I was inspired to write this after reading a statement describing Kieslowski and his film-making as being pessimistic. I disagree passionately with this description of Kieslowski. For me, Kieslowski is a realist. He is able to see a lot of the evils that are present in the World that he sees. That he chooses to depict these in his films shows that he is willing to concede that these things exist and in a way perhaps with his films he is trying to change some of these. If he succeeds at any level to do that, then he is far from being a pessimist isn't he?
I define pessimism as being devoid of hope. Kieslowski's films are never devoid of hope. In fact, towards the end of his career the wonderful Three Colors Trilogy and especially the third film of that Trilogy Red are films that have a lot of hope for the characters and the state of the World in general. In some sense Kieslowski always works with the idea of Blind Chance and most of the things happening (especially to the characters) is completely random or co-incidental. This is a common theme in a lot of his works. Not just the last films but also a lot of his earlier films have a keen interest in what happens to people because of chance - a phone call just missed, a chance encounter with a stranger, an accident narrowly avoided and a train ride just missed. The film Blind Chance is completely about three different outcomes for a character who could catch a train just in time or just misses it. So Kieslowski is always saying that there are always other factors that lead us a certain way in life. But that is not pessimistic is it? One might say that this means that there is no hope for us in doing the things that we do because we are led by blind chance alone. But to say something like that would be to disregard everything else that happens in his movies. This is because because always at the center are the characters, and good things happen to them because of these unusual co-incidences. Moreover, the stories always closely consider how the characters react to these co-incidences. And it is their reaction to these events rather than the events themselves that ends up being more important.
There is no point denying that such a think as chance exists. One can be as optimistic as much one wants but what does one do when one dies in a car accident. True, you don't go out every time expecting an accident, but it is not completely foolish to consider the possibility every now and then (who knows you might drive more sensibly and be more cautious - which may end up saving your life and that of others). I reckon a lot of the reckless drivers out there are unflappable optimists (at least as far as their welfare on the road is concerned) - I wish there were less of those.
There is an important saying which goes, hope for the best but expect the worst. From personal experience that has been the best thing for me. The most important thing to remember is that expecting the worst thing is not the same thing as wishing for it to happen. One needs to be ready for absolutely anything, and you will find that those who go far in life are the ones who can easily take setbacks (perhaps because they were already expect it to some extent). Hoping for the best can lead one down when the outcome turns out to be far from what was expected. One may get crestfallen and in fact, turn a pessimist thereafter. Expecting the worst, almost always ensures that you will put in more than the effort than you thought was necessary and that often becomes the difference between getting the results and not. Of course, there are those who will not put in effort simply because it is too hard. Well, we are not discussing those for the moment. There is that other saying that says that one should aim for the sky, at least one will end up hitting the roof. Is that a very optimist saying?
Returning to Kieslowski and chance. One of the things that strikes me about the movie Blind Chance is that what happens to the character may be due to the whims of chance, however is his thought process really his own. I think in each case, the fate he ends up with is because he is easily impressionable and so a chance encounter with a stranger or strange circumstance fashions the remainder of his life. Now, consider this for a moment, that we are all at the mercy of chance, but how much it will affect us and our entire destiny is dependent on us?
This is the key then for me: whether you are happy or not for the most part depends on you and not your circumstances. Modern society's obsession with spirituality certainly suggests that this is true (because we are not very happy at the moment and looking for ways to be). Then, if you are always expecting golden outcomes, you are likely to be disappointed constantly. On the other hand, if you already expect the worst then anything you get is much better and you're happy.
So you decide: optimism, pessimism, or realism?
I define pessimism as being devoid of hope. Kieslowski's films are never devoid of hope. In fact, towards the end of his career the wonderful Three Colors Trilogy and especially the third film of that Trilogy Red are films that have a lot of hope for the characters and the state of the World in general. In some sense Kieslowski always works with the idea of Blind Chance and most of the things happening (especially to the characters) is completely random or co-incidental. This is a common theme in a lot of his works. Not just the last films but also a lot of his earlier films have a keen interest in what happens to people because of chance - a phone call just missed, a chance encounter with a stranger, an accident narrowly avoided and a train ride just missed. The film Blind Chance is completely about three different outcomes for a character who could catch a train just in time or just misses it. So Kieslowski is always saying that there are always other factors that lead us a certain way in life. But that is not pessimistic is it? One might say that this means that there is no hope for us in doing the things that we do because we are led by blind chance alone. But to say something like that would be to disregard everything else that happens in his movies. This is because because always at the center are the characters, and good things happen to them because of these unusual co-incidences. Moreover, the stories always closely consider how the characters react to these co-incidences. And it is their reaction to these events rather than the events themselves that ends up being more important.
There is no point denying that such a think as chance exists. One can be as optimistic as much one wants but what does one do when one dies in a car accident. True, you don't go out every time expecting an accident, but it is not completely foolish to consider the possibility every now and then (who knows you might drive more sensibly and be more cautious - which may end up saving your life and that of others). I reckon a lot of the reckless drivers out there are unflappable optimists (at least as far as their welfare on the road is concerned) - I wish there were less of those.
There is an important saying which goes, hope for the best but expect the worst. From personal experience that has been the best thing for me. The most important thing to remember is that expecting the worst thing is not the same thing as wishing for it to happen. One needs to be ready for absolutely anything, and you will find that those who go far in life are the ones who can easily take setbacks (perhaps because they were already expect it to some extent). Hoping for the best can lead one down when the outcome turns out to be far from what was expected. One may get crestfallen and in fact, turn a pessimist thereafter. Expecting the worst, almost always ensures that you will put in more than the effort than you thought was necessary and that often becomes the difference between getting the results and not. Of course, there are those who will not put in effort simply because it is too hard. Well, we are not discussing those for the moment. There is that other saying that says that one should aim for the sky, at least one will end up hitting the roof. Is that a very optimist saying?
Returning to Kieslowski and chance. One of the things that strikes me about the movie Blind Chance is that what happens to the character may be due to the whims of chance, however is his thought process really his own. I think in each case, the fate he ends up with is because he is easily impressionable and so a chance encounter with a stranger or strange circumstance fashions the remainder of his life. Now, consider this for a moment, that we are all at the mercy of chance, but how much it will affect us and our entire destiny is dependent on us?
This is the key then for me: whether you are happy or not for the most part depends on you and not your circumstances. Modern society's obsession with spirituality certainly suggests that this is true (because we are not very happy at the moment and looking for ways to be). Then, if you are always expecting golden outcomes, you are likely to be disappointed constantly. On the other hand, if you already expect the worst then anything you get is much better and you're happy.
So you decide: optimism, pessimism, or realism?
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