Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Talking Heads" is a 1980 documentary film about the natural human process of ageing. Multiple individuals of ascending ages, who belong to different strata of society and are involved in a variety of professions, are interviewed one after the other. The questions put forward to them are: How old are you? Who are you? What would you like from life? The year of birth of each of these participants appears at the bottom.
The film is shot in black-and-white and using a handheld camera, evident from the mild bumpiness in each shot of the film. This is arguably also a creative choice, considering how the people who appear are all non-actors, and the film itself is non-fictitious in nature. Thereby, the subject justifies Kieslowski's use of a more unconventional camera technique which is closer to reality.
"Talking Heads" begins with the three questions being put forward to an infant who is just a year old. None of the questions are, expectedly so, answered. Following this, when the same questions are put forward to a two year old, he answers with indifference. It is important to note how he says "nothing" when asked what he would like from life.
As the ages of the interviewees progress, as they enter the stage of boyhood/girlhood from infanthood, one notices the steady increase in attention that these children display to the questions they are being asked. This also indicates at how human beings, as we progress from the underdeveloped stage of being an infant to childhood, devote greater attention to the world around us and in turn, begin interpreting it in our own unique ways.
These images also depict a certain selfishness children seem to have when it comes to their demands from life. For example, they wish to be a car, to be able to own a horse, to not go to school and to have a lovely child, to go to America, etc. These answers show how in the beginning of their lives, human desires and wishes are restricted to themselves. As a result of this, their attitudes and sentiments toward the rest of the world remain largely apathetic.
They also show how in our earlier years, we happen to have a more concrete idea about who we are and how simplistic these ideas are. It is only with the passage of time that we begin to realize the complexities of identity, and through this, the complexities of human existence itself.
The portrayal of this development in the film happens when a twelve year old boy declares he is not mature enough to make major decisions in his life, hence indicating at the subtle reduction in confidence. The lighting at this portion is from the top, which obscures the boy's eyes behind a black shadow, giving the image a sense of mystery, depicting the lack of surety in his mind.
We begin to see strong changes in the kind of expectations these individuals have from life. They become more empathetic and concerned about their environments. They also begin introspecting, thereby the expectations they have from themselves begin to change. Their outlook on life starts to attain a certain level of complication as they progress from boyhood/girlhood to adolescence.
Since all of the interviewees are schoolchildren, the settings of these shots are related to the environment of a school. In most shots we can hear schoolchildren playing and screaming in the background, while one shot is taken inside a school library etc. But there is a singular shot where a sixteen year old boy declares himself to be an orphan and wishes that everyone has a beautiful, happy childhood. This shot alone, in a contrasting manner, is set in an environment where there is a complete lack of any school related backgrounds or noises. This in a certain way, depicts the mind space of the individual on screen.
As the film progresses, along with the age of the interviewees, we begin to notice that the identities of the people in question, as well as what they want from life grow along with them, and they grow not only in complexity, as previously mentioned, but in profundity as well. Age lends to the thought process wherein we begin to look at things more deeply, and hence begin introspecting with greater refinement.
Kieslowski begins to show how the identities of people are also closely associated with what they want from life. For example, a thirty-one year old man who deems himself to be a realist wishes to secure a modest but sufficient living for his family, a factory youth leader wishes to become an economic activist, a writer fears the demise of democracy as the exchange of thought and social debate have severely reduced.
There are also shots where some of these people have become parents, and more importantly, mention this as a part of their identity. Their children also appear in the frame, indicating the increasing importance of their roles as parents, and how this has changed their expectations from life more idealistic and peaceful. This is corroborated by how they wish for people to act with a clearer conscience and also wish for kindness and reason to be prevalent in society.
One of these parents, a biologist, is shown in his study, with books around him and yet, he holds his child. This clearly points towards the way his life itself has changed after the arrival of his child. Even if he is a man of science, he has now adopted a more idealistic way of seeing things.
Kieslowski might have also chosen interviews which subliminally criticize the communist regime in Poland. Some of the people who are interviewed strongly support the ideas of democracy, freedom of speech, free will and unbridled liberty. These few shots give the film a slight political flavour, although film on the whole is not explicitly political.
With advancement in age, there is a stable descend in the complication of the wishes and desires of human beings. The mind seems to attain a certain tranquillity. Most of the older interviewees in the film echo this phenomenon through their answers to the third question. They wish good health to their family and friends, hope for global peace, call for the unison of the people of the world for good causes, wish for people to learn to show gratitude etc.
Yet, there are a few men and women in the film, who despite having reached an old age, still maintain an extent of their analytic abilities. This is evidenced by how a man calls for the fulfilment of the future envisioned by pre-war Poland and by how a woman who is, interestingly, eighty years old, believes that the most important thing in life is the right to one's opinion and dignity. Following this, though, she says she wants peace for the world and for herself.
Through these few shots, where all these men and women have now attained old age, Kieslowski depicts the eventual slowing down of life. The answers of these individuals, who have been both toughened and taught by their long lives, hint toward a certain lucidity that one accomplishes with old age. The few exceptions with more analytical, introspective answers are included to provide a rounder, all inclusive look at old age.
Finally, in the last two shots, the film depicts the final stage of life, what Shakespeare called man's "second childhood".
First, a recently widowed woman who is eighty six years old, identifies herself with her loss. The only way she can describe herself is as the widow of her late husband. When asked what she wants from life, she says "Nothing."
It is interesting to note how the answers received for the third question are the same in the second and second last shots, albeit for different reasons. The answer given by the two year old child in the beginning foreshadows the old woman's answer.
Kieslowski chooses these two portions and places them at two equidistant ends in the film to establish the similarity between these answers, which come at two contrastive stages of life. While the answers themselves are similar, the reasons behind them are completely different.
The two year old child does not know what to make of his life, as he has not yet gained anything significant from it, and hence, is unable to convey what he expects from it. For the old woman though, she has lost almost everything she deemed important, supported by the fact that she associates her very identity with her recent widowing, and hence does not think she wants anything more from life.
In the final shot, we see an old woman, a centenarian, who wishes to live longer. The fact that she declares this after announcing her age makes her statement seem even more poignant and admirable.
Almost the entire film's sound design, except the voiceovers and the music at the opening and closing titles, is diegetic. The decision to use no music whatsoever within the film is justified by the non-fictitious subject of the film. The film exhibits Polish society as a whole and, in a broader fashion, the ageing of a human being as he/she alters and introspects, and in the process, expresses his aspirations, wishes and thoughts on himself and life in general.
The interviewer's identity is not revealed, the questions are asked from an off-screen source and the same questions are asked to all the interviewees, irrespective of their age, profession, sex and religious or philosophical beliefs. This evidences the importance and relevance of these questions to all human beings, regardless of their personal inclinations.
Through this it is understood that the film is not about the physical process of ageing alone. It is about the psychological, metaphysical, political and sociological changes that a human being undergoes with age.
The filmmaker also selects interviews which when seen one after the other, depict a steady incline and then a decline in the mental soundness and elaboration with which we view life as we age.
As a result, Kieslowski explores not simply the ageing of human beings, but their maturing and gradual reversal as well.
