Romek's Theme: The Violin in Kieślowski's film Personel
Lisa
Di Bartolomeo
The role of music, both diegetic and non-diegetic, often assumes a
thematic and expressive role in the films of Krzysztof
Kieślowski. This paper will briefly examine the significance of
sound and music in an early Kieślowski film,
Personnel, (1975) in which the strains of a lone violin
provide a positive emblem for the Artist. The film itself explores the
gradual disillusionment of a young man whose dreams of artistic
creation soon become overshadowed by the banal reality of theatre
production and the pettiness of those involved. The violin stands
alone in representing his continued hope for the purity and meaning of
art, even in the face of low politics.