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header Kieslowski: The Calm + Talking Heads

The Calm + Talking Heads

The Calm + Talking Heads

The Calm Before the Storm is a television film by Kieślowski about a builder who becomes embroiled in a fateful labour conflict. Preceded by his short Talking Heads, in which he asks forty people questions such as: "Who are you?" and "What do you most wish for?"

poster Kieslowski: The Calm + Talking Heads
Films in this programme:

Programme

  • still from Talking Heads (Gadające głowy) (Krzysztof Kieslowski, PL 1980)

    Talking Heads (Krzysztof Kieslowski, PL 1980, 16')

    In this short film, Kieślowski asks the questions "In which year were you born?" "Who are you?" and "What do you most wish for?" to forty different people, ranging from a baby to a one-hundred-year-old woman.

  • still from The Calm Before the Storm (Krzysztof Kieslowski, PL 1976)

    The Calm Before the Storm (Krzysztof Kieslowski, PL 1976, 81')

    A young man in his twenties leaves prison having served three years for a crime he didn’t commit. He wants to start over in a new place and dreams of a job, a wife and a family. He gets part way to making this dream reality, when while working a labouring job he winds up in a fateful conflict between the corrupt boss and colleagues who are secretly planning a strike. He ends up being a pawn for one side, while trying to stick to his ideals with the other.

    For a long time, Polish censors tried to prohibit screenings of this TV film, probably because of the grim portrait it paints of a society that only brings happiness to the happy few.

Details

Production year

2023

Length

101 min.

Country

NL

Language

Polish

Subtitles

English

Part of

Restored & Unseen

At last, a chance to see that Italian classic that’s been on the list for so long? Or relish that wonderful restoration of Blue Movie, the Netherlands’ most talked-about nude film of the seventies, when the Bijlmer district was still a sexual paradise? Restored & Unseen is a biweekly programme featuring classics and recent restorations, with introductions by experts.

Learn more
campain image Restored & Unseen
still from Talking Heads (Gadające głowy) (Krzysztof Kieslowski, PL 1980)
still from The Calm Before the Storm (Krzysztof Kieslowski, PL 1976)
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