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(aka "A Short Film About Killing" ( 84 minutes version) or "Krótki film o zabijaniu")

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/kieslowski.htm
Poland 1988

A stark indictment of capital punishment, A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING won numerous international awards including the Jury Prize at the 1988 Cannes Film festival. Considered by many critics to be Krzysztof Kieslowski’s masterpiece, A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING is an extended version of Decalogue V, which was inspired by the Fifth Commandment from the Old Testament, "Thou Shalt Not Kill," and later broadcast on Polish television.

In one of the most relentlessly detailed and hands-on shocking murder scenes in the history of cinema, the disaffected twenty-year-old Jacek (Miroslaw Baka) murders a taxi driver (Jan Tesarz) –the boy tries to garrote the driver and then beats him to death with a rock. Captured hours after the murder, Jacek is sent to prison and put on trial by the state. In prison, he meets a young and idealistic lawyer named Piotr (Krzysztof Globisz) who decides to defend the boy in court. Despite Piotr’s best efforts, the boy is sentenced to death and “legitimately” hanged by the state.

Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak filmed A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING using over 600 different green filters. Exclusively designed for this film, these optical devices were applied in different combinations in order to capture a variety of shots–from close-ups to interiors and sky shots. Informed by Kieslowski’s vision of Warsaw as a tepid and desolate place, Slawomir Idziak filmed Poland’s largest city as a barren and monochromatic site almost entirely made of the concrete which defines its modern architecture.

Subverting the binary roles of victim and murder, Kieslowski’s A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING represents a reality made by a multitude of forces–state, social, individual…– while at the same time making a film directly connected to a historical and ideological critique of capital punishment. A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING is not only a masterpiece of filmmaking; it was also an integral –and incidental–part of a national discussion which was responsible for halting death penalty sentences in Poland during the 1980s.

 

Posters

 

Theatrical Release Date: October, 1988( Poland )

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Comparison:

 A9 Media ( South Korea) - Region 3 vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

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Collection Boxset: The Kino edition is also available in the The Krzysztof Kieslowski Collection including: A Short Film About Love / Blind Chance / Camera Buff / No End / The Scar  / A Short Film About Killing !

    

    

Click to image enlarge
The Rest of the Kino Boxset:
Distribution A9 Media in South Korea- Region 3 - NTSC  Kino Video  - Region 0 - NTSC Criterion Collection - Spine #837 - Region 'A' Blu-ray
Runtime 1:20:57  1:20:45 1:26:10.206
Video

1.62:1.00 Letterboxed WideScreen 16X9 enhanced
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

Bit-rate: 6.34 bps

1.62:1.00 Letterboxed WideScreen 16X9 enhanced
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

Bit-rate: 5.6 bps

1.70:1

Disc Size: 47,767,830,799 bytes

Feature Size: 23,058,069,504 bytes

Average Bitrate:31.75 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video: 1080P
 

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: A9

Bitrate: Kino

 

Bitrate: Blu-ray

 

Audio Polish 2.0 Channel (Mono) Polish (Dolby Digital 2.0)  LPCM Audio Polish 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles  Korean, English (removable) English, None English, None
Features

Distribution: A9 Media in South Korea

Running time: Listed as 85 minutes including the extra Movie Highlights (sort of like a Trailer).  Running time of the film itself was 1:21:15 minutes

 

Release Information:
Studio: A9 Media ( South Korea )

 

Edition Details:

Region 3 Encoding

Widescreen anamorphic 1.62:1 aspect ratio
Interactive Menu

Photo Gallery

Cast and Crew Info

Synopsis

Movie Highlights (like a trailer)

 

DVD Release Date:  December 4, 2002

Keep case

Chapter stops: 16

Release Information:
Studio: Kino Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.62:1

Edition Details:

• Interview with Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak
• Interview with Kieslowski collaborator Annette Insdorf
• Interview with filmmaker Agnieszka Holland
• Examination of the film by writer Antonin Liehm
• A Night Porter's Point of View (1977, 17min): A short documentary by Krzysztof Kieslowski
• Kieslowski Filmography (text)
• Theatrical Trailer (1:57)
• Kieslowski Trailer Gallery (5 Trailers - No End, Blind Chance, Camera Buff, A Short Film About Love, A Short Film About Killing)

DVD Release Date: August 17th, 2004, Boxset came out: August 16th, 2005
Keep Case in single edition, Slim Keep case inside cardboard box
Chapters: 12

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

Aspect Ratio: 1.70:1

Disc Size: 47,767,830,799 bytes

Feature Size: 23,058,069,504 bytes

Average Bitrate:31.75 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video: 1080P

Edition Details:

• Selection of archival interviews with director Krzysztof Kieślowski, taken from a 1987 television piece on the production of Dekalog: Two, excerpts from the 1995 documentary A Short Film About “Dekalog,” and a 1990 audio recording from the National Film Theatre in London
• New program on the formal and thematic patterns of Dekalog by film studies professor Annette Insdorf
• New and archival interviews with Dekalog cast and crew, including cowriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, thirteen actors, three cinematographers, editor Ewa Smal, and Kieślowski confidante Hanna Krall
• Trailers (4:54)
• PLUS: A book featuring an essay and capsules on the films by cinema scholar Paul Coates, along with excerpts from Kieślowski on Kieślowski

 Blu-ray Release Date: September 27th, 2016
Transparent Keep case

Chapters: 10

 

 

 
Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray August 16': The Criterion is part of their Dekalog Blu-ray package reviewed HERE and is cited as having "4K digital transfers" . More comments will be coming soon...

***

ON THE DVDs: If our source is correct, once again the A9 issue has been stretched out of proportion and we can easily dismiss it. Also the subtitle translation is much weaker on the Korean disc.

Although non-progressive the Kino has minimal combing visible. Other than that the DVD image is acceptable, in the correct aspect ratio (1.66), very dark at times, clean of artifacts, no major damage, excellent removable subtitles, original audio and some fabulous extra features including interviews with Idziak, Insdorf and Holland. There is also an examination of the film by writer Antonin Liehm and A Night Porter's Point of View (1977, 17min): A short documentary by Krzysztof Kieslowski.

I suspect that this entire package has been ported from the existing French MK2 (non English subtitled) releases which Kino does quite frequently (they probably have some arrangement), including the extras - but Kino have thankfully added optional English subtitles. I found no visible proof that they were taken directly from PAL masters although there is evidence now that they are. Initially I thought this was quite expensive, but for what you get supplement-wise, it is quite understandable... and if purchased in the Collection Boxset you can see a substantial savings. This is an absolute must-have DVD package and we give it a very high recommendation!




DVD Menus
 (A9 Media ( South Korea) - Region 3 LEFT vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC RIGHT)

   
 
 
 
   

 

Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Screen Captures

 

 

1) A9 Media ( South Korea) - Region 3 TOP

2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC- MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) A9 Media ( South Korea) - Region 3 TOP

2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC- MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) A9 Media ( South Korea) - Region 3 TOP

2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC- MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) A9 Media ( South Korea) - Region 3 TOP

2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC- MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 

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