What filmmaking techniques does A Short Film About Killing use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in A Short Film About Killing (1988): Sustained Atrocity Duration, Drained Color Look, Three-Thread Parallel Cutting, Crime and Punishment Mirroring and Sympathy for the Villain.

Who directed A Short Film About Killing?

Krzysztof Kieślowski directed A Short Film About Killing, released in 1988. CineCode also covers A Short Film About Love (1988), The Double Life of Véronique (1991), Three Colors: Blue (1993), Three Colors: Red (1994), Three Colors: White (1994).

What films are similar to A Short Film About Killing?

Films that share techniques with A Short Film About Killing include The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), American History X (1998), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Come and See (1985).

Drama · Crime

A Short Film About Killing

Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1988

In Warsaw, a drifter named Jacek murders a taxi driver, and a young lawyer takes his case. The film follows 3 men toward a hanging and asks whether the state's killing is any better than the crime. Worth watching for how long it makes you sit inside both deaths.

2 Editing 1 Cinematography 1 Narrative 1 Psychology

At a glance

A Short Film About Killing is a 1988 drama and crime film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 editing, 1 cinematography, 1 narrative and 1 psychology), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers uses several of the same techniques.

Editing

Sustained Atrocity Duration

Holding the camera on violence for much longer than is comfortable, with no cut to let you look away. Most films only show a quick glimpse.

How this film uses it

Kieslowski holds the camera on the murder far longer than a thriller would. You watch the strangling and the attack with a stone play out until it hurts. The length strips away any thrill and leaves you with the plain weight of killing a person.

Where to see it

The taxi murder: Jacek gets into Waldemar's cab and has him drive to a remote spot. There he strangles the driver with a rope, hits him with an iron bar and finishes him with a large rock.

Cinematography

Drained Color Look

Pulling the color out of the image and keeping it in cold grays and washed tones. The harsh, muted look makes a world feel sterile, drab or oppressive.

How this film uses it

The picture has a murky, filtered look that makes Warsaw seem gray and unwell. The streets, the rooms and the courtroom all feel pressed down. It tells you the story is about a place where hope is thin, before anyone speaks.

Where to see it

The opening street scenes: Jacek wanders the city causing small cruelties, like throwing a stone from a bridge onto a passing car. The washed-out look makes the city feel cold and hostile.

Editing

Three-Thread Parallel Cutting

Cutting between 3 or more storylines happening at the same time in different places. The pattern draws out shared themes and usually builds to a single combined climax.

How this film uses it

The film opens with 3 separate men: a cab driver, a drifter and a young lawyer. You cut between them without knowing how they connect. Then the paths meet, and you realize that each of them ends up in the same room of consequences.

Where to see it

The café: Jacek sits at a table with rope and a stick in his bag, and Piotr takes his wife to the same café. Waldemar's cab stops outside, which sets the killing in motion.

Narrative

Crime and Punishment Mirroring

Staging a legal punishment with the same slow, physical detail as the crime it answers. The two acts echo each other, so you have to judge whether the state's killing really differs from the murderer's.

How this film uses it

The hanging takes about as long and looks as ugly as the murder. The executioner prepares, the prisoner is led in and the film does not look away. You are left comparing the 2 deaths and feeling that neither one is clean.

Where to see it

The execution: on the appointed day, the executioner prepares the gallows while Piotr waits. Jacek is led in and hanged.

Psychology

Sympathy for the Villain

Inviting the audience to feel for a monstrous or wrongdoing figure. Pity, identification or shared intellect makes judging them harder.

How this film uses it

Just before he dies, Jacek tells Piotr about his younger sister, who was run over by a tractor driven by a drunken friend. He says he never recovered. It does not excuse the murder, but it makes it harder for you to see him as only a monster.

Where to see it

The last conversation: before his execution, Jacek tells Piotr about his sister's death. He asks to be buried next to her and his father.

Questions

A Short Film About Killing: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does A Short Film About Killing use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in A Short Film About Killing (1988): Sustained Atrocity Duration, Drained Color Look, Three-Thread Parallel Cutting, Crime and Punishment Mirroring and Sympathy for the Villain.
Who directed A Short Film About Killing?: Krzysztof Kieślowski directed A Short Film About Killing, released in 1988. CineCode also covers A Short Film About Love (1988), The Double Life of Véronique (1991), Three Colors: Blue (1993), Three Colors: Red (1994), Three Colors: White (1994).
What films are similar to A Short Film About Killing?: Films that share techniques with A Short Film About Killing include The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), American History X (1998), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Come and See (1985).

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