There are few cinematic experiences that you’ll have in your lifetime that will equal Krzysztof Kieslowski‘s “Dekalog.” It’s ten hours of some of the finest filmmaking you’ll ever see, and with its return to the big screen, it’s not to be missed.
Spread across ten chapters, “Dekalog” tackles the ten commandants in a series of loosely connected stories all set around the same housing complex in Warsaw. The result is a powerful look at humanity in all its complexity, from the same director who brought you the “Three Colors” trilogy and “The Double Life Of Veronique.” Here’s the synopsis of the anthology plus a breakdown of each episode:
Originally made for Polish television, Dekalog focuses on the residents of a housing complex in late-Communist Poland, whose lives become subtly intertwined as they face emotional dilemmas that are at once deeply personal and universally human. The series’ ten hour-long films draw from the Ten Commandments for thematic inspiration and an overarching structure, and grapple deftly with complex moral and existential questions concerning life, death, love, hate, truth, and the passage of time. Shot by nine different cinematographers, written alongside longtime collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with stirring music by Zbigniew Preisner and compelling performances from established and unknown actors alike, Dekalog arrestingly explores the unknowable forces that shape our lives.
This new digital transfer of Dekalog was sourced from the 35mm original camera negatives provided by Telewizja Polska and stored at Filmoteka Narodow. When possible, the restoration of each episode was supervised and approved by its respective cinematographer.
DEKALOG: ONE
Krzysztof, a semantics professor and computer hobbyist, is raising his young son, Paweł, to look to science for answers, while Irena, Paweł’s aunt, lives a life rooted in faith. Over the course of one day, both adults are forced to question their belief systems.
DEKALOG: TWO
Dorota is in love with two men: her gravely ill husband, Andrzej, and a fellow musician who is the father of her unborn child. Andrzej’s doctor, himself no stranger to loss, is Dorota’s downstairs neighbor; she implores him to swear to a prognosis for her husband, and in doing so puts a very serious decision into his hands.
DEKALOG: THREE
It’s Christmas Eve, and Ewa has plotted to pass the hours until morning with her former lover Janusz, a family man, by making him believe her husband has gone missing. During this night of recklessness and lies, the pair grapple with choices made three years ago, when their affair was discovered, and with the value of their present lives.
DEKALOG: FOUR
A father and daughter, Michal and Anka, have a unique intimacy, that the college-aged Anka is beginning to feel conflicted about. When she finds an unopened letter from her deceased mother, it seems to justify her attraction to Michal, who may not in fact be her father.
DEKALOG: FIVE
Jacek, an angry drifter, murders a taxi driver, brutally and without motive. His case is assigned to Piotr, an idealistic young lawyer who is morally opposed to the death penalty, and their interactions take on an emotional honesty that throws into stark relief for Piotr the injustice of killing of any kind.
DEKALOG: SIX
A teenage postal worker, Tomek, routinely spies on his older neighbor Magda, a sexually liberated artist who lives in the apartment across the courtyard from his. As their private worlds merge, fascination turns to obsession, and the line between love and curiosity becomes violently blurred.
DEKALOG: SEVEN
As a high school student, Majka bore a child, Ania, whom Majka’s mother, Ewa, has been raising as her own. Now that Majka is ready for motherhood, Ewa refuses to let go, leading Majka to kidnap her own daughter, with unexpected emotional consequences.
DEKALOG: EIGHT
Zofia, a professor of ethics, is visited by Elzbieta, an American researching the fate of Jews who survived World War II. A daytime classroom conversation turns into a night of confrontation, and Zofia is forced to answer for a decision she made decades ago that directly affected the course of Elzbieta’s life.
DEKALOG: NINE
Roman and Hanka have a loving marriage, but his impotence has led to her having an affair. The unbearable situation drives Roman to extreme measures both physically and mentally, testing their love and his own will to live.
DEKALOG: TEN
Jerzy and Artur’s father dies, leaving behind a valuable stamp collection, which, they discover, is coveted by dealers of varying degrees of shadiness. The more involved the brothers get in their father’s world, the more dire and comical their situation becomes.
“Dekalog” opens at the IFC Center in New York on September 2nd, at Cinefamily in Los Angeles on September 17th , and will be followed by a national roll out. The Criterion Collection will release “Dekalog” on Blu-ray and DVD release on September 27th. Don’t sleep on this one.
