Blind Chance (1987)

Witek runs after a train. Three variations follow on how such a seemingly banal incident could influence the rest of Witek's life.

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writer:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Stars:

Boguslaw Linda, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Zbigniew Zapasiewicz

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Boguslaw Linda	...	Witek Dlugosz
Tadeusz Lomnicki	...	1. Werner
Zbigniew Zapasiewicz	...	1. Adam
Boguslawa Pawelec	...	1. Czuszka
Marzena Trybala	...	2. Werka
Jacek Borkowski	...	2. Marek
Jacek Sas-Uhrynowski	...	2. Daniel
Adam Ferency	...	ksiadz Stefan
Irena Byrska	...	3. Ciotka
Monika Gozdzik	...	3. Olga
Zygmunt Hübner	...	Dziekan

Storyline

Witek runs after a train. Three variations follow on how such a seemingly banal incident could influence the rest of Witek's life.

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Plot Keywords:

repeated event | parallel time | lifting up dress | lift skirt | hand up skirt | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #772.

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Quotes

1. Werner: Every generation craves for light. It needs reassurance and faith... in a better, more just path.

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Connections

Featured in Century of Cinema: 100 Years of Polish Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

A meditation on chance and fate

Blind Chance (Przypadek, 1981) is the first of Kieslowski's films to trade upon explicitly religious themes and seems to mark the beginning of the great director's turn toward introspection and the spiritual realm that so characterizes his later work (especially Decalogue and the Three Colors trilogy). The Polish title could be literally translated "coincidence," an appropriate if possibly ironic title for a three-part film about a young man whose life course appears to be solely determined by his ability or inability to catch a train. Kieslowski has his doubts about such coincidences, for he described the film as "a description of the powers which meddle with our fate, which push us one way or another" (Kieslowski on Kieslowski, ed. Danusia Stok 113). Incidentally, this film inspired Peter Howitt's film Sliding Doors (1998) and Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run (1998), but to my mind, Kieslowski's is a superior film. The original tends to be the best, and he is a true original.

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

10 January 1987 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Blind Chance

Filming Locations:

Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

P.P. Film Polski, Zespól Filmowy "Tor"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 123 min (uncensored)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1