Krzysztof Kieslowski: I have one good characteristic: I'm a pessimist,...

For me optimism is two lovers walking into the sunset arm in arm. Or maybe into the sunrise - whatever appeals to you.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

sunset two hands

You make films to give people something, to transport them somewhere else, and it doesn't matter if you transport them to a world of intuition or a world of intellect...The realm of superstitions, fortune-telling, presentiments, intuition, dreams, all this is the inner life of a human being, and all this is the hardest thing to film... I've been trying to get there from the beginning. I'm somebody who doesn't know, somebody who's searching.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

movie somewhere-else dream

Different people in different parts of the world can be thinking the same thoughts at the same time. It's an obsession of mine: that different people in different places are thinking the same thing but for different reasons. I try to make films which connect people.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

trying people thinking

Real artists find answers. The knowledge of the artisan is within the confines of his skills. For example, I know a lot about lenses, about the editing room. I know what the different buttons on the camera are for. I know more or less how to use a microphone. I know all that, but that's not real knowledge. Real knowledge is knowing how to live, why we live, things like that.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

skills artist real

I believe the life of every person is worthy of scrutiny, containing its own secrets and dramas.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

secret drama believe

There are mysteries, secret zones in each individual.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

individual mystery secret

You have to want to make a film for other reasons - to say something, to tell a story, to show somebody's fate - but you can't want to make a film simply for the sake of it.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

fate stories want

Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

pain knowing feelings

This man (Bergman) is one of the few film directors-perhaps the only one in the world-to have said as much about human nature as Dostoevsky or Camus.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

men directors world

We all steal, but if we're smart we steal from great directors. Then, we can call it influence.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

smart influence directors

In believing too much in rationality, our contemporaries have lost something.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

too-much lost believe

I like chance meetings - life is full of them. Every day, without realising it, I pass people whom I should know.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

chance life-is people

I like chance meetings--life is full of them. Everyday, without realizing it, I pass people whom I should know. At this moment, in this cafe, we're sitting next to strangers. Everyone will get up, leave, and go on their own way. And they'll never meet again. And if they do, they won't realize that it's not for the first time.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

everyday goes-on people

Of course, you could, no doubt, call my going to film school the biggest mistake I ever made.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

doubt mistake school

Do people really want liberty, equality, fraternity? Is it not some manner of speaking?

Krzysztof Kieslowski

equality liberty people

The realm of superstitions, fortune-telling, presentiments, intuition, dreams, all this is the inner life of a human being, and all this is the hardest thing to film.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

superstitions intuition dream

The television industry doesn't like to see the compexity of the world. It prefers simple reporting, with simple ideas: this is white, that's black; this is good, that's bad.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

simple white ideas

We understand the concept of equality, that we all want to be equal. But I think this is absolutely not true. I don't think anybody really wants to be equal. Everybody wants to be more equal.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

equal want thinking

In real life, there are names that surprise us because they don't seem to suit the person at all.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

suits real names

(When asked what a director does) I help.

Krzysztof Kieslowski

doe helping directors

I have one good characteristic: I'm a pessimist, so I always imagine the worst - always. To me, the future is a black hole.