Chicago Tribune
September 19, 1996

“I Am So-So” is a humanizing portrait of Krzysztof Kieslowski
By Michael Wilmington

The great Polish filmmaker may have died of heart disease at 54 this year, but not before agreeing to be the honorary chairman 
of the 8th Annual Chicago Polish Film Festival.  And anyone who wishes to remember Kieslowski-whose masterpiece "The 
Decalogue" played to packed houses in its first Chicago theatrical runs this year-couldn't do better than catch the fest's 
centerpiece, "Krzysztof Kieslowski: I Am So-So" (***1/2), which screens twice this week (4 p.m. Saturday; 8 p.m. Wednesday) 
at the Gateway Movie Theater.

Directed by Kieslowski's onetime assistant Krzysztof Wierzbicki, this 1995 documentary is an intimate and unsparing look at 
one of the modern cinema's supreme artists.  Shot mostly at Kieslowski's country home, accompanied by clips from his films 
("Camera Buff...... Blind Chance," "The Decalogue" and "Red"), the film provides a compact and revealing history of his life 
and career, laced with his own provocative comments on society and his work.

Kieslowski describes his peripatetic youth and uncertain academic career (early on, bad at his studies, he intended to be a stoker).  
Then, with mordant understatement, he guides us through the turbulent years of his film career, starting with the brilliant 
documentaries he made after graduation from the Lodz film school, and continuing through the masterful features of his later 
career.

I interviewed Kieslowski once and attended a panel discussion at which he spoke on another occasion.  Both times, his somber 
intensity and harrowing seriousness dominated the room.  So, it's a happy touch that Wierzbicki can gives us Kieslowski's humor 
here as well.  The movie is one of the best portraits of a great contemporary film director, a testament of art in a troubled time.

Also at the festival this week is Feliks Falks' 1995 "Far from Home" (***) (8 p.m. Thursday), an effective family drama about a 
selfish young art historian forced to assume paternal responsibilities. when the boy he fathered with a Ukrainian woman is 
orphaned after his mother is murdered.  Falks handles both intimacy and violence with skill and the film's closing section, as the 
boy tries to flee back to Ukraine, is exciting and moving.

Among the unscreened films to come, two stand out.  The newest work of recent fest favorite Jan Jakub Kolski "The Sword from 
the Commander," (6 p.m. Saturday) is a 1995 fantasy about an elderly soldier unable to enter heaven with his sword.  Andrzej 
Zulawski's "The Shaman" (9 p.m. Friday), starring Boguslaw Linda, is the work of one of Europe's most unabashed erotic 
explorers and impressive visual stylists.

In addition, Jan Jakub Kolski's wife, the thrilling Polish actresssinger Grazyna Blecka-Kolska, will sing at a special concert, 
accompanied by jazz trumpeter Piotr Bal, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 1112 Gallery, the Society of the Arts, The gallery is at 1112 
N. Milwaukee Ave.

The Gateway theater, site of the remaining fest screenings, is at the Copernicus Foundation, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave. Call 312-
486-9612.