Camera Buff

*“A brother-in-law of mine started believing in God at age 30…” “What about it? I’m 30 myself…” “It ended badly…” “What happened?” “…He became a priest.”* After days of not watching any films, I finally got the time to watch some and today I wanted to watch a film from my favorite director: Krzysztof Kieslowski. Kieślowski yet again touches my soul with one of his earlier works in 1979’s Camera Buff. This film feels very personal for Krzysztof Kieślowski; I think it brilliantly captures his struggles as an amateur filmmaker trying to make it big while dealing with personal turmoil, censorship, and a devastating loss of innocence. It also feels very personal to me as well. I am an aspiring filmmaker myself, and throughout the film Filip sees everything—even in the darkest and most random moments—as a cinematic shot, just like I do, and I can heavily relate to that. In my opinion, this is Kieślowski’s most underrated film. I mean, sure, it’s highly rated, but people don’t talk about it enough. I love the character development, like how Filip goes from a blissful new father to a man completely obsessed with his craft. The cinematography is impeccable and beautiful, and the screenplay is delicate and complex. The filmmaking is brilliant, which is fitting since it is a film about filmmaking and the dark side of obsession, and Kieślowski’s direction is very controlled and precise. Overall, I absolutely adore this film. It definitely ranks high in Kieślowski’s filmography for me, and it is one of the best films of the 1970s. Masterpiece.