Dekalog
This is a series of ten shorts created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Two of these, Dekalog 5 and 6, are shorter cuts from the feature-length films--Krotki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) and Krotki film o milosci (A Short Film About Love), respectively. They deal with the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict.
- 1989-1990
- 1 season
- Facets Multimedia Distribution
- Drama
- TV-MA
This is a series of ten shorts created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Two of these, Dekalog 5 and 6, are shorter cuts from the feature-length films--Krotki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) and Krotki film o milosci (A Short Film About Love), respectively. They deal with the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict.
Season 1 Episode Guide
10 Episodes 1989
Episode 1
Dekalog, jeden
55 mins
"I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other God but me." Ten-year-old Pawel and his father Krzysztof run their lives on their beloved home computer, and Pawel's aunt worries that his spiritual education is being neglected. But Pawel is too busy enjoying life, not least thanks to his father's Christmas present of a pair of ice skates, because the computer has calculated that the frozen lake is safe to skate across.
Episode 2
Dekalog, dwa
59 mins
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain". An elderly doctor is approached by a woman with a complicated request. Her husband is gravely ill and may die, and she is pregnant by someone else. If her husband dies, she wants to keep the child, but not otherwise, and she wants the doctor to give him an honest verdict on his chances. But the doctor is disturbed by her request, because his answer will directly affect the life or death of another human being. Is he entitled to play God?
Episode 3
Dekalog, trzy
57 mins
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Janusz is a taxi driver. It's Christmas Eve, and he honours the (Polish) traditions for this (holy) day: he gives presents to the members of his family and attends Midnight Mass. Later, Ewa, a woman with whom he betrayed his wife three years earlier, asks him to help her search for her missing husband. Should Janusz stay home to keep the day holy? Or should he help Ewa, who says she needs his help, to keep the day holy? Is it his duty to help her? This episode seems to be both about the third commandment and about some of the other commandments, for example "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "Thou shalt not lie".
Episode 4
Dekalog, cztery
57 mins
"Honour thy father and thy mother". Young Anka and her father have lived together since her mother's death, and have always been more like close friends than father and daughter. One day, Anka discovers a letter from her mother, and the contents make her question her whole relationship with her father... if that's indeed who he is.
Episode 5
Dekalog, piec
59 mins
A soon-to-be lawyer crosses his path with a taxi driver and a young sinister man.
Episode 6
Dekalog, szesc
60 mins
"Thou shalt not commit adultery" - a shorter, scaled-down version of 'A Short Film About Love', with a less complex plot and a different ending - though the basic narrative about the relationship between a lonely 19-year- old boy and the thirtysomething artist that he spies on every night is the same.
Episode 7
Dekalog, siedem
57 mins
Raised as sisters, one is in fact the other's mother. Unwilling to continue living a lie, the mother tries to get her daughter back from her parents.
Episode 8
Dekalog, osiem
56 mins
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour". A Polish-American researcher visits Warsaw and attends a lecture on ethics. Afterwards, she approaches Zofia, the lecturer, and says that she is the little Jewish girl whom Zofia refused to shelter during World War II. But Zofia has a very good reason for her apparent cowardice.
Episode 9
Dekalog, dziewiec
60 mins
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife". After discovering his impotence, Roman urges his wife Hanka to take a lover. She reluctantly complies, and despite his earlier words, Roman becomes obsessively jealous. Spying on her, he learns of her affair and vows to kill himself--not knowing that Hanka was in fact breaking off the relationship.
Episode 10
Dekalog, dziesiec
59 mins
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods" - especially not when it leads to the conclusion of this black comedy about two brothers who inherit their father's valuable stamp collection and end up paying rather more than they bargained for...
