Blind Chance

"Without that bitterness, that hope... life would be lamentable."

“Blind Chance,” a 1987 Polish drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, follows three different paths all taken by the same man (named Witek): two where he misses his train bound for Warsaw, and one where he catches it. How will his life diverge from here?

Quite drastically, actually.

First off, I’d just like to get it out of the way: the inevitable discussion about the three diverging paths. One would expect this to be a sort of gimmick, complete with all of the regular clichés that go along with it, but, without going too deeply into it, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was not the case: instead of using it as a dispensable tool, Kieślowski decides to use it in more of a persuasive, even philosophical way, and, speaking of which…

“Blind Chance” is an incredibly political film. To understand why, though, the viewer must first realize that this film was originally banned in its country of origin for about six years, and, when it finally was released, sections of the piece were still cut out (one such scene is still missing in the final restoration to this day). But why?

Kieślowski has always been a different kind of filmmaker. Though I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing 4 of his films (“Blind Chance” being one of them), I can already tell that he’s always been striving for something much, much more than just entertainment in his work. With this film though, it’s even more than simply that: “Blind Chance” rallies its viewers.

The diverging paths aren’t just minor, no: they have huge impacts on the rest of the main character’s life, from the chance encounters inspiring him to join the Communist Party, to him becoming a religious anti-Party rebel, and, most notably, to him just completely avoiding politics in general. While the first two have Witek find his ups and downs along the way, he remains mostly unharmed, that is, until the third and final plot line- the plot line where he refuses to take part in any political upbringings.

At best, “Blind Chance” is a hard-hitting gut-punch to viewer, strictly scolding them to not be politically (and, overall, opinion) stagnant, still filled the director’s signature flair. At worst, it is a bit of a heavy-handed film that’s only worth watching for fans of the director, or just those who want to see what all of the political fuss is about. “Blind Chance” is not great, nor bad, nor even average- it just is.

6/10- Though slightly heavy-handed at times, if not for the director, “Blind Chance” is still worth watching for its (albeit slight, but still present) historical significance.