闊的思考和辯論空間。
但是,故事本身卻為那個「決定」的達成提供了不少資料。我們知道:
Labels: Book
Christianity Today Movies features Kieslowski in its latest "Filmmakers of Faith" series:
The films of Krzyzstof Kieslowski are haunted by spiritual imagery, and yet the Polish director never really found grace—or got past "the God of the Old Testament … who ruthlessly demands obedience."
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Further reading: The Ten Commandments Become Flesh: A Polish director prods European and American audiences to consider God's timeless standards
Being the 10th anniversary of Kieslowski's death, this year has seen, and will see, a lot of "Kieslowski retrospectives". Check out the "Events" section of Weronika's World, Krzysztof Kieslowski et Irenka (in French), or Kino Kieslowski - Chat for information.
Labels: 10th Anniversary, Site
Weronika's World is one of the few Kieslowski sites that are still active these days.
According to Alexandre Fabbri, "Weronika's World was created to look at the kind of questions that Kieslowski was asking in his films."
He has also just started a blog (The Blog of Weronika's World), with Discussion on the non-documentary films of Krzysztof Kieslowski as the inaugural entry.
Many critics have concluded that Kieslowski's art was an exotic, twisted plant unable to bloom without political repression and state censorship. But that conclusion is unfair. What does the magnificent example of Czeslaw Milosz tell us, if not that Polish artists can thrive in freedom and even survive consumerism? (Uncaptive Mind by Martha Bayles)
Labels: General
Just came across a profile on Kieslowski written by Ewa Nawoj and Jan Strekowski more than 2 years ago for Polish Culture.
Kieslowski is generally revered all over the world as one of the greatest directors. But he remains a controversial figure within his own country. Read, for example, how the authors end the profile:
This penchant for using signs is equally evident in Kieslowski's other films of this period. Kornatowska perceives this last stage of Kieslowski's oeuvre as the director's effort to join in the "fashionable, world, pop-metaphysical current." And she is hardly alone in holding this view.
Kieslowski was a controversial director. This is something that even such a great enthusiast of Krzysztof Kieslowski's cinema as Stanislaw Zawislinski readily admits, writing in the previously cited book:
"What delights some about Kieslowski's current cinema annoys and repulses others. What appears to some to be fresh, innovative, wise, moving, penetrating, to others seems 'counterfeit,' 'metaphysical gibberish,' 'professional mystification.'"
劉小楓的《沉重的肉身—現代倫理的敘事緯語》內有三專章剖析奇斯洛夫斯基其人及其電影。
好文章理應一讀再讀,更何況今年是奇氏的十年祭?
《沉重的肉身—現代倫理的敘事緯語》 (新浪網 讀書頻道)
- 「性感、死感、歌聲」(《薇娥妮卡的雙重生命》)
- 「愛的碎片的驚鴻一瞥」(總論奇斯洛夫斯基)
- 「艱難的自由倫理」(《十誡》的倫理觀)
Labels: 10th Anniversary, Book
看罷奇斯洛夫斯基十年祭特刊,內容出乎意料地尚可接受。
楊秀慧、家明、湯禎兆、羅展鳳和也斯的文章雖非傑作,但也並不失禮。
朱瓊愛和李志毅的訪問稿,如今讀來,還是饒有趣味。
《號外》去年的三篇訪問稿,是難能可貴的有心人之舉。
當然,畢明和李照興的,一如以往,必屬爛文。
麥聖希其人其文,以往未曾接觸。他寫的序,倒是羞家得很。或許他認為,作為十年祭策劃,便理所當然地是序文人選。即使如此,也應交出一篇較似樣的功課呀。
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湯禎兆談「奇斯洛夫斯基」
the popularity of the "multi-narrative, pseudo-serendipitous, ain’t-life-ironic" genre? (Peter Keouch, The Phoenix, 4/10/06)
Labels: General
郝譽翔談奇士勞斯基電影
人性真誠,是奇士勞斯基的最高信條。在自傳《奇士勞斯基論奇士勞斯基》中,他說道拍電影的動機就在於:「我們無暇談論感情。我想那才是真正的癥結所在。或是我們沒有時間感受與感情有密切關係的激情。於是我們的生命就這樣從我們的指隙間流逝了。」也因此,他不用哲學的思辨,去討論譬如「自由」、「平等」、「博愛」等概念,而是要回到生活之中,觀察人如何去實踐這些道德的信念。他也從不迴避人性中的恐懼、怯懦、孤獨與自私,因為就在不完美中,我們才能領悟到命運的神秘,並且體驗到真誠與道德的關聯。
Labels: General
Kino Kieslowski
Not an active community blog, with only three entries so far in 2006.
Don't get mixed up with the Kino Kieslowski site though. The latter is one of the earliest sites dedicated to Kieslowski, and is sadly one of the few which is still surviving (only just). Its chat page used to be a busy one.
Labels: Site
Lodz is the second largest city of Poland.
奇斯洛夫斯基先生,你好嗎?那年的電影節以「藍」作開幕電影。那年,你親自來香港參加首演,與你見過面。
我負責宣傳工作,某個下午在大會堂安排了訪問,兼帶了官方攝影師拍照,當晚就要發佈大師來港的圖文。那次見面的細節都忘了,但那天發佈的照片卻非常難忘。 ... (Streaming Thoughts, Flowing Visions, 31/8/06)
真希望那張照片能重現人間!
As mentioned earlier, Criterion will be releasing The Double Life of Veronique in November. An interesting question arises: Which ending will Criterion use? The original version, the American version, or both?
According to Kieslowski (Kieslowski on Kieslowski, p.188), "As it is there are two versions of Veronique because I made a different one for America. We see a man emerge from a house which we already know and he calls, 'Veronique! It's cold. Come inside.' 'Dad!' Veronique says and runs to him. And cuddles up to him. That's the ending for America."
Annette Insdorf (Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski, p.135) elaborates: "It is noteworthy that Kieslowski added this ending for American audiences after the film's U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival. As Harvey Weinstein ... recalled in Premiere, Kieslowski hoped to clarify the ending ... The last shot of the French version merely shows Veronique placing her hand on the tree before her father's house."
So, the two endings are essentially the same. The American one is just more obvious. Kieslowski says this on the American eding, "It's obvious that that's her family home. You know that the man's her father. But as I've said, it hadn't been clear to the Americans before that he was her father. Maybe it was some other man fiddling around with the timber. How can you know?"
Yeah, how can the Americans know!
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(updated 9/9) According to Alain of Irenka, the Criterion materials will be the same as those of mk2, which means that only the original ending will be included (see discussions at Kino Kieslowski).
舒琪是香港資深影評人,也是「藝術電影」發行商。當年他為香港引入奇斯洛夫斯基的《十誡》系列、《情誡》、《殺誡》和其他作品的VCD,功德無量。和今天的情況不一樣,當年《十誡》、《情誡》、《殺誡》是在世界各地均難以買到的。我在在人間外吞雲吐霧的奇斯洛夫斯基中,寫到香港的奇氏迷真有福,講的正是這批「創造社」VCD。
下面是舒琪網誌中兩篇關於奇斯洛夫斯基的文章:
- 遇上奇斯洛夫斯基
- 致維朗妮嘉與維朗妮嘉
坦奴域治(Danis Tanovic)導演的《情獄》(L'Enfer/Hell)一般被稱為奇斯洛夫斯基去世前與老拍檔皮舍維茲(Krzystof Piesiewicz)合作撰寫的《天堂、地獄、煉獄》三部曲的第二部曲。
其實,奇斯洛夫斯基並沒有參與撰寫《情獄》的劇本。或者,應該說來不及參與撰寫。
奇斯洛夫斯基在95年宣佈退休後,除了抽煙抽個不亦樂乎外,還與現任波蘭國會議員的皮舍維茲商討下一個三部曲計劃。據皮舍維茲表示,奇斯洛夫斯基當時無意親自執導。不幸地,奇氏在96年3月就因手術失敗去世。
在奇氏去世前,他們已訂好三部曲的大綱,而且《天堂》(後由蒂克偉Tom Tykwer執導)的劇本亦已完成或大致完成。是以《天堂》一片是以奇斯洛夫斯基和皮舍維茲為共同編劇的。
到了《情獄》,情況就較為覆雜。在發行商的網頁上,關於編劇是這樣寫的:'Krzystof Piesiewicz in consultation with Agnieszka Lipiec Wroblewska according to an original idea of trilogy "the paradise, the hell, purgatory" of Krzystof Kieslowski and Krzystof Piesiewicz'(Babelfish的法英翻譯)。即是說是由皮舍維茲根據大綱撰寫劇本的(在IMDb網頁上,編劇是Krzysztof Kieslowski (scenario),Krzysztof Piesiewicz,意思大致相同)。
相關閱讀:Heaven: An Interview with Krzystof Piesiewicz, Screenwriter for The Decalogue
Labels: Hell, Piesiewicz
真真該打,竟到今天才知道羅展鳳的網誌的存在(流動的光影聲色:羅展鳳映畫音樂隨筆)。
羅展鳳是一位香港影評人,專注電影音樂。她的《映畫x音樂》是上佳之作。
從她的網誌帳號 zbigniew820 不難猜到,普列斯納(Zbigniew Preisner)是她鍾愛的電影音樂家,而奇斯洛夫斯基(Krzysztof Kieslowski)是她敬重的導演。
下面是其中幾篇她寫關於奇斯洛夫斯基或普列斯納的文章:
- 以光影聲色書寫靈魂:奇斯洛夫斯基x普列斯納
- Remebering Kieslowski
- 我的冷文學
另:羅展鳳的簡體網誌
林震宇談No End及奇斯洛夫斯基式際遇
《無休無止》不單是理解《十誡》世界觀的指示路牌,片中的喪夫之痛,再由後來的《藍》(Three Coloues: Blue,1993)來延續,而《藍》又緊扣著《白》和《紅》,「藍白紅三部曲」又是法國與波蘭的對照,一切都是無休無止,命運與機會的衍化。
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林震宇另外兩篇關於奇斯洛夫斯基的網誌文:
Zbigniew Preisner的秘密花園
兩生花開花落
Labels: Blind Chance, General, No End, Preisner, Veronique
Fans of Kieslowski's Veronique and the Criterion Collection, rejoice! Criterion will be releasing The Double Life of Veronique in dual-layer DVD-9 in November.
04年底,我又在澳洲電視台重看了《兩生花》,還是覺得「百看不厭」,於是在網誌上寫了短短幾句。當時可能是看完電影又聽原聲帶吧,忽發奇想,拿著CD的背面側側地在日照下拍了一張相片放在文中。相片中有Veronique,也有反射的家中一角。我的習慣,是在網誌上小圖link大圖,但當時我只放了小圖,想必是對相片不大滿意。其後更是將它完全忘掉了。
最近忽然發現阿麥書房部落格的一篇文章用了這張相片。這除了令我重新記起它的存在外,更讓我對它另眼相看:既然世上至少有一個人覺得它有被貼的價值,想必是它還真的不壞啊!
於是我眾裡尋它,最後在電腦的某個燈火闌珊角落找到原圖,然後將它放在flickr上。
幾天前,竟然有人在flickr看過相片後,來電郵問能否使用。
既然世上至少有兩個人覺得它有被貼的價值,那它毫無疑問,是張傑片! - 我現在是這樣認為的 :-)
(補記)
找到原圖後,我企圖回想相片是怎樣拍出來的。是一張透明的,有Veronique的東西嗎?不會吧,我好像沒有類似的物件。最有可能是來自原聲帶!CD拿來後,看看背面,然後左擺擺,右擺擺。對了,就是這樣弄出來的。
至於何以有此構圖意念,我真的忘掉了,也可能根本沒有甚麼意念可言,急就章而已。不過,假若我今天憑這相片拿了甚麼大獎,要發言的話,我一定會說,是影片中反射景物的透明膠球賦予我構圖靈感。
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兩張異曲同工的照片。Yanan Wang作品。
看思存的網誌,方知他是奇斯洛夫斯基的《兩生花》的超級擁躉。離譜的是,他那張94年大華戲院的戲票至今還保留著。
如此行徑,9成9是病態。但也好在有此種病態人物,才能夠保存這麼值得珍惜的東西。思存,票也存!
我自己呢?是在90年代初在澳洲的民族電視台(SBS)看的,還錄了下來。故此,縱使《兩生花》的DVD姍姍來遲,至今年才面世,我卻可以經常拿錄影帶來收看,直至數年前錄影機暴卒為止。
本文原為2001年,即奇氏逝世五週年之作,其後亦間有修改增添。今趁十週年紀念之便作重大修訂。全文如下:
波蘭導演奇斯洛夫斯基(Krzysztof Kieslowski,或譯奇士勞斯基,基斯洛夫斯基,基耶斯洛夫斯基)離開人間轉眼十年。十年,要虛度可真容易,但在奇氏手中,卻已成就一生。自1988年開始的幾年間,奇氏的後期傑作《十誡》(The Decalogue)電視電影系列(另加後來獨立成篇的電影《殺誡》(A Short Film About Killing)及《 情誡》(A Short Film About Love)),《兩生花》(The Double Life of Veronique)及《三色》(Three Colours)系列(《藍》、《白》和《紅》)相繼完成,奠定他在電影史上的地位 -- 這他不感興趣 -- 也使他賺取足夠的香煙錢,於1995年宣佈退休。不料,電影工作的中止,不久亦帶來他生命的終結。奇氏以54之齡,於1996年3月去世。
Labels: 10th Anniversary, Site
專門選映優質電影的百老匯電影中心於1996年底在香港開業,到今年剛好十個年頭。而今年也是波蘭導演奇斯洛夫斯基(Krzysztof Kieslowski)離世十週年紀念。以「奇斯洛夫斯基十年祭」慶祝百老匯電影中心十歲生辰,恰當之至。
On the cover of the Australian release of Kieslowski's The Double Life of Veronique, there is a ratings advice which says "Moderate sex scenes. Infrequent violence."
A review of The Double Life of Veronique by Noel Megahey (DVD Times). The UK release of the DVD is scheduled for 24/4/06.
Attempting to define La Double Vie de Veronique down to any single understandable reading however is not recommended and probably impossible – and you should distrust anyone who attempts to provide a commentary to "explain" this film. This is not a film to be rationalised, but simply felt. Every single scene in Kieslowski's films is designed to provoke a response in the viewer, but that response is not predefined or predetermined. The director knows there are as many ways to view the film as there are people to watch it and La Double Vie de Veronique consequently touches people in an indefinable and deeply personal way.
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To illustrate the point that there are as many ways to view the film as there are viewers, let's look at the use of colour in the film.
Noel Megahey (DVD Times) says it "has a beautifully composed and stylised look, dominated by golden glows and luminous greens in which red is the only colour that stands out. It looks absolutely stunning on this Artificial Eye presentation, the richness of the tones simply radiating off the screen."
Tim Robey (The Telegraph), however, complains that "the showy cinematography bathes everything in the same sickly yellow light. It's really quite tough going."
Gary Tooze (DVDBeaver) is more analytical and states that the image "is decidedly green-ish and I will have to consult some individuals to determine if this was intentional. I don't recall my old VHS looking this way BUT I do recall reading about discussions of this with Kielsowski's cameraman at the time. ... The film was photographed using a golden yellow filter, and the resulting sepia-cum-russet color scheme was apparently further augmented with the deliberate elimination of the color blue from the film's spectrum. True blue appears only a few times in the picture, in each instance reflecting a subjective feeling of love or otherness."
... from two leading British newspapers.
Richard Williams pays tribute to a master of modern European art cinema: True colours (The Guardian, 11/3/06)
When Krzysztof Kieslowski died on March 13, 1996, it was as though a certain kind of cinema had come to an end along with him. The calm, reflective, compassionate gaze he brought to bear on the dilemmas faced by his characters made him the most humanistic of film directors.
This view was echoed by Geoff Andrew, who wrote the Introduction to British Film Institute's "Krzysztof Kieslowski Revisited":
When Krzysztof Kieslowski died, on 13 March 1996, many cinema-goers felt the movies had lost something special, important. It was not just that many admirers of the Polish writer-director felt they'd somehow lost 'a friend', a film-maker who'd been dealing - sensitively, intelligently, sympathetically - with questions or issues rather more relevant and interesting than the shallow spectacle and tired cliches served up by most of his contemporaries. It was also that the death of Kieslowski - himself regarded by some as a successor to Andrei Tarkovsky as the art-house auteur sans pareil - was seen as a loss not only to European cinema but to world cinema.
Labels: 10th Anniversary, DVD, Site, Veronique