Camera Buff is one of Kieslowski’s earliest features. A cursory glance at IMDB however reveals that he had more than a decade of experience making documentaries by the time he came to make Camera Buff. Given this, it would seem there is more than a slight element of autobiography to the film, which narrates the story of Filip, a seemingly innocuous husband and worker with a young son who is given a camera which changes his life. Filip is commissioned by the factory boss to make a short documentary about an anniversary celebration, a documentary which ends up winning third prize in a festival and launching him on an erratic and perilous career as a filmmaker. Filip becomes increasingly obsessed by the camera’s perspective, seeing the world through its viewfinder, something that leads to him becoming distanced from his wife, as well as compelling him to capture aspects of the world which the state would rather weren’t acknowledged. It’s a film about film, with plenty of wry humour (“Why did you include a shot of a pigeon in the documentary?”) and a slightly acerbic take on the industry. It’s also a great portrayal of the extent of freedom in communist Poland.
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