Le hasard

This film should be seen as one of Kieslowski's best. It is structured in three parts, each representing a different outcome of a single chance event (Tom Tykwer flat out stole this idea for his great movie Run, Lola, Run -- I'm not complaining, though). Kieslowski uses this singular situation in which the viewer realizes that where you are in life is largely due to chance to pose philosophical questions about how an individual should deal with his surroundings.

Within the context of the socialist police state of Poland at that time he asks us if we are supposed to fight the system we live in, be part of it and change it from the inside, or whether being happy in life is the one thing we are actually responsible for? In other words, is it worth fighting against everything we don't like? Is accepting it no different from selling out? Should we just try to make the most of it? Kieslowski gives us no answers, which is why this film, as well as all other Kieslowski films I have seen, seems so honest, so true to life. The only honest answer to the hard questions is "I don't know"

The film is also graced with careful, subtle characterizations, beautiful but gritty camera-work, a true comprehension of human emotions as well as of human conflict, and the style and brilliance of a man who truly understands.

I know this: Kieslowski is a master.

When seeing this movie I had 3 disadvantages: I am not Polish so I could not completeley identify with the scenario. I do not speak Polish and I lost a lot on the poor english translation that is not even my native language. Lastly, it was very late in the night and I was exhausted.

Yet, this is probably one of my all time favorite movies eventhough I am not a loyal Kieslowski fan. The subject of the movie is what makes the whole difference. A very interesting issue about life that I am sure is bothering a lot of people in the world. Very human plot with a lot of symbolic scenes. Do not expect to fully grasp the idea by watching it only once. And absolutely do no refrain from watching this movie at all, if you are a serious movie watcher. I give it a very enthusiastic 10.

This is no doubt one of my most favorite films of all times. It has a great screenplay filled with powerful and true characters. The cast is just great. And the gloomy atmosphere of our country back in the seventies...

The only flaw that I can think of is the fact that this film is probably very hard to understand for non-Poles as it is so very... Polish. And although the message the movie tries to convey seems to be more universal, you probably cannot get the whole of it if you were not born in a country located between Russia and Germany.

And if you compare this one to last year Peter Howitt's flick "Sliding Doors"... See how films of similar content can differ?

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.