From a Night Porter's Point of View

At the time of the Polish social regime, a security officer is promoted to work at a prison yard. Introducing concurrently with the narrator; he speaks of himself, his thoughts, his point of view. He tells that he is not afraid of bandits or gangs; on the contrary he gets a kick out armed conflicts. To get a start in his new duty, he shops for a watchdog; and he buys an untrained attack dog as his companion. Then he speaks of the adjudications that the death sentence for fugitives is lacking influence. From his point of view, the judicatory tribunal must execute the fugitives in public. In the morning the next day he wears his uniform and start working with pride.

Whilst he is on his duty, a very harmonic music score begins to be played on the piano. The watchman spectates the peaceful life on the street. At that time we catch on that socialism is not a governmental regime; yet it's an uneducated behavior.

As a final scene the watchman witnesses of a cadet school's pupils being taught of the democracy. He leaves us with a confused smile.

A soft and likable thesis from the Polish director Kieslowski. You can find this short documentary as a special feature in his DVD of A Short Film About Killing. It could help you to compass his film language.