Ben Culotta - Decalogue

      These 2 short films, taken from Kieslowski's the Decalogue, a collection of ten short films that place the 10 commandments in a modern-day, worldly setting, are very in depth and require us as viewers to go beneath the surface in order to uncover their true meaning.  As discussed in class, in order to fully comprehend these films, we as viewers must take into consideration our personal feelings and compare these feelings and thoughts to what the producer is founding these films on.  Thus, these films are examples of “midrash.” The Ten Commandments are to provide the foundation of all law and justification, yet these 2 short films seem to depict these commandments as almost tragic.  What I think Kieslowski sets out to present is not the law itself, but the question of the law and its principles.  The significance of the otherwise routine, daily choices the characters make becomes a fascination in these short films.

      In the first film (Thou shall have no other gods), I was immediately drawn to the young boy Pavel’s exceptional intelligence and also his father’s infatuation with measurements.  One day, when Pavel wants to go skating, the father uses his computer to calculate whether the ice on a local pond is thick enough.  The computer says it's safe, but the boy falls through and drowns.  Even though the meaning is not explicit, I believe the first film acts as a caution to those who follow blindly without any thinking or philosophy.  

      The second film (Though shall not kill), follows a murder, his victim (a taxi driver), and a representative of the law through the random moments in their lives leading up to the act that will bring them all together.  Jacek's (the young murderer’s) act of killing is horrific but so to is the brutal, drawn out way he is executed.  It appears to me that Kieslowski’s message is that no one deserves to die, which is evident in the way he draws out the last scene where Jacek is hung.