This original series illustrating
the Ten Commandments has firmly established Kieślowski’s international
reputation. Each of the presented stories is linked to the theme of a
particular commandment. Because of its form, all viewers are deeply moved by these
movies, regardless of their views or religious beliefs. Asked on numerous
occasions why he had chosen such a hard subject, the director replied curtly:
“It’s worthwhile to be reminded of these ten very well written sentences. There
needs to be a point of reference, a definitive criterion (...)”. The series won
numerous awards at film festivals and is one of the most recognizable Polish
productions.
11-year-old Paweł is brought up by
his single father. His mother lives far away, in Australia. Aunt Irena helps to
raise her nephew introducing him into the world of faith. The boy asks his
father and aunt questions regarding death, the meaning of life and God. When
Paweł is given in advance his Christmas gift – a dreamed pair of ice skates –
his father in order to ensure the safety of his son calculates on his computer
that the ice covering the lake in the neighbourhood is sufficiently thick to
hold him. Going to skate finishes tragically for Paweł and Marek. The story,
simple and dramatic, was inspired by an authentic experience of the co-author
of the screenplay, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, whose son did not come back home on
time one day. Not many authors writing about Kieślowski’s works notice that the
first part of Decalogue is almost entirely a flashback, even doubled:
the first character of the movie is a silent man played by Artur Barciś,
sitting by a fire near the lake. An intense look of the witness of the accident
gazing straight into the viewers’ eyes is very important. His teardrop,
ambiguous, as it happens in Kieślowski’s films, is an answer for another
teardrop: Irena’s, moved in front of the TV screen, on which her nephew shown
in the reportage filmed in his school can be seen. The symmetry of teardrops
also appears in the final scene of the film, when the boy’s death causes his
father-agnostic to rebel (against whom?) and enter a provisional church – and
also the sympathy of the Black Madonna whose face is covered with melted wax
‘teardrops’ dripping down the candle. The story about Paweł is the flashback of
his aunt that finishes with the boy’s face disappearing from the screen. Artur
Barciś closes this story of the Decalogue – and its next nine parts – in his
look.