For a mere 15-minute student film, Kieslowski is able to fit several layers of meaning within the characters and the story. On its surface, this film at first seems to be about a couple on a camping trip and a group of rowdy students and their driver who are parked not that far from the couple. A tent is lost and retrieved. Well, there is much more than that. Kieslowski initially juxtaposes the sober couple with the lecherous and drinking students and connects them through one of the students who in more modern times would be referred to as a "nerd." The nerd does not participate in his fellow students' drinking, music and reverie, but instead plays with a football (soccer ball) which leads him to watch the couple from afar. When we first see the couple, they are packing up their camping equipment, and Eva is combing her hair. She asks her boyfriend if her part is even and without looking he says "yes" and continues on with his packing. She tries to comb his hair, which he later messes up. He then has to fix their motorbike, and he dismisses Eva's smiles towards him. In general, he is rather cold towards her amorousness. The couple appear a bit older than the students, and in particular the boyfriend is all business (packing, fixing the bike, testing the headlamps.) Whereas the students are free and could care less about their inebriated driver, who as the only adult there is careless about his students. At one point while the bike is being fixed, Eva notices that the students are leaving as well. The students know that the couple are getting ready to go, too. Once they are on their way, their bike eventually passes the bus and the students yell out the window at them. We notice Eva's left hand moving backwards (she might be loosening the tent.) As they pull away, the tent is left in front of the bus on the road. Farther down the road, the driver realizes the tent is gone, and he says he could care less about it. Eva insists on going back because the tent was a gift and her ID is in it (we later find out that the ID is in his jacket.) She is attracted to the free, fun-loving students (who we hear listening to a song that repeats "20 years old") who probably remind her of her recent past before getting with the boyfriend. Interestingly, she is asked by him after the two excuses "Why do you want to go back there?" She mentions the ID again. When they finally realize that the driver has the tent, the driver asks for a finders' reward. Eva says they have no money and then agrees to go with the students in response to their request. (If her boyfriend is not worried about the tent, it would seem that they have money.) At this point, Eva clearly wants to have fun with the group. All along, the nerd lingers. The man then decides to give back his tent and get Eva to come back with him. For the first time in the film, the couple are loving and happy. She realizes that he cares for her, and he realizes that he has to be a bit warmer to her. As they fade out of the shot, a pop song plays: "Never again stare at me with those eyes," which is a direct reference to the boyfriends' coldness earlier. We watch the couple move up and down on the undulating road and finally out of the shot, which indicates the ups and downs of any relationship. In all, this is an excellent short film. There are some directors who cannot place into a two hour film what Kieslowski put in a 15-minute student project.
Review of Koncert zyczen
