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Few names are as synonymous with Polish cinema as that of Krzystof Kieślowski, the renowned auteur responsible for the Dekalog and Three Colours trilogy. Prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall and his subsequent creative and critical success in France, Kieślowski plied his trade within the confines of the Eastern Bloc, capturing the realities of everyday life under Soviet rule. This collection gathers his four earliest narrative feature films, encapsulating the years 1976–1984.

In 1976’s The Scar, a well-intentioned Party loyalist is charged with overseeing the construction of a new chemical plant in the face of fierce resistance and is forced to confront the conflict between his good intentions and local opposition. In 1979’s Camera Buff, a family man and amateur filmmaker experiences a dramatic change in fortunes when his newfound hobby opens up new horizons but also results in deep marital and philosophical conflicts. Blind Chance, completed in 1981 and denied a release in its native Poland until 1987, presents three possible outcomes to a single, seemingly banal event – a young medical student running to catch a train – and, in the process, explores the relationship between chance and choice. Finally, in 1984’s No End, a recently bereaved translator juggles the conflicting demands of her work, caring for her son and her continued visions of her late husband, all against the backdrop of a Poland under the grip of martial law.

As socially conscious as Kieślowski’s earlier documentary shorts, this quartet of films covers a tumultuous period in Polish and Eastern European history, shot with unflinching realism by a filmmaker of distinction.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Limited Edition collection (2000 copies)
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all four films
• Original lossless mono audio for all films
• Optional English subtitles for all films
• Brand new audio commentary on Camera Buff by critic Annette Insdorf
• Brand new audio commentary on Blind Chance by film historian Michael Brooke
• Ghost of a Chance, a brand new visual essay on No End by Adrian Martin and Cristina Alvarez Lopez
• Moral and Martial Anxieties, a brand new discussion with Michael Brooke, exploring the brief and remarkable Polish film renaissance of the turn of the 1980s
• Brand new introductions by scholar and critic Michał Oleszczyk to all films
• Michał Oleszczyk looks through archive materials for each film
• Archival interviews with filmmakers Agnieska Holland and Krzysztof Zanussi, cinematographers Slawomir Idziak and Jacek Petrycki, actress Grazyna Szapoloska, sound designer Michal Zarnecki, critic Annette Insdorf and Kieślowski collaborator Irena Strazakowska
• Three short films by Kieślowski: Talking Heads (1980), Concert of Requests (1995) and The Office (1995)
• Workshop Exercises, a 1987 short film by Marcel Lonzinski
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Corey Brickley
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by scholars and authors Ewa Mazierska, Marek Hatlof, Dina Iordanova and Joseph G. Kickasola, and original writing by Kieślowski

Academy's back in action! I was just wondering the other day when these films would get a release. Presumably Criterion has the three that haven't been released yet in the U.S.?

swo17 wrote: Fri Jan 17, 2020 3:40 pm Academy's back in action! I was just wondering the other day when these films would get a release. Presumably Criterion has the three that haven't been released yet in the U.S.?

Yes! Its been awhile. Looks like a great set.

Unless they do a boxset, Criterion seems to slowly roll and spread out these types of releases (think of the wait times between each Fassbinder release whereas Academy gave us them all at once in a set). So im sure they will come event.

Excellent news! I wasn't all that enamored with The Scar, but the other three are outstanding. Adding a Michael B commentary to Blind Chance completely takes away the sting of already owing the Criterion.

Very nice. Will sell my lone Criterion. Anyone know why Arrow will have been unable or would not have wanted to include the other Kieslowski films of around this period that are still unreleased?

TMDaines wrote:Very nice. Will sell my lone Criterion. Anyone know why Arrow will have been unable or would not have wanted to include the other Kieslowski films of around this period that are still unreleased?

Never mind! Everything listed under feature films on Wikipedia was included with Dekalog or released elsewhere.

I was just going to write that. Yes, anyone who has their terrific release of the Dekalog will have just about all his narrative films made in Poland. I hope we'll get a Documentary set one day as well

If you have Arrow's initial Dekalog release (i.e. with the other TV works) and Artificial Eye's releases of the rest of the post-1987 features, this box fills all the gaps - you'll have everything that could accurately be described as a "fiction feature", regardless of whether it was made for film or TV.

Further gaps can be filled by WFDIF's superb recent collection of the documentaries (DVD only, but recent restorations and completely English-friendly - and it includes such previously unreleased rarities as Workers '71 and I Don't Know), at which point you'll have the overwhelming majority of his output, and pretty much everything that Kieślowski himself placed any creative value on.

The remaining holdouts are the two industrial docs that he made in 1972 (which are the exact equivalent of Kubrick's The Seafarers, in that they're perfectly competent but utterly anonymous) and the existing stage plays that he restaged in the studio for Poland's Television Theatre strand, at least one of which still survives - but I get the impression that Kieślowski regarded these as strictly rent-paying commissions.

Does anyone know if Blind Chance going to be sourced from the same 4K restoration that Criterion used?

Weird that Arrow hasn’t stated the provenance of the masters as they usually do (2k/4k/HD) but will definitely be getting this.

MichaelB wrote: Fri Jan 17, 2020 5:29 pm If you have Arrow's initial Dekalog release (i.e. with the other TV works) and Artificial Eye's releases of the rest of the post-1987 features, this box fills all the gaps - you'll have everything that could accurately be described as a "fiction feature", regardless of whether it was made for film or TV.

Further gaps can be filled by WFDIF's superb recent collection of the documentaries (DVD only, but recent restorations and completely English-friendly - and it includes such previously unreleased rarities as Workers '71 and I Don't Know), at which point you'll have the overwhelming majority of his output, and pretty much everything that Kieślowski himself placed any creative value on.

The remaining holdouts are the two industrial docs that he made in 1972 (which are the exact equivalent of Kubrick's The Seafarers, in that they're perfectly competent but utterly anonymous) and the existing stage plays that he restaged in the studio for Poland's Television Theatre strand, at least one of which still survives - but I get the impression that Kieślowski regarded these as strictly rent-paying commissions.

Unless I overlooked them, I think Zdjecie (The Photograph) and Siedem dni w tygodniu (Seven Days a Week) are also missing from the union of Arrow, Artificial Eye (or Criterion), and the DVD set.

GoodOldNeon wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 amUnless I overlooked them, I think Zdjecie (The Photograph) and Siedem dni w tygodniu (Seven Days a Week) are also missing from the union of Arrow, Artificial Eye (or Criterion), and the DVD set.

Yup, they're both television projects and so the rights would be with TVP rather than WFDiF or the feature film rightsholders, which is presumably why they haven't been included in compilations or as extras. In fact, The Photograph was considered lost for many years until a copy turned up a decade or so ago - it's on YouTube and you can find fansubs elsewhere, which is how I managed to see it.

The TVP catalogue does indeed include The Photograph as part of their Krzysztof Kieślowski – Early Films collection. It looks to me like it and The Legend are the only two there that didn't appear as extras on the Arrow Dekalog set.

This looks like a fantastic set, and it'll be my first Academy pre-order in some time.

This looks amazing! Packed with great extras. Glad to see so much of our own Michael involved!

Discussion of the WFDiF set moved here

I just noticed they misspelled Łoziński in the product description for this set. Hopefully that gets fixed for the final product

Only 2000 units? Some of us can't afford everything all at once!

Which version of Blind Chance is being used? Same as the Criterion?

Blueprint Review:

It’s a stunning package, crammed to the gills with supplementary material. [...] there’s enough here and the standard of the films is so high that I predict it’s going to be near the top of my list of releases of the year.

So is this just out of stock everywhere, including direct from Arrow, or is it pretty much out of print and we should snap up a copy?

This just popped back in stock at rarewaves and their various eBay/Amazon/etc. outlets.

Thank you, senseabove! I had given up hope on finding a copy for a decent price.

this is back in stock at the Arrow store for their new sale as a standard edition. does anyone have any knowledge of the lack of a booklet being the only difference, or is there a packaging difference too? it seems to still come in a boxset, unlike the Jia Zhangke and Kore-eda sets that come in one case. would really like the movies to all get their own cases/art and wondered if this was the case.

ryannichols7 wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:31 pm this is back in stock at the Arrow store for their new sale as a standard edition. does anyone have any knowledge of the lack of a booklet being the only difference, or is there a packaging difference too? it seems to still come in a boxset, unlike the Jia Zhangke and Kore-eda sets that come in one case. would really like the movies to all get their own cases/art and wondered if this was the case.

The films do come in their own cases. The cardboard box also seems slightly thinner than the usual Arrow brick.

brundlefly wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:53 pm

ryannichols7 wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:31 pm this is back in stock at the Arrow store for their new sale as a standard edition. does anyone have any knowledge of the lack of a booklet being the only difference, or is there a packaging difference too? it seems to still come in a boxset, unlike the Jia Zhangke and Kore-eda sets that come in one case. would really like the movies to all get their own cases/art and wondered if this was the case.

The films do come in their own cases. The cardboard box also seems slightly thinner than the usual Arrow brick.

thank you! I'll take it, doesn't seem worth shelling out three figures on eBay for the limited edition.

anyone reading this, it's £30 in the current Arrow sale