Images of Time, Thought and Emotions Narration and the Spectator´S Experience in Krzysztof Kieslovski´S´ Late Fiction Films
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JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 37 Kaisa Hiltunen Images of Time, Thought and Emotions Narration and the Spectator´s Experience in Krzysztof Kieslovski´s´ Late Fiction Films JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO ´ ´ ´ Copyright © , by University of Jyväskylä ABSTRACT Hiltunen, Kaisa Images of time, thought and emotions: narration and the spectator’s experience in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s late fiction films Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2005, 203 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities ISSN 1459-4331; 37) ISBN 951-39-2119-0 Summary Diss. The thesis deals with narration and style in and the spectator’s experience of the late fiction films of the Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski. It analyses A Short Film About Killing (1988), A Short Film About Love (1988), the television series The Decalogue (1988/89), The Double Life of Véronique (1991), and The Three Colours trilogy (1993/94). The earlier documentary and fiction films are discussed briefly to establish a stylistic and thematic continuity between the socially conscious early films directed when Kieślowski worked in the national Polish film industry and the late art films made as European co-productions. The narratives of these films are examined on the one hand as structures and on the other as processes, paying special attention to the spectator’s experience and understanding of them. Narration is analysed as a process taking place between the spectator and a film. Phenomenological approaches and cognitive film theory provide the theoretical framework for the study. A central question is how time is organised in Kieślowski’s narratives and how it is connected with their meanings and the representation of their protagonists’ inner lives. His narratives are elliptic and ambiguous and focused on individual moments rather than on the final outcome. They demand the spectator’s active participation. They are thematically constructed and stylised, which makes them self-conscious. But instead of detachment the spectator experiences a sense of being in between: of being simultaneously aware both of the story and of the means of telling it. Kieślowski’s main interest was to portray the inner lives of his contemporary main characters, resulting in very subjective stories. Kieślowski represents the world as it is perceived from an individual subject’s point of view, creating films that appear as mindscreens of their characters. Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy is used to characterise the interconnectedness of the subjective and the objective, the internal and the external in Kieślowski’s narratives. The relation between subjectivity, temporality and space in his stories is one of the key questions addressed. Keywords: Krzysztof Kieślowski, film, narration, time, experience, phenomenology, cognitive film theory. Author’s address Kaisa Hiltunen Department of Arts and Culture Studies University of Jyväskylä, Finland P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä Supervisors Jarmo Valkola School of Cultural Studies Jyväskylä Polytechnic, Finland Pauline von Bonsdorff Department of Arts and Culture Studies University of Jyväskylä, Finland Reviewers Henry Bacon Institute for Art Research University of Helsinki, Finland Jukka Sihvonen School of Art, Literature and Music University of Turku, Finland Opponent Paul Coates School of Language and Literature University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom FOREWORD My long journey with Krzysztof Kieślowski’s films is coming to a close, or at least to a temporary halt, with the completion of this doctoral thesis. This is the time and place for me to look back and express my gratitude to the people who have helped and supported me during the voyage. First of all I want to thank my supervisors. Jarmo Valkola encouraged me to continue studying Kieślowski’s films beyond the licenciate thesis and commented on the manuscript in its different stages. Professor Pauline von Bonsdorff’s careful reading and encouragement helped me greatly. Marjatta Saarnivaara made valuable comments in the Arts Education seminar. I am also grateful to Tadeusz Lubelski, Professor of Film History at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, who helped me in so many ways during my trips to Poland. It was the grants awarded by the University of Jyväskylä and the Finnish Cultural Foundation that made this dissertation possible in the first place. In the summer of 2004 I finally decided to write the thesis in English. I would have been lost without Hannu Hiilos, who checked the language carefully. I learned much from his expertise. I extend my collective thanks to my colleagues at the University of Jyväskylä, especially to the people in the two seminars I have attended – the Arts Education seminar and the “Tuesday seminar” at the Research Centre for Contemporary Culture. Moreover, there are friends who may not even know they helped me by simply being there and listening to my worries about whether I would ever be able to complete this dissertation! Last but not least, I am for ever grateful to my parents, who despite living far from Jyväskylä have always been with me in spirit and have supported me in all possible ways. I dedicate this thesis to my mother’s memory. Jyväskylä 14.4.2005 Kaisa Hiltunen CONTENTS ABSTRACT FOREWORD CONTENTS INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 9 The beginning of Kieślowski’s career .................................................. 10 The approach and structure of the study............................................ 13 Earlier research on Kieślowski.............................................................. 17 I PHENOMENOLOGY AND COGNITIVE FILM THEORY AS THEORETICAL STARTING POINTS........................................................... 23 1 The relationship between phenomenology and cognitive science.. 23 1.1 The reciprocity of the subject and the world in phenomenology............................................................................. 27 1.2 Temporal art(s).............................................................................. 29 1.3 Time in film .................................................................................... 32 2 The spectator and narrative in cognitive film theory........................ 34 2.1 The active spectator....................................................................... 35 2.2 Cinematic time arises from experience ...................................... 39 II NARRATIVE STRUCTURES.......................................................................... 44 3 The legacy of the documentaries.......................................................... 44 3.1 Telling stories with the help of reality ....................................... 46 3.2 The small worlds of Kieślowski’s documentary films............. 49 3.3 Focussing on individual protagonists – the early fictions....... 57 3.4 Blind Chance and No End – two turning points ......................... 62 4 Deeper into the personal........................................................................ 67 4.1 The stories told in personal time................................................. 68 4.2 Narrative ellipses........................................................................... 76 4.3 The Decalogue and the drama of everyday life........................... 81 4.4 Decalogue 2 – condensations and displacements....................... 85 5 Cinema as thought provoker ................................................................ 88 5.1 A Short Film About Killing – a dialogue between theme and structure.................................................................................. 91 5.2 Challenges to the viewer – the abstract core of Red ................. 96 5.3 Anticipations and circularities................................................... 106 III VISUALISING EXPERIENCES.................................................................... 111 6 The legacy of art film............................................................................ 111 6.1 From speech to images ............................................................... 111 6.2 The ambiguity of art film ........................................................... 114 6.3 Emphasised moments of narration........................................... 118 6.4 The play of parallels in The Double Life of Veronique............... 122 7 Mindscapes and cinematic self-consciousness ................................. 129 7.1 Ways of expressing subjectivity ................................................ 129 7.2 The sense of being in between................................................... 134 7.3 Film as a place where gazes converge...................................... 140 7.4 The drifter’s encounter with the city ........................................ 146 7.5 Reflexive camera movements in Red ........................................ 149 7.6 Aesthetics of emotions in Blue ................................................... 151 8 Representations of space...................................................................... 162 8.1 Double spaces and boundary crossings................................... 164 8.2 Microworlds................................................................................. 170 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 175 SUOMENKIELINEN TIIVISTELMÄ.................................................................... 181 FILMOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................