ABSTRACT
The familiar physical world dissolves, engendering sensitivity to the realm of the imagination. Spectators become immersed in the viewing, drawn further in by the archetypal images that films typically present. On the surface, Krzyszto Kieslowski's output as a director was diverse. In the 1970s he made documentaries, focusing on Polish political and social life under Communist rule. Although Kieslowski insisted that his films had no religious connotations, he would have had in mind Poland's dominant Catholicism. One recurrent thematic feature of Kieslowski's films must be remarked on, namely the impact of chance on his character's lives. Yvonne Ng argues in Kieslowski's films it is not chance itself but how individuals react to the accidents of fate that defines them. As the titles of the trilogy anticipate, Kieslowski constructs image clusters as a means of expressively, sometimes symbolically pointing toward meanings that are in play even though they may escape both the diegetic societal register and easy verbal labelling.
