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"Suffused with Kieslowski's dry wit and intelligence," (Jonathan
Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader), Camera Buff (1979) is Krzysztof Kieslowski’s
(The Double Life of Veronique) tragi-comic meditation on filmmaking.
Self-reflexive by nature, this fictional film about a documentary filmmaker
is commonly referred to as a watershed in Kieslowski’s transition from
documentary to fiction filmmaking. “I’m frightened of real tears,”
Kieslowski once said. “In fact, I don’t even know if I have the right to
photograph them.”
This ethical question becomes the epicenter of the life of Filip Mosz
(Jerzy Stuhr – Kieslowski’s Three Colors: White), the main character in
Camera Buff. Happily married and economically stable, the film’s humble hero
buys an 8mm film camera with the intention of filming his newborn child—and
capturing the moment of attainment of a lifelong dream. But when a
powerhouse director of the town’s local factory recruits him to film an
important board meeting, Filip's fascination with the medium grows into
passionate dedication. At the command of a larger film unit and networking
to enrich his career, Filip eventually reaches an irreconcilable deadlock
with his wife, friends and the director who previously supported his
cinematic ambitions.
Camera Buff mirrors Kieslowski’s complex relationship with “reality” and
its possible representations. Through Filip’s often comic need to capture
“life as it is,” Kieslowski denounces the myth of objectivity at the base of
cinéma vérité. More than implying that there is no engagement with reality
that can leave it untouched, Kieslowski suggests that the very act of seeing
is in itself a moment of creation. |
