The Decalogue

"Everyone seems to accept the Ten Commandments as a kind of moral basis, and everyone breaks them daily. Just the attempt to respect them is already a major achievement. If I had to formulate the message of my 'Decalogue', I'd say 'live carefully, with your eyes open, and try not to cause pain.'" (Krzysztof Kieslowski on his series "The Decalogue")

I'm still fairly new with "The Decalogue" myself, but after seeing this extraordinary group of films only about six months ago and again as I prepared myself for this project I'm still fascinated by it and continue to grapple with its beauty, mystery, and philosophical questions.

"The Decalogue" was originally intended for Polish television between 1988-89, but since then it has grown in reputation as a cinematic achievement. As Kieslowski puts it, the only difference he saw in working in television was the pay was lower and you had to work faster, that didn't mean the work was any less special.

Kieslowski is often credited for coming up with filming ten films about the Ten Commandments himself, when in fact it was his co-screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz a former lawyer. This was the second film project the two worked on together after their film "No End" in the early 80s. In fact most of the stories in "The Decalogue" came mostly from Piesiewicz's own personal experiences or experiences as a lawyer.

From what I understand by Roger Ebert's introduction to the series, Piesiewicz knew nothing about screenwriting, but he knew how to talk, and together he and Kieslowski hammered out the concept of "The Decalogue" and each of its stories which took over a year. It was decided by both of them to set the stories in modern Poland instead of biblical times, this way they could examine how a contemporary society deals with the commandments in everyday settings. Kieslowski also made the decision to use different cinematographers for each story in order to achieve a different look. The one link to the stories is the apartment complex shown throughout "The Decalogue" where all of the various characters live in. Occasionally we see main characters from one film pass by in others either in hallways or in elevators just as you would see them everyday, this would further incorporate a feeling of connection between people.

Another key link has to do with a mysterious onlooker who appears in eight out of the ten films. He is a silent observer who appears in key moments in the films usually when a main character must make a crucial decision. Who exactly is this man? Some say he is a Jesus or a God character who looks at these people with pity, Annette Insdorf who wrote the book "Double Lives, Second Chances The Cinema of Krzsztof Kieslowski", compares him to an Angel like the ones in Wim Wenders "Wings of Desire", someone who silently observes but cannot or do not intervene. The fact that he appears in the films only adds more to the ambiguity to the pieces, Kieslowski himself refused to say who he was or what he represented.

Another interesting fact about "The Decalogue" is how Kieslowski chose to title each episode. Instead of clarifying which episode corresponds with which commandment, Kieslowski simply titles them by numbers (ie. "1", "2", "3" etc.) which gave more ambiguity about which rule each film was linked to. When the films were shown at the Venice Film Festival, the segments were issued a title to give a more clear view to what they were suppose to focus on. Kieslowski himself didn't intend for this to happen since for him, the films either directly or indirectly involved some or all of the commandments at once.

For a bit more insight into each film I'll give a quick synopsis but I'm reluctant to reveal much since what I found to be wonderful about "The Decalogue" as in most films was not knowing too much about it going in. Kieslowski's films are better when they reveal themselves to you.

Decalogue 1: A University Professor and his brilliant young son live together in an apartment building. After seeing a the lifeless body of a dog outside their building, the boy has questions of death, God, and faith, and is given different answers by both his more practical father and his more spiritual Aunt. The plot also deals with the fact that the boy is a computer whiz and how a computer can have absolute proof in its data than people do, does that mean it's infallible? The story takes a surprisingly tragic turn. This to me was probably the most spiritual film in the series as it questions whether or not we can take anything on faith.

Decalogue 2: A woman's husband is dying, she is pregnant, but he is not the father. She asks his doctor if her husband will indeed die for if he lives she will choose to have an abortion. The doctor cannot give her an absolute answer, however something happens that causes him to make a fateful decision.

Decalogue 3: A man is forced to spend Christmas with his ex-lover in order to find her missing husband, however it is shown that she is a compulsive liar and seems more and more compelled to have her husband remain missing.

Decalogue 4: In a story that seems to examine paternity vs. biology, after a young woman finds a letter from her deceased mother, she is convinced her father isn't her biological one.

Decalogue 5: After a man kills another, he stands trial and faces the death penalty.

Decalogue 6: A young man is obsessed with the woman living across from him. He uses his telescope to watch her, but she soon finds out what he's been doing and invites him over.

Decalogue 7: A young woman steals away her young sister from her mother. It is revealed that she is in fact the young girls real mother.

Decalogue 8: The most blatantly philosophical portion of the series as a woman seeks out the older woman who refused to shelter her during the Holocaust.

Decalogue 9: A man who discovers he is impotent tells his wife to take a lover, she refuses, but it is then revealed that she does in fact have a lover.

Decalogue 10: A comical tale of two brothers who inherit their deceased father's stamp collection only to find out it's worth a fortune, but there may be other people interested in the collection as well.

The films in "The Decalogue" are all moral tales, but the answers to the questions are never black and white. Kieslowski seems to have his own ideas to what these answers are, but he lets us decide for ourselves. I look at the films to be like riddles, some don't seem to have a solution, but all are meant to be contemplated.

The characters here are all human beings, with real feelings and real problems. These are universal issues, and Kieslowski perhaps bravely dares to incorporate morality in what on the outside looks to be an immoral world.

I would say not all of the films does incorporate God or religion in them, however some very bluntly do. It depends on the situation such as in "Decalogue 1" where the young boy questions what life and death are all about for the first time, however in "Decalogue 6" involving a peeping tom and a promiscuous woman, God isn't muttered between either of them, however these characters share a common moral dilemma.

The brilliance of Kieslowski is how he is able to put these complex ideas into a cinematic aesthetic. There is an ongoing motif of reflection in the films, people are sometimes seen distorted through glass or a mirror by someone else or themselves. They are not seen as completely whole, even though I'm not an expert to what Kieslowski was meaning behind this, I think he was trying to show that people aren't always what they appear to be, but also we must be careful not to judge them as it is impossible to know a full human being.

When I watch or even think about "The Decalogue" it is impossible for me not to think about my own ideas of God, religion, life, and death. Is there morality in this world? Do things happen for a reason? Is there a divine plan? But mostly when I think of "The Decalogue" it gives me a hope in humanity. There are characters who do wrong things but we come to realize perhaps why they did what they did, and in other cases, we can see ourselves in them as well. It's the complexity of life we are forced to examine, and perhaps we walk away with a better understanding of it.

Although I don't know much about Kieslowski, what I have read and observed about his work thus far makes me think he was a cautious optimist. He's not afraid to show a bleak, dirty, immoral world, but he refuses to throw away a meaning to it all, as long as we probe these questions, we can reach a truth.

(Photos from top to bottom: "Decalogue 1", "Decalogue 5", Decalogue 6")