Kieslowski’s short 1980 film documentary ‘Talking Heads’, made for Polish State TV, takes people from all backgrounds and all ages (from one to one hundred years old) and simply asks them:
Who are you?
What do you want?
The answers are thoughtful, surprising, touching, sometimes uplifting or bleak, occasionally funny or wry, the film ends with a one hundred year old woman’s bark of knowing laughter. Just once there is no answer to the filmmaker’s questions, and Kieslowski hovers with his camera, allowing a blink, blink, and a baby’s soft amazed expression, her silence to speak volumes. The two questions seem to get straight to the heart of the shared humanity of Kieslowski’s ‘Talking Heads’.
