Another week, another review of a movie with a strange title! This week I’m reviewing the 1988 Polish film Krótki film o zabijaniu, or A Short Film About Killing. The film is directed by famed director Krzystof Kieślowski who is most popularly known for his series of films based off the Ten Commandments called Dekalog.
I, like many, am not past judging books, music, and movies by covers, names, and other shallow aspects. So, I would be lying if I said that I was not drawn into this movie by the intriguing title. I think humans innately have a curiosity for the darker and more painful aspects of life. Thankfully, artists enjoy producing bodies of work covering these tougher and murkier topics.
In A Short Film About Killing, Kieślowski covers death. The film follows three men: a sinister young man named Jacek (Miroslaw Baka), a creepy middle-aged cab driver named Waldemar (Jan Tesarz), and an idealistic and unexperienced lawyer named Piotr (Krzysztof Globisz). The lives of the three men tragically tangle into a knot similar to the ones this movie will leave in your stomach.
Visually, the film is ugly with a capital “U”. However, this is very clearly intentional as the filtered and dirty visuals mirror the plot points, environment, and general mood of the movie. The film over-utilizes filtration, sepia-like effects, and vignettes to remind us that none of this is supposed to be beautiful, and that killing is possibly the most hideous and despicable part of human life. The color scheme is heavy with sickly greens, yellows, browns, and black, making the film feel nauseating to watch at times. Something I really loved was the usage of over-done vignettes in scenes. With the corners fading to black, we are left with nothing to look at, but the characters. The effect perfectly gives the impression of the characters slowly being consumed by an abyss of nothing but darkness, paralleling their internal states and their destinies.
What else is interesting is that the film managed to hold my attention despite neither of the two main characters being likeable. Neither Jacek nor Waldemar incite positive feelings from the audience and yet, they are never dehumanized or portrayed two dimensionally as “villains”. We are reminded of their humanity, despite how unpleasant they are.
More than anything, the film is immensely bleak. It is steeped in malaise. If you initially come to this film for the title with hopes of it being something cheaply horrific containing jump scares and gore (nothing wrong with that!), I would advise you to look elsewhere because this movie is a devastating, visceral, and nuanced portrayal of the worst part of life.
A Short Film About Killing is absolutely crushing and brilliantly depicts a cycle of inhumane responses to death. 4 stars out of 5.