Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
Aimless Jacek murders taxi driver Waldemar, while idealistic lawyer Piotr is assigned to defend him against a death sentence.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Young drifter Jacek Łazar wanders Warsaw, crosses paths with newly qualified lawyer Piotr Balicki, and hires taxi driver Waldemar Rekowski. A brutal, apparently motiveless murder brings Jacek and Piotr together inside Poland's capital-punishment system.
Why it belongs
A Short Film About Killing gives murder and execution equally sickening physical duration, deploying poisoned color and procedure to reject ethical cleanliness.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Green-brown filters, distorted lenses, rope, taxis, prison tools, long preparations, and Zbigniew Preisner's score make both killings material and bureaucratic—Mirosław Baka's Jacek remains neither explained nor abstracted.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness9.1
Engagement8.8
Ease7.2
Polish · Not Rated Narrative Feature Mood: Tense & Absorbing
