This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

We might call Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Bez konca" ("No End" in English) a Polish predecessor to "Ghost", but that doesn't do it justice. This movie emphasizes the woman and how she tries to take up her late husband's task under difficult circumstances. Set in 1982, when Poland was under martial law and the Soviet-backed government was persecuting the Solidarity labor movement, it focuses on Urszula Zyro (Grazyna Szapolowska). Her lawyer husband Antek dies and she has to find a replacement for him in a case. But his spirit remains to watch over her and their son.This was a bold movie for its time. I don't know whether or not Poland had eased up on its persecution of Solidarity by the time that it got released (it was a sad irony that in the 21st century, long rid of Soviet domination, Poland assisted in the extraordinary rendition program). I suspect that this was one of the first Polish movies to feature a sex scene, if not the very first (by contrast, the first Soviet movie to feature a sex scene was 1988's "Little Vera"). Whatever the case, it remains an important piece of cinema history, and reminds us why Kieslowski was one of Europe's most influential directors.

Polish screenwriter and director Krzysztof Kieslowski's fifth feature film which he co-wrote with his long-time collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz, their first collaboration, is a Polish production which was produced by Ryszard Chutkowski who worked as a producer on several of Krzysztof Kieslowski's films. It tells the story about Urszula, a Polish translator who lives with her son in Poland during the early 1980s when the regime had declared martial law and did everything in their power to repress and destroy the first non-communist party "Solidarity". Urszula has recently lost her husband Antek who was a lawyer and is struggling to work out her grief while trying to raise and take care of her young son by herself. When contacted by her late husband's former client Darek Stach who is still concerned about his case, she tries her best to help him, but Urszula still longs for her deceased husband and no matter what she does he is constantly on her mind.Krzysztof Kieslowski's last politically prominent film from 1985 where he began to move his focus away from the political war that had marked his native country for the last two years, merges social realism with spirituality and draws a finely tuned portrayal of a grief-stricken woman possessed by her departed husband's spirit. This subtly paced and character-driven fictional tale which examines themes such as loss, grief, interpersonal relations, family relations and love, is as much of a heartbreakingly romantic and affectingly atmospheric love-story as a political and ethical drama.Acutely and precisely directed, this visually remarkable film is notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, the stellar cinematography by Polish cinematographer Jacek Petrycki, the ardent production design by Alan Starski and the poignant score by one of Krzysztof Kieslowski's most regular collaborators Zbigniew Preisner, who he worked with for the first time on this film. A profoundly well-written, intimate and internal mystery with a moving and understated acting performance by Polish actress Grazyna Szapolowska in an emotionally complicated role.

Mesmerising, if only for the performance by Grazyna Szapolowska as the widow who moves through the film and ignites every scene. Beautiful and tragic at once she emanates power over the audience and one cannot turn away. I had not realised how much this film must have influenced some established mainstream films that we assume to be original. Obviously many of them owe a great debt to this story. Told unflinchingly by Kieslowski in a unshowy manner it still demonstrates moments of brilliant insights into the human condition. The pain and torture we must endure after such heartache runs through the the heart of this film. I particularly liked the little moments as always, such as the glass slipping through her fingers, the dog trying to get in the car, the dirt on her hands from the bumper whilst witnessing the accident, the hypnotherapy session where she sees him. All simple and yet so elegant. No hammering it through to the audience with big signposting saying 'Remember this for later!'. Why don't more films treat the audience with a tiny bit more intelligence or is the majority of film going to assume we are all thick. And just because a film is mainstream doesn't mean it has to be low brow. Godfather, Deer Hunter, French Connection? Very strong films? If you see this also see Amator.

The narrative in this film is far too flawed. There are two intertwining halves of it, one good, one poor. The good one involves a woman, Ulla, whose husband died suddenly and unexpectedly one morning while he waited in his car to take their son to school. Now he gently haunts his family as they deal with the pain. The acting is magnificent here. Kieslowski is masterful at directing his actors in material like this, as he would show a million different times in The Decalogue, made a few years later. There are a few outrageously and subtly powerful scenes. Most memorable is the one where Ulla decides to prostitute herself to a British tourist. This happens about a month after her husband has died. After the man has sex with her, she asks him if he speaks Polish. He says no, and then she begins to talk about her problems in Polish. The other half of the plot is utterly weak in comparison. The husband was a lawyer, and the defendant in the case he was working on is screwed because of the death. The defendant's wife comes to Ulla for help, and though she is refused help at first, Ulla eventually introduces her to her husband's mentor, a cynical old man about to be kicked out of the business. Perhaps it's just my aversion to lawyer and courtroom dramas, but I just didn't care a lick what happened in this part of the plot. Supposedly it's meant as a criticism against the Communist law at the time. I don't know. It's dull whatever it is. But the film is slightly worth watching, especially for the acting. Even in the parts that I didn't care for, the acting is exquisite. 7/10.