Krzysztof Kieslowski: Prophet of Secular Humanism in the New EuropeKarl J. SkutskiAdjunct ProfessorDepartment of Modern Languages and LiteraturesDuquesne UniversityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA 15090skutskikduq.eduPresented at the “Rediscovering Polish Cinema Conference: History, Ideology, Politics” University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland, October 23, 2006ABSTRACT:Krzysztof Kieslowskis cinematic career paralleled the changing Zeitgeist of Poland and modern Europe and, in many respects, foreshadowed the emergence of the European Union and its secular humanistic values. Kieslowskis “metaphysical evolution” passes through four stages: (1) his early documentary period, in which he functions as a humble observer of Polish society under Communist rule, (2) his late-documentary/early-feature film period, in which he displays his frustration with the lack of compassion in Polish society, in films that portray the “antithesis of brotherhood,” (3) The Decalogue films, in which he moves from frustration with society to empathy with the angst and inner sufferings of what Tadeusz Sobolewski describes as “the solidarity of sinners,” and (4) the offering of a unique brand of secular humanism, based upon the principles of compassion and respect for the mysterious, as celebrated in his Tricolors trilogy, as an antidote to the deep lingering memories that haunted a Europe fractured by war, genocide, and oppression. In doing so, he migrates from a chronicler of one nations woes to a prophet of the New Europefrom an agnostic who finds little salvation in the Poland of Solidarity, or the Catholic Church, to a pan-European humanist who transcends national boundaries in search of a spiritual center that can unite all Europeans on a human-to-human basis, a search that can be fulfilled only if Europeans are willing to toss overboard the negative baggage of history. His metaphysical journey culminates with the embracing of a spirituality rooted in compassion that resembles the Christian existentialism of Paul Tillich and is informed and inspired by a Bazinian respect for the sacred image that is rooted in the philosophy of phenomenology. Tricolors, in particular, is the manifestation of Bazins belief in the redemptive power of cinema. Virtually every frame is an icon for meditation and spiritual reflection, created to help modern Europeans atone for the past and embrace the hope of a new Europe founded on the values of humanism. * * *Much has been written about Krzysztof Kieslowski, the documentarian, Kieslowski, the chronicler of ordinary people, and even Kieslowski, the fatalist. But surprisingly little verbiage has been devoted to Kieslowski, the secular humanist.Doug Cummings, writing in Senses of Cinema, correctly observes that Kieslowskis career “seems to have slowly inverted over the years from one centered on political realities to one of effervescent abstraction.” He notes that a close reading of his works reveals that “both ends of his career focus on human individuals struggling to reconcile daily life with its cultural mythsbe they Communist propaganda, Biblical proverbs, or French revolutionary slogans” (Cummings 1).While Cummings observations are insightful, one can be somewhat more specific about Kieslowskis metaphysical evolution. In his early works, particularly in The Decalogue, the masterful ten-part series made for Polish television (and his final work produced in his native Poland), we indeed are presented with lost characters, unable to reconcile or unite the seemingly contradictory dicta of Communism, Biblical narratives, or Polish culture. But the later Kieslowski, particularly the Kieslowski who manifests himself in the Tricolors trilogy, seems to offer a more defined set of spiritual guideposts to the “modern” Pole and the “modern” European. “Europeans unitearound the flag of secular humanism,” he seems to be suggestingon both the micro-individual and macro-national scale. Rather than “effervescent abstraction,” Kieslowski evolves to a state of greater moral and metaphysical specificity. His metaphysical journey parallels the geographic journey he made in his careerfrom his homogeneously Catholic Poland, the Poland of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, through France, arguably the leading nation in the secular revolution, to the wishful neutrality of Switzerland. And in the journey, he leaves much of his beloved Poland and the negative baggage of history behind.In many respects, his works prophesized, or at least lobbied for, a new European order, built around the spiritual ideal of secular humanism as opposed to the principles of nationalism and organized Christianity that informed the old Europe, and, in many respects, only served to alienate and separate both individuals and nations.Devotees of Kieslowski who are familiar with interviews in which he alleges some belief in God might object to the use of the word “secular” to describe