Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

bandw It is the late 1970s in communist Poland where Filip Mosz works for a rather generic factory. He buys an 8mm camera to document the life of his newborn daughter. Shortly after getting the camera we see that Filip has more than a casual interest in using it. His interest and skill does not go unnoticed by his boss who appoints him as the company's official film archivist, in particular filming important company meetings and events. Filip's interest in filming is piqued and, with his winning the bronze award at a business film festival, he is in thrall to his camera. Many people are interested in and devoted to their work, but I think that there are not so many who are truly passionate about it, as Filip is about his filming. Having a passion can be disruptive to one's personal life, since the passion will usually take priority over everything. The irony here is that Filip's passion ultimately estranges his wife and child--his initial reason for buying the camera results in that pursuit being lost. The most poignant scene in the movie for me was when Filip's wife walks out on him and, as she leaves, Filip is seen framing how he would film that scene.Filip's passion also creates conflict between him and his boss. Filip wants to film everything, like two members of a meeting taking a break to go to the bathroom. When he embarks on a documentary of a handicapped employee the boss is not pleased, but Filip persists and finally the film winds up on television, in spite of discouragement from management. In an interesting twist, it is not Filip who is let go, but his immediate boss who allowed the filming to proceed. One message here is about unintended consequences, thinking about what effects your actions may have on others. Another message concerns how to resolve issues of personal integrity when in conflict with external pressures; what sacrifices are you willing to make to pursue your passion?The DVD contains an interesting interview with Krzysztof Zanussi, a Polish director who was friends with Kieslowski. Zanussi appears as himself in "Camera Buff," giving an interview with a local film society. Kieslowski provides some gentle humor in satirizing the intellectualizing of film and film criticism. For example, a member of the jury deciding on Filip's film pompously announces that all the entries were inferior and it would be inconceivable to award a first prize.Another excellent film on the topic of someone's developing a passion for film (in this case photography) and how that passion impacts lives is the biographical "Everlasting Moments.""Camera Buff" is an unpretentious and accomplished film well worth watching.

Ilpo Hirvonen Krzysztof Kieslowski started his career by making documentary films. After he had made 9 documentaries he got the chance to make two feature films for the Polish television: Przejscie podziemne (1973) and Personel (1975). This allowed Kieslowski to direct his first film for theaters, Blizna (The Scar, 1976). The government of Poland didn't treat the film well, and it took about twenty years for anyone to see it. In 1979 Krzysztof made Amator (Camera Buff), a film about an amateur cameraman. Amator was his international breakthrough and it was awarded in the Moscow film festival.A well-earning factory man, Filip Mosz buys a 8mm movie camera to film his daughter's early childhood. When the managers of the factory notice Filip's camera, they ask him to make a film about the company's 25th anniversary party. The film unintentionally gets to a local small festival and leads Filip quickly to the world of art-house cinema. But the success has its price and it causes troubles in Filip's work and private life.Even in the very beginning of Filip's career he meets the problems of the Polish censorship. The film he made about the party should not have showed a mysterious eye-glassed man, pigeons on a window sale, businessmen going to the men's room or the performers getting paid. When Filip gets to an agreement with his boss, they get the film to the festival. The further Filip's career goes, the more he messes up with his private life. His wife, Irka Mosz is not happy about his new hobby, neither is his boss but he has to swallow the facts of Filip's 'success'After the first film Filip makes a film about a short stature man, who works at the factory. This doesn't please the boss and he tries to make Filip not to continue making it. While watching Amator, one cannot help but see the connections to Kieslowski's own career. Amator also studies the difficulty of art in Poland during 1970's. As mentioned above, Kieslowski had problems with getting Blizna (The Scar) to the theaters, and it certainly wasn't the only one. The authorities didn't like his documentaries either, but through their own tracks, they had an impact on cinema.Filip's dedication to cinema, makes his personal life hard and in result of that his wife leaves him. This leads Filip to the basic questions of making cinema, to the battle against the society's and his personal censorship. Amator is an ambiguous film with many layers and many meanings. It analyzes the difficult inner crisis in Poland, it researches the mission of cinema art and tells about the moments in the director's life. The earlier films of Kieslowski often got stuck with the Polish censorship and only after Amator he got his stable place in the European art-house cinema.But Amator certainly isn't a description of the harsh life of filmmakers. Krzysztof Kieslowski writes in his interview book, Kieslowski on Kieslowski that he doesn't think family life necessarily is hard because of cinema. One might have the very same issues, even how much time one would spend with one's family. Whether you're a factory worker or a film director. Perhaps the love given in small doses is much more intense, than love in big doses.Why does the amateur destroy his film in the end? Is it because he is tired of making cinema, the frustration and misery. But the ending agrees to give us an answer. Filip doesn't give up, he turns the camera to himself, to search himself, to study himself but also to continue making films. But why did Kieslowski show Filip destroying his film? Filip has got himself in a trap, from where he cannot move. He pleased the people he didn't want to, by making the film. Kieslowski says that he never had to destroy his work, but when he was making Dworzec (1981) the police wanted to check his camera if he had accidentally filmed a murderer. That was a time when Kieslowski could've destroyed his work, because helping the government without wanting to was something he never intended to do. So Amator is a very deep film with many meanings and purposes. Compared to Kieslowski's earlier feature film, Blizna (1976) Amator is much more complex, well written, personal and altogether well done. The audience gets to experience the magic of cinema at the same time with Filip. He sees the enormous ability of influencing and witnessing events - the fascination of creation.

Rodrigo Amaro There are times in our lives that a minor event becomes a biggest event, something that change your life for good or bad, but it's something that makes what you are and defines your whole journey through life. To me this thing was movies. Since I was kid I watched movies but I didn't have a greater perception of what movies were and their meaning, all I know is that I liked for some reason. When I grow older I noticed that is something very important to me and it was something that I couldn't live without, to remember good cinematic moments and to see a different look through our reality, to have different and pleasant experiences. Since I'm talking about movies and turning points in someone's life, Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Amator" is a brilliant and deep look into the life of a man who accidentally became a filmmaker. Here, Filip Mosz (Jerzy Stuhr) is a happy man that awaits the birth of his first child and he buys a camera to film the event. After that he realizes that he created a magical world through what he filmed, he notices that everything is different, beautiful behind the lens of a camera and starts to make simple documentaries, filming his friends, his neighborhood and everything he finds interesting to film.But one day someone told to his boss that he has a camera and he needs the camera because the Comunist Party wants to film a celebration of a great event in the town. Since Filip is a State civil servant (working in a factory) he's almost forced to film the event (he's the only person in the whole city to have a 8mm camera). What is interesting here is that Filip enjoyed filming the celebration, doing a great job that caught the attention of his bosses and his friends and that led his film to be registered into a film festival for amateur filmmakers. Filip sudden success makes him moving forward in the making of all sorts of documentaries, one of this documentaries features an midget hard working colleague of Filip in the leading role, something that his bosses doesn't want to be filmed, after all Filip's films are sponsored by the Comunist Party and they don't want to get involved with supposed controversial subjects. Here starts Filip's problems, because now he has a conscience about the power of movies, the influence that his documentaries has in people's lives, in the government, and what it's images may cause to his family and his friends. Is it possible that people can respect and accept what you do even if what you do it's something that pushes away from all the people you love and care? Is Filip a responsible filmmaker or he's just pretending to be someone he's not to get attention? What is best: to be truthful to yourself and lie to others to have good relations or be truthful to everyone and be hated for it? Many questions to be answered by the viewers in this exciting and wonderful film.Kieslowski knows exactly what's he doing here. This story hands perfectly well to him not only because he's a great artist that deal with many obstacles to make his movies. No, he started filming documentaries,pretty much in what Filip does, filming for the Comunist Party in Poland. In one of the documentaries he accidentally filmed an killing, then his bosses were told and started to control all of his films since then. His first films were censored during the 1970's and beginning of 1980's so in "Amator" we know what he's saying about the control of what filmmakers can do or not. If you are familiar with his first films you can notice that in almost all of it he criticizes the government in one way or another, his attacks are very sharp, very subtle in films like "Bez Konca". With the Trilogy of Colors, "A Short Film About Love" and the "Dekalog" you'll see that he's a more artistic creator. But as in all of his films he's got the partnership of the writer Krzysztof Piesiwicz, a great collaborator.The acting here is great: Jerzy Sthur in the leading role is awesome. His quietness and strange manners put him in the same type of a Carlitos the Chaplin character, sometimes he's funny, other times he's very impulsive. Malgorzata Zabkowska plays Filip's conflicted wife, a woman that wants the attention of his husband that seems to care more about his movies than to health of his child. In the role of Witek, Filip's best friend and supporter, Tadeusz Bradecki gives a very good performance, showing the limits of what a man can do to a friend and what he won't do. When the movie becomes too slow and sometimes depressive Witek appears to show a little bit of humor.Another great and reflective work from the fantastic director Kryzsztof Kieslowski, a must see film for those who admires his films, and for those who love movies as I do. 10/10

Grace-18 It's difficult to write something about this film, only because it is unbelievable; it's so good that it almost couldn't exist. The story is about a man who has a usual life: a wife, an employee... and when he buys a camera to register his daughter's birth he discovers a new world. He changes into a man who lives only for his movies, his objectives and everything else change. The most important thing is to make films. Beyond that he involves himself with the problems of the factory where he works and his films try to show those and because of his involvement he'll have some problems. The film is principally about movies about that people who love movies, special people...