Le Tramway

One of the first, if not the first, assignment in film school, is to make a silent film. Kieslowski has wisely limited his film to two characters and one location - a tram in the middle of the night- a boy- a girl- exchanged glances bespeaking of longings and loneliness and shyness. It is a clever and simple way of satisfying the assignment. The most interesting element is the way the boy chases the tram at the beginning, barely making it. The girl is on the tram suggesting the situation of the later masterpiece Blind Chance, except here, instead of the three alternative futures, each more bleak than the other, the young and still optimistic Kieslowski seems to give love and life a second chance to overcome fate or human weakness. The peculiar route of the tram at the end, looping back on itself, may be located at an end of the line turn around, but, being night, only the illumination from the tram can be seen as if playing a very strange game with the boy who takes up the chase after being given a second chance. It might be unfair, but it suggests, in a third hand, third eye kind of way, the overwhelmingly classic tram scene in Murnau's Sunrise

A young man leaves a gathering and takes the late-night tram. While the car rattles along, he sees a young woman sitting by herself, her eyes shut. He watches her, then when his stop comes, he gets off.... and runs back towards the departing tram.

Krzysztof Kieslowski's first movie is a silent black & white affair, barely more than five minutes long. Made while he was still a film student, it shows the virtues of silent films, forcing the viewer to assign intent and meaning to its images, and investing the audience thereby in what is going on. It's what would be a common technique in his later films, where there is little expository dialogue.

One of Krzysztof Kieslowski's earliest experiments was this precious little film called "The Tram" which involves a shy boy (Jerzy Braszka) thinking he's in love with a pretty girl (Maria Janiec) while inside of a tram. The night wasn't promising while he was in this party but it seems now that this special girl is all charming and so into him, things might be different. No one else is standing on their way, they both enjoy the presence of each other but when the boy reaches his destiny...(sigh). I'll stop right here.

Employing a silent film mode to its brief telling, Kieslowski gives us an amusing and nice story in five minutes, and almost like a preview of what he would do in future works, already showing his excellent filmmaking skills. I was reminded of "Blind Chance", a work of art he made in the 1980's about a man experience a series of "what if's" in his life with three long segments presenting this man's life and one decisive act (doing or not doing) that altered his life course. The inconclusive ending of "The Tram" is exactly that movie: Will he enter the tram and try to win the girl? Will he manage to go back? Will his expectations be fulfilled? That's art, right there. Not in the answer but in the haunting question that can be answered or not. Will you dare yourself to see what's coming next? In this movie case, don't stop and falter. Go along!

Kieslowski's short is a great filmed piece, economical, brilliantly filmed and greatly acted by its two main stars, specially Braszka, the boy. A pleasant face but not the kind one would think as a ladies man who knows it all. To me he looked like a mix between Anthony Perkins and Sergey Bodrov Jr., cute but clumsy and with a bit of mysterious - perhaps that's the thing that one must reason why the girl wouldn't try anything with him. But the nice guy characteristic is present in him, evidenced in the hilarious sugar cube chewing sequence, you don't know if he needed to do that or it was his way to impress the girl.

Above all, the main reason why this movie succeeds is because of a real fact, I definitely think, that a majority of people has gone through: seeing that special person that warms you heart, pleases your eyes and senses, to the point where you feel the need of trying something, a small talk, some flirting, the longest possible amount of contact. Due to obvious reasons, this "connection" nowadays most of the time can be viewed as stalking, obsession or territory to dangerous acts. Kieslowski's film is a register of a different time where innocence still reigns in the world. Once again, the magic of movies is transported to the screen, reflecting and echoing with grace in our lives. 9/10.

Shyness seems to be the biggest issue here. The young man pursues the pretty girl and she knows he's out there watching her. At first he seems like a creeper, but she realizes that he isn't a danger and falls asleep. He makes a great effort to connect but given the opportunity, things don't quite work out...or do they? We will never know and a sequel is unlikely.