Cast: Grazyna Szapolowska, Maria Pakulnis, Aleksander Bardini,=20 Jerzy Radziwillowicz, Artur Barcis Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski Producer: Ryszard Chutkowski Screenplay: Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz Cinematography: Jacek Petrycki Music: Zbigniew Preisner U.S. Distributor: New Yorker Films In Polish with subtitles
NO END, the first collaboration between writer-director Krzysztof=20 Kieslowski and lawyer-turned-screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, takes=20 place in a Poland that is under the cloud of martial law. More than any=20 of the director's other internationally-screened features, this one=20 requires some (however rudimentary) knowledge of the political situation=20 in Poland during the early-to-mid eighties. Martial law was declared in=20 late 1981, and, in the resulting climate of uncertainty and tension, the=20 courts began to pass two-to-three year sentences on anyone caught=20 painting graffiti, found in possession of an underground newspaper,=20 breaking curfew, or participating in strikes or other resistance=20 activities. One of Kieslowski's objectives in NO END was to explore=20 potential ramifications of this situation from a noncritical=20 perspective.=20
Although NO END garnered Kieslowski more overseas recognition that=20 he had attained for CAMERA BUFF, things weren't as pleasant at home. =20 According to the director, this film was not at all well-received during=20 its initial run. Discussing the Polish reaction to NO END, he said, "It=20 was received terribly by the authorities; it was received terribly by=20 the opposition, and it was received terribly by the Church. Meaning, by=20 the three powers that be in Poland. We really got a thrashing over it. =20 Only one element didn't give us a thrashing, and that was the audience=85=20 they went to see it=85 Never in my life have I received as many letters or= =20 phone calls about a film=85 And all of them, in fact -- I didn't get a=20 single bad letter or call -- said that I'd spoken the truth about=20 martial law. That that was the way they experienced it, that's what it=20 was like."
NO END is really three stories in one, all of which revolve around=20 people connected to a lawyer, Antoni Zyro (Jerzy Radziwillowicz), who=20 dies just before the film begins. There's Ulla (Grazyna Szapolowska,=20 who later appeared in DECALOGUE 6, A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE), the=20 lawyer's widow. Only after his death does she realize how much she=20 loved her husband and how little meaning her life has without him. The=20 there's Dariusz (Artur Barcis), Antoni's client, who has been jailed for=20 leading a labor strike. After Antoni's death, Dariusz is forced to=20 employ an older, more cautious lawyer (Aleksander Bardini), who believes=20 in compromising with the state to obtain a lenient sentence. Finally,=20 there's the ghost of Antoni, who silently haunts his friends and family,=20 watching as they continue their lives.
Pre-echoes of BLUE abound in this film. Ulla's grief over her=20 husband's death is like Julie's in the 1993 feature. Both women=20 discover their husbands' secrets, and both turn to available men for=20 sexual satisfaction. Adding to the similarities, Zbigniew Preisner's=20 haunting score for NO END can be heard often during BLUE as a=20 composition by "Van Den Budenmayer". However, while Ulla's story is NO=20 END's most powerful element, the emotional impact here is less than what=20 Kieslowski achieved with the first installment of his THREE COLORS=20 trilogy.
From a purely intellectual perspective, Dariusz's story is probably=20 the most intriguing. His dilemma is simple: accept his new lawyer's=20 strategy of compromise and go free, or retrain his integrity and go to=20 prison. Dariusz agonizes over the choice. He has a wife and child to=20 feed -- something he can't do if he's in jail. Yet he believes=20 passionately in the rights of the workers and the unfairness of martial=20 law, and it makes him feel like a fraud to consider "selling out." =20 Kieslowski carefully balances both sides of the predicament, presenting=20 them to the audience almost as if asking us to render a verdict. In the=20 end, Dariusz' decision is perhaps inevitable, but it gives him no joy. =20 Kieslowski uses this sort of ethical and/or moral dilemma frequently in=20 his movies. CAMERA BUFF, BLIND CHANCE, and DECALOGUE all explore=20 similar situations.
The metaphysical element of NO END, while intriguing in concept,=20 doesn't work all that well on screen. We never get much sense for what=20 Antoni's ghost is feeling. He's only in four scenes, and remains=20 something of an enigma -- an impotent watcher who occasionally attempts=20 to communicate with the living by leaving unexpected signs. Kieslowski=20 uses Antoni's ghost as a metaphor for the average person constrained by=20 martial law -- possessing a clear conscience yet unable to do anything=20 to affect change.
The three motifs of NO END frequently cross and occasionally=20 entwine. Kieslowski doesn't always handle these interconnections well;=20 in fact, there are times when the different stories mesh clumsily. =20 Nevertheless, the film is so packed with ideas that there's never any=20 shortage of material worth pondering, and Ulla's emotional torment=20 touches the heart. Even though elements of the whole don't blend=20 seamlessly, NO END still leaves a lasting impression. Looking back on=20 the full body of Kieslowski's films, NO END can be viewed as an=20 important entry, because, despite its flaws, we can observe embryonic=20 forms of several themes that the director explored more fully in=20 DECALOGUE and THREE COLORS. Thus, NO END functions both as a compliment=20 and a precursor to the director's most lasting works.
