A Short Film About Killing poster & wallpaper

Aleksander Bednarz, Artur Barcis, Barbara Dziekan

Jacek, a pimply youth, hires a taxi, directing the driver to a remote location and brutally murdering him. Piotr, an idealistic lawyer, defends the boy at his trial, delivering an impassioned speech, ...( read more  read more... )but fails to shield the boy from the death penalty.

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92% liked it

4,632 ratings

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12 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 24 min.

Directed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Release Date: March 11, 1988

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DVD Release Date: May 11, 2004

Stats: 206 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (206)

  • flixsterman
    June 12, 2009
    flixsterman
    Kieslowski's artful and unusual expression of despair.
  • kenstachnik
    September 30, 2008
    kenstachnik
    A really well acted and crafted emotional kick in the twig and berries.
  • bort16
    June 27, 2008
    bort16
    "Since Cain, no punishment has proved an adequate remedy."

    A soon to be lawyer responds to the debate on capital punishment with this quote at his exam. The older lawyers seem pleased and do not need to be told who the source of those words are. And so we are not told. Kies...( read more)lowski, one of the greatest of all filmmakers, made a habit of this in his films, he never tells us anything we don't need to know, even when we think we need to know. In the Double Life of Veronique he never tells us why there are two women who look exactly alike, both have heart problems, why one feels the loss of the other without ever having met her or knowing of her, or why all this happens despite no relation (perhaps other than spiritual) whatsoever. We want to know the answer, but what good would that do? If we got it we'd likely be left dissapointed. Whats left unsaid sometimes speaks the loudest.

    In A Short Film About Killing Kieslowski never really goes into details about why a young man brutally murders a Taxi Driver one afternoon. We find out details from his past, but the closest we get to finding out why he did this is why he lives in the city now. In Kieslowski's world, chance dictates the day - although it is not necessarily random. The characters in the film seem to be on a path of fate - the young lawyer, the young man, and the middle aged taxi driver. They are floating down a path, presented with various different paths, which unfortunatly for all involved are never treaded on. The taxi driver is the best example of this. He has a mean streak, if not for anything but his own enjoyment. Early on a young couple wait for him to finish washing his taxi. He finishes and simply drives off leaving them behind, seemingly pleased with himself. Later he sees a drunk man coming out of a pub with the help of his friend, instead of taking the fare he immediatly drives away before the men can get in the cab. This mean spirited actions lead him on a path to his death. If only he had took the couple the young man wouldn't have ended up in his car; if only he decided to be a good samaritan and take the drunken fare, he would have never ended up with his killer in the car. But alas he chooses to ignore the escapes and alas he is killed.
    The film is clear about what its trying to say in its main message: Capital punishment is wrong and unjust. Fate lead to the death of the taxi driver, but it is the state's vengeance for a man it could care less about that leads to the murder of the young man (yes, capital punishment is murder, no matter how you spin it, Sorry Weber).
    What is incredible about this film is that whereas other anti-capital punishment films show that the offender has his very clear reasons for committing his crime, tugging at our heart strings with murder in some form of defense, Kieslowski doesn't allow us that luxery. No, instead the taxi driver, a jerk he may be, is killed in cold blood without any legitimate justification. That is a bold step to make in a film against capital punishment. David Gale should have taken lessons. That the film makes this work is perhaps its greatest strength. We see that the young man regrets what he did, he's scared, he's human - not a monster. Kieslowski makes the final scenes genuinely heart breaking without having to tell us why.
    Yes, it is the lack of reason which makes A Short Film About Killing Work, just as the lack of answers is what makes The Double Life of Veronique Work. Fate has its way with us, yet grants us opportunities to deny it without ever acknowledging them. What a cruel game life is.
    Oh, and if you must know, that unsourced quote with which I opened this review is derived from Marx in 1853: "...there is such a thing as statistics ? which prove with the most complete evidence that since Cain the world has neither been intimidated nor ameliorated by punishment"
  • JeT0425
    March 12, 2008
    JeT0425
    Krótki film o zabijaniu [A Short Film About Killing] (1988)
    director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
    starring: Miroslaw Baka, Krzysztof Globisz, Jan Tesarz, Zbigniew Zapasiewicz

    Whether you've seen this version or the shorter version from Kieslowski's Dekalog, you've basical...( read more)ly adopted the message he was trying to get across. Kieslowski is one of my favourite filmmakers, but also one of the most controversial with his way of depicting the actions in his films. The raw and sometimes grotesque images that are found in his films are unsettling, but powerful and quite necessary. If you're a fan of Kieslowski's Three Colours Trilogy, you might have an idea of what to expect from his Dekalog.

    The style of this film; the way it is shot and edited is what makes it so dark and haunting (especially in the moments leading up to the killings). The film, when seen through the main character's eyes, has a brownish dinge to it, as if the character was experiencing tunnel vision. The center of his sight is the only thing in proper colouration while the rest of the screen is diluted in brown shades. In some shots the colours are diluted and in some the colours are just darkened. Either way, the effect Kieslowski was aiming for is very effective.

    The biggest issue some people have with this film is that (they think) it's promoting anti-capital punishment. With it's chilling scene of a young man being hanged, one can also argue the total opposite as well. The fact is, Kieslowski made this film in a way so it's totally subjective. If this film was objective, then it would be a completely different experience.

    The film mostly avoided the mistake of being an indictment of the death penalty and that's what makes it so eerily realistic because we are allowed to have our own opinions of the matter without it conflicting with the film's. I love that about this film.

    Kieslowski really tackled a huge issue in making this film and he made it work. Arguments still go on to this day and probably will forever over such a touchy subject like capital punishment that it would be a real challenge in making a film (subjective or not) about it. People will always have their own opinions and even if a film should approach the topic in the most gentle way possible or the most forward way possible, problems will arise. I applaud Krzysztof Kieslowski for making this film (and the rest of his Dekalog series) and I wish more people would know his name. He's a master at what he does and I highly recommend everyone to check out his work.
  • habitualdamnation
    March 3, 2008
    habitualdamnation
    Slow-burnin, self-consumin Kieslowski fare - how else do we anti-establish? Nobody cares for Jacek. Nobody wants to know Jacek. Serious fuckin poetry.
  • kommzumirfolks
    October 27, 2009
    kommzumirfolks
    UM DOS MAIS INDISPENSÁVEIS DE TODOS OS TEMPOS! KIE?LOWSKI GENIAL, MAIS DO QUE NUNCA!
  • Phonex
    October 8, 2009
    Phonex
    Love is OK, but killing. Terrible.
  • eranin90
    August 10, 2009
    eranin90
    Perfect, it describes the human nature perfectly, at first I tought that it would be boring, but I soon swallowed my words as I started to watch this movie, did not said a word in the entire movie, and had my mouth open all the movie, a true story, and it has a depth that not eve...( read more)ryone can understand, I love the depth in all stories, and this is not an exception, kudos for this director, and, I higly recommend it for everyone around my age, to make them understand that a petty desire that makes you do stupid things can be expensive at the end.
  • rhaechyne
    August 4, 2009
    rhaechyne
    oh my god....... i can't even BEGIN to describe how much this sucked. it's horrible and boring and just plain old terrible. i should have learned by now that a lot of these types of movies are like this and for some reason, i just can't stop myself from wanting to watch this utte...( read more)r CRAP! i know, those of you that saw this loved it probably but i just can't get behind that.
  • 89Richter
    July 12, 2009
    89Richter
    El asesino, la víctima, el defensor... los tres personajes en un solo film. Tres mundos distintos unidos por una acción: un asesinato, natural y justificado.

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