User reviews

A young man and his girlfriend are staying at a camp site near to where a group of other young men are all camped together. The busload of boys leave first but, having packed all their stuff away, the couple pass them on their motorbike – ignoring their catcalls on the way. The couple soon realize that they have dropped their tent somewhere on the road and turn back to look for it – only to find that the busload of boys has stopped and found it first. The boys make a simple proposal – the tent in exchange for the girl.

The plot summary makes it sound interesting and it was enough to make me interested enough to give it a go but really I must say I was left wondering what I had just spent 15 minutes of my time on. I'm sure fans of Kieslowski will come after me for daring to suggest that this but this is just not very good! The direction is good in that it is quite well shot with plenty to hold the eye. However, substance-wise there is not a great deal going on here – there is stuff that is so out of place that I'm sure it was meant to mean something, but goodness only knows what. The overall narrative has no real meaning either and nothing really happens – I'm sure it is all meant to mean something in the context of the couple's relationship but if it did it certainly did a very good job of keeping it a secret!

The cast are OK and seem natural enough but there is no real material for them to work with and none of them have any characters – a problem that can sometimes occur where the script is more interested in what the characters represent than who they are in themselves. Generally the boys just shout and act like a mass rather than individuals who can be picked out.

Overall a disappointing short film that left me with nothing at all after I had watched it. The plot is very simple but isn't anywhere near as interesting as it sounds and the meaning that I assume was there is so well hidden that I must admit I found it to be almost without meaning or point. A shame but happily it was from a director who got a lot better and more interesting as he went on.

It is generally believed that a short film with glimpses of unrequited love is an oddity.Kieslowski proves that such is not the case with his protagonists as a sensible winner can do everything in order to make things work for him.Leave us,play your silly tricks elsewhere.This is the one of the most pertinent message which can be deduced from Krzysztof Kieslowski's short film "Koncert Zyczen".It is much more than a simple boy takes his girl on a picnic story.Kieslowski shows us that betrayal can happen at an early stage in case of two people's relationships.He asks an important question:What should be important to a man ? His girl's companionship or some obscure identity card ? There are a lot of irresponsible young people in this film yet Kieslowski is in no mood to mock them.He is rather willing to show them as they are with all their strengths and weaknesses.Like young people from other countries,Kieslowski suggests that even young people from Poland have a penchant for music,carefree life,fun and frolic.This is the best non political,non ideological message of this film.

I totally agree with bob the moo. The directing style reminded me of Lucian Pintilie and his "Reconstituirea", made in the same period of time. I guess that in the '60 (u can see that in the good movies from that period, an example - Knife in the Water by Polanski - there is an atmosphere typically in those films. The "Concert..." is very well shot, has a nice end but it doesn't say a thing. I liked the grotesque characters in the bus, the idiot with the ball, the driver, the cheap young girls. I d'ont understand why the boy let the girl to leave with the guys from the bus. For a tent that he didn't want back in the first place ? For the identity card ?

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