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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thou shalt not, 18 Jan 2006
Krzysztof Kieslowski obviously had a thing about "theme" series -- the Color trilogy, the unfinished "Heaven" project... and of course, the Decalogue, a wonderful collection of made-for-TV movies that focuses on the Ten Commandments. Kieslowski's style is not at its most polished here, but unpolished Kieslowski is still magnificent.Kieslowski ran the full range of emotions in the Decalogue -- he'll make you laugh, then cry, then stare in disbelief. In one, he presents a man and his son "playing God" with a computer; in another, a murder is followed by execution ("thou shalt not kill"); a woman lures her lover away from his family on Christmas Eve ("keep holy the Sabbath"); and the delicious black comedy where two brothers inherit their dad's valuable stamp collection ("thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods"). By Hollywood standards, the Decalogue probably shouldn't exist. Not only is it religiously-themed, but was made on a very small budget and written in under two years. But Kieslowski proved his mastery by creating the one-hour short movies (two were screened in longer form), and loosely stringing them together. Don't expect the obvious in Kiewslowski's movies. This is no Sunday-school storytelling, with hell awaiting two-dimensional sin. It's a series of delicate, subtle stories about people who seem real, rather than allegorical paper dolls. At times, Kieslowski becomes too heavy-handed, like in the admirable (but obvious) fifth story about capital punishment. Okay, we get it -- all death is terrible. However, he's subtle more often than not. As with the Colors trilogy, there's a web of interconnected stories, with characters who brush by each other but don't actually touch. Not to mention that mute guy who watches from the sidelines -- a Kieslowski touch. But there the resemblance ends. The settings are bleaker, and the characters are less effervescent. But under the grayness and grime is his undeniable talent, his sense of sadness and gravity, and his sympathy for those who stumble morally. Krzysztof Kieslowski used a tiny budget and bleak backdrops to create a modern masterpiece, a sprawling movie in ten parts. Watch the commandments, one by one, in the form of the Decalogue.
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