La cicatriz

Kiewslowski's first film is an impressive study on a man who has been thrown in the deep end and put in charge of a Factory that the locals don't want. This is a very subtle and effective attack on the hypocritical Communist party.

I cannot think of another film that so violates the founding principal of Cinema 101...show, do not tell...as consistently and completely as does this dull, bleak Polish offering from Kryztof Kieslowski. Just one long, uninvolving scene after another of Communist Party apartachik Stefan Bednarz wrestling with his conscience while being told of worker discontent at the nitrate factory he runs. At no point do we actually see the bad work place conditions that are causing the problems with which Bednarz, to mention nothing of the workers, who remain largely faceless, nameless and voiceless, is struggling. What we do see, repetitively and wearyingly, are shots of Bednarz grimacing, sighing, and looking bereft and forlorn as he smokes (did I mention this is a Polish film?) and drinks and gazes inward which may work in a novel or a play but is not gonna cut it on film. Oh, and the stuff with Bednarz and his daughter, where Kieslowski is trying to go mainstream, is like The Socialist Lifetime Channel. C plus.

Scar is a brave film which takes its time to settle nicely in viewers' minds.It starts in a highly official manner and later develops into a family tragedy.In Scar the best thing to watch is the manner in which all the elements of human weaknesses are portrayed.Helpless characters not being able to come out of their shell is an accepted trait of Kieslowski's films and it is very much evident in The Scar too as its leading player Bednarz is trapped from all sides.He can neither free himself from family pressures coming from his wife and daughter nor from his job under a communist regime.It would be wrong to judge this film's characters based on their actions but it would nevertheless not be wrong to claim that they are victims of unfortunate circumstances as they are being trapped under a system in which change is slow to come and consensus is really reached.For all those interested in Polish cinema they are some very good glimpses of 2 of the most outstanding figures of Polish cinema : a young Agnieszka Holland as an actress and Jerzy Stuhr as a young communist party worker.

I only got the idea of this movie on the second time I saw it. It is actually like a documentary of a fictious character (or who knows he didn't exist) living in a socialist Poland who is being commissioned to conduct a new chemical factory. The movie shows quite realistic portrait of a man who tries to keep his values in order in the middle of all corruption and chaos of different social movements of the time. The movie doesn't go into any character's side actually, but tries to display the difficulties of the system and how an individual is powerless in many ways.

The storytelling is very slow and at times a bit jumpy. The music scenes of the movie, that are very rare, are quite bizarre, almost eerie.

I cannot recommend the movie to anyone who tend to fall asleep in slow dramas, but those who like other Kieslowsky films or documentaries of socialism, this is an interesting flick.

Kieslowski did go on to better things later, especially in his later and more internationally renowned period starting with 'Dekalog' all the way through to 'Three Colours: Red'. 'The Scar' however is a highly impressive feature film debut.

Like as was said for 'The Calm' (a relatively obscure work and undeservedly so), 'The Scar' doesn't have an awful lot wrong with it, it's the sort of film that does almost everything correctly and with very good skill but it's also a case of Kieslowski's style and all his components (while present and correct here) became more refined later on. 'The Calm' does lack the intensity and emotional resonance of his later work, especially with the best 'Dekalog' stories, 'The Double Life of Veronique' and 'Three Colors: Red' and 'Blue'.

Maybe it does get a touch heavy-handed in places too (then again that was not unexpected with themes as heavy and controversial as hypocrisy, compromise and contradiction) and occasionally a touch jumpy.

Again, however, as was said for 'The Calm', these nit-picks are not massive and much of 'The Scar' works very well. It is a good-looking film, as well as being beautifully shot with atmospheric use of colour to match the mood, it is gritty yet beautiful with many thoughtful and emotionally powerful images lingering long into the memory. Kieslowski's direction is quietly unobtrusive, intelligently paced and never too heavy. Very intriguing use of sound and silence, music is sparsely used but effectively intricate.

It's a thought-provoking film too, rarely rambling and makes what it has to say stick. Much of the story is sensitively told and poignant (if not as much as Kieslowski's later work), hardly cold. While deliberately paced it intrigues, engaging a good deal while also suitably challenging the viewer in spots. The themes are explored well, though there are thematically richer films from Kieslowski, and the characters (portrayed fairly bleakly but realistically) carry the story well. As ever, the complexity and nuances of the acting is to be admired.

Overall, interesting and very good early Kieslowski, though he did go on to better things later. 8/10 Bethany Cox