Dekalog: Five
“Thou Shall Not Kill.” An angry young man brutally murders a taxi driver and is swiftly sentenced to execution. The punishment—legal, certain, and cruel—shatters the life of a third man, the idealistic young defense counsel, whose moral perspective is not enough to prevent a second senseless death—this time at the hands of a flawed justice system. In Polish with English subtitles.
With
Dekalog: Six,
“Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery.” A shy, virginal postal worker becomes infatuated with an older, sexually liberated woman who lives across the courtyard of their apartment complex. Rear Window-like, he voyeuristically spies on her with a telescope, an act that soon leads to confrontation and a disillusioning introduction to love. In Polish with English subtitles.
Appears in: Dekalog
Genres: Drama
Other Films by Krzysztof Kieślowski
Dekalog Parts 9 & 10
Dekalog: Nine, Poland, 1988 “Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife.” Roman, a successful heart surgeon, learns that he is permanently impotent and cannot have children. Though fearful that his marriage will end, he tells his wife, who to his surprise assures him that their love will last. But her price is taking a taking …
Dekalog Parts 7 & 8
Dekalog: Seven “Thou Shall Not Steal.” A young woman, determined to face up to responsibilities and to stop living a lie fashioned by her mother, kidnaps her daughter, whom everyone believes to be her six-year-old sister. “Only nominally about stealing . . . it is really a questioning and insightful examination of the difficulties of …
Dekalog Parts 3 & 4
Dekalog: Three “Thou Shall Honor the Sabbath.” After attending Christmas Eve Mass, a married man is pulled away from his family by the sudden appearance of an old lover who wants his assistance in finding her missing husband. Roaming the deserted city streets, they confront despair and loneliness, but finally, as morning comes, uncover the …
Dekalog Parts 1 & 2
Dekalog: One “Thou Shalt Have No Other God But Me.” A math and computer obsessed father, who sees the world built on rational, scientific logic, cannot calculate the appearance of random fate and tragedy. For his young son, he has no explanation to the notion of a perhaps cruel and jealous God, nor can he …
A Short Film About Killing
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s epic miniseries The Decalogue—contemporary stories based on the Ten Commandments played out in a Warsaw apartment block—was a landmark innovation in late 1980s European television. A Short Film About Killing (from Decalogue V) tragically mixes the destinies of two odd and unsettling characters who wander the streets of Warsaw. The grim narrative is, in the …