For only his second feature film, 'The Calm' is really quite impressive. It is nowhere near among Kieslowski's best work, have much more of a preference of his later work, especially 'Dekalog' and his work after, but 'The Calm' is not deserving of the relative obscurity it has.
'The Calm' doesn't have an awful lot wrong with it, it's the sort of film that does almost everything correctly and with very good skill but it's also a case of Kieslowski's style and all his components (while present and correct here) became more refined later on. 'The Calm' does lack the intensity and emotional resonance of his later work, especially with the best 'Dekalog' stories, 'The Double Life of Veronique' and 'Three Colors: Red' and 'Blue'.
While the term "dated" is very rarely used by me (due to it often being overused and abused and often appearing on IMDb users' most hated words list) the film has suffered a little from being shelved for four years, the stylings, lifestyles, politics and attitudes may have appeared dated even in 1980 (feeling more mid-late-70s than early 80s) and while interesting to see one is reminded often as to how everything has changed and evolved over-time.
However, these nit-picks are not massive and much of 'The Calm' works very well. It is a good-looking film, as well as being beautifully shot with atmospheric use of colour to match the mood, it is gritty yet beautiful with many thoughtful and emotionally powerful images lingering long into the memory. Kieslowski's direction is quietly unobtrusive, intelligently paced and never too heavy. Very intriguing use of sound and silence, music is sparsely used but effectively intricate.
It's a thought-provoking film too, rarely rambling and makes what it has to say stick without being too heavy-handed, and while deliberately paced the story intrigues, engaging a good deal while also suitably challenging the viewer in spots. The themes are explored well, though there are thematically richer films from Kieslowski, and the characters (portrayed fairly bleakly but realistically) carry the story well. As ever, the complexity and nuances of the acting is to be admired.
Overall, interesting and very good early Kieslowski, though he did go on to better things later. 8/10 Bethany Cox
