Der Zufall - möglicherweise

I could not resist but add to the comments for this film since it has stuck in my memory since catching it quite unexpectedly on late night tv and thinking this was something really extraordinary. And having seen others of Kieslowski since I don't think anything for me, has surpassed this. And possibly that Sliding doors and run lola run may take from this...i But I would like to hear from Poles living in Poland. (sulac?)

What did one reviewer mean by saying that we could not understand fully? i know that is probabaly true and would like to know

What difference does a fraction of a second make? In baseball, it's the difference between a home run and strike three.

In the Olympics, it's the difference between a gold medal and 10th place.

In the movie Blind Chance, it's the difference of a lifetime.

An example of expert craftsmanship by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Blind Chance affords us the rare opportunity to see how a blip in time, a mere split second, can profoundly affect a person's current situation, and the path their life will take from that moment forward.

While the significance of sliced seconds is shown, we get to enjoy some quality time with the communist party, the anti-communist underground, some lovely ladies sans attire, and a mob of disgruntled drug addicts. We are also treated to one or more Slinkies going down stairs alone or in pairs. Indeed, it's quite a blend of characters, motives, and ideologies. However, it is not the point of the film to take sides, make moral statements, or ponder idealistic philosophies. The point is merely to illustrate its premise.

Let there be no doubt that the premise is more than adequately served. From top to bottom, beginning to end, Blind Chance is a fantastic film, an entertaining drama that encourages thought, while not being overbearing.

Just be sure to pay close attention, because a fraction of a second can also be the difference between understanding this film and missing the point entirely.

Blind Chance (Przypadek, 1981) is the first of Kieslowski's films to trade upon explicitly religious themes and seems to mark the beginning of the great director's turn toward introspection and the spiritual realm that so characterizes his later work (especially Decalogue and the Three Colors trilogy). The Polish title could be literally translated "coincidence," an appropriate if possibly ironic title for a three-part film about a young man whose life course appears to be solely determined by his ability or inability to catch a train. Kieslowski has his doubts about such coincidences, for he described the film as "a description of the powers which meddle with our fate, which push us one way or another" (Kieslowski on Kieslowski, ed. Danusia Stok 113). Incidentally, this film inspired Peter Howitt's film Sliding Doors (1998) and Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run (1998), but to my mind, Kieslowski's is a superior film. The original tends to be the best, and he is a true original.

Having read a few negative comments on "Blind Chance", I felt compelled to express my opinion on what has become one of my absolute favorite films. I'm surprised to find that some Kieslowski fans, especially those who appreciate the colors trilogy, don't understand "Blind Chance." In my opinion, "Blind Chance" encapsulates many of the ideas and themes Kieslowski later explored in more detail.

However, "Blind Chance" is, ultimately, a political film. Although Kieslowski never really considered himself a political film-maker (compared to some of his contemporaries), "Blind Chance" is very much driven by political undercurrents and the outcome of each scenario has a decidedly political aspect. That said, the film transcends the immediate political situation in Poland as well and elevates "politics" to a much broader all-encompassing level. It is really not Polish politics that concern Kieslowski here, but the human being's capacity for taking action. Each scenario presents a possible course of action (or non-action). Kieslowski doesn't seem to endorse one course over the other, but makes a much broader statement about the need to take action, to believe in something, and to fight for something. What one is fighting for, what one believes in, ultimately isn't as important as the fight itself.

A brilliant and highly thought-provoking film. In my opinion, one of Kieslowski's most accomplished and densely-packed works. I hope that anyone who didn't appreciate "Blind Chance" will give it another chance (I've watched it at least ten times). It is not the most accessible film, but the pay-off is worth the effort.

The recent romantic comedy 'Sliding Doors' postulated what might happen if a character caught, or did not catch, a particular train. But master Polish film maker Krzysztof Kieslowski had had this idea twenty years earlier, and in his film 'Blind Chance', he used it to much more serious purpose: to explore the interplay of chance and character in the fate of a man. At the same time, he painted a picture of Poland in a state of flux (the film was made during the period of martial law, and duly suppressed for five years); and of the way the same moral choices confront everyone, albeit in different forms. The film lacks the high artistry of his subsequent works, but his ability to distill the essence of life into minimalist drama is already much in evidence. The stark awfulness of the communist regime may have aided him in this, as evidenced by the looser, more mystical nature of his final, French-set work. But his greatest achievements, the openly political 'No End' and the perfect morality plays of the 'Dekalog', can each be seen as natural extensions of the themes of 'Blind Chance'.

In the film's final scene, an aircraft takes off, but to us, it appears as if it is sinking into the earth. The world of cinema is poorer without its director and his bleak, poetic visions.