The Constant Factor

Mario C.

Another very interesting film by Zanussi, that manages to deal with complex themes with a very minimal style of directing. This film tells the clash between an idealistic and correct man and a society that follows other rules. This dynamic moves the whole film. But does the real force that moves everything is just fate or is there a meaning for everything?

Dag Kaszlikowski

A young man is forced to exist in a cynical world most of us accept as a necessary evil. He stands up against it, stubbornly clutching to the constant factor in a fuzzy dynamics of human condition. Raw and direct this film will remind you of Don Quixote you buried long time ago to stay sane. Was it worth it?

LibertyCapz

What use is high moral fiber when one has to endure swimming against the current in river of sin only to find that there's somehow more shit upstream than where one started? Definitely a gripping and poignant film. Yet another hitter from Zanussi, great stuff.

msmichel

A young man's ethics and sense of morality go up against 'the system' in this intelligent but pessimistic film from Zanussi. When corruption spreads across all facets of everyday life the morality of one man has little chance of making a difference. Jury winner at Cannes features strong scripting and solid performances especially from lead Tadeusz Bradecki.

josé neves

PC/TV screen. The analysis of Polish society, politically and socially, remains staggering, transforming its protagonist into a symbolic totem of an unchanging society's determinism. Zanussi's cinema acquires the realistic tones with which the dramatic statement is sustained, with little more to offer beyond that efficiency.

mpho3

Professor: "You really believe the world will get better if it gains one righteous man more?" Witold: "Yes. ... I've realized I can't live any other way."

Wee Hunk

If you were expecting some sort of reward for good behaviour, then this is not your movie. That's not the protagonist's reason. He can think of no other way to act. While there are similarities to Kieslowski's films, I happen to think that Zanussi's are less heavy handed.

dionysus67

An intelligent, nuanced and visually accomplished -as always from Zanussi- diatribe on human renunciation. The categorical and ascetic morality of the hero is shattered not by the inchoate musings of New Age gurus but by the self-imposed imperative to master fate through the temptations of an unlimited will. The metaphor of climbing turns into crucifixion in the tragic consequences of man's emulation of God. Superb!