Because of his style and his spirituality, Tarkovsky will remain my favorite director. But for dealing in nuanced, non-reductive and sympathetic ways with complex moral and emotional issues, for my money Kieslowski has no equal, and very few even come close. He is–or was–one of the world’s truly great film directors and writers, and it is a shame he is not better known.
I suspect a primary reason for this is that his films are work. They are so emotionally evocative I find myself weeping at the end of nearly every one–7 in particular was very difficult, and of course the music doesn’t help–and have to work myself up to watch them in the first place. This DVD has been sitting on my counter for two weeks.
This, however, is genius. All of us need to do the adult work of understanding one another and ourselves, even though it is often painful when done properly.