No End is a 1985

1985 in film

-Events:* 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.* The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out Of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.* Bliss wins AFI Award for best Movie...

 film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...

 ultimately concerning the state of Martial law in Poland

Martial law in Poland

Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...

 after the banning of the trade union Solidarity in 1981.

No End was Kieślowski's first writing collaboration with the screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz

Krzysztof Piesiewicz

Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz is a Polish lawyer, screenwriter, and politician, who is currently a member of the Polish Parliament and head of the Ruch Społeczny or Social Movement Party....

, who co-wrote the screenplays for all of Kieślowski's subsequent films. The film is also the first of Kieślowski's with music by Zbigniew Preisner

Zbigniew Preisner

Zbigniew Preisner is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski.-Life:Zbigniew Preisner studied history and philosophy in Kraków. Never having received formal music lessons, he taught himself music by listening and transcribing parts from records....

, who provided the musical score for most of Kieślowski's subsequent films. As in later films, Preisner's score is explicitly referenced by the characters in the film itself, in this case with the main character's son playing the theme on a piano at home.

Plot summary

A Polish translator, Ulla (Grażyna Szapołowska), grieves her recently deceased lawyer husband. As she copes with her loss, the family of her husband's last client, Darek Stach, contacts her in need of legal documents and advice. Ulla struggles with caring for her son, and alternately trying to remember and to forget her husband, while Darek struggles to come to terms with his imprisonment for political dissidence. Ulla's husband's ghost observes these events, occasionally becoming visible to Ulla and Darek.

Spoiler