Polish Cinema: Face to Face (Krzysztof Zanussi, 1968, Poland)
Face to Face is a short 1968 television film directed by Krzysztof Zanussi. Of the same Polish filmmaking generation as Kieslowski, Zanussi got his start directing short films beginning in the 1950s. He made over a dozen short films before directing his excellent debut feature The Structure of Crystal in 1969. Of all the Polish auteurs, Zanussi perhaps took the most influence from his neighbor to the north - Ingmar Bergman. Zanussi adopts that director's spare, austere style, and also his fixation on deep philosophical questions. Face to Face opens with a man's face in bed - this is our protagonist Kozlowski (Piotr Pawloski). Kozlowski lives in an apartment with his wife and dog in a city, and Zanussi initially walks us through his morning routine. While in the bathroom, Kozlowski looks out to the inner courtyard of his building. He soon sees a man on the roof who seems to beat to death another man and then begins making his escape by scaling down the building. Rather tha
