Each year, the Rochester Polish Film Festival kicks off with
a series of screenings focusing on a few selected classics of Polish cinema. (A
second part, featuring a lineup of contemporary films, traditionally begins in
early November.) This year, Part I of the festival will be devoted entirely to
“The Decalogue,” the masterful, epic, 10-part miniseries from director
Krzysztof Kieślowski (“The Three Colors
Trilogy”), inspired by the Ten Commandments.
Created by Kieślowski along
with co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the series was
originally made for Polish television in the late 1980’s, and presented in 10
one-hour films (the Dryden will show them in pairs), each based loosely around
one of the commandments. Kieślowski directed
each story, and worked with a different cinematographer for each installment,
giving every episode its own subtly distinctive look. Though each of the
stories are self-contained, they all focus on residents of the same Warsaw
apartment complex, with characters from one tale sometimes popping up in the
background of another.
Far from a dry examination of religious dogma, Kieślowski and Piesiewicz
ask us to consider how these basic societal guidelines inform our everyday
lives, as each of their characters face some rather difficult ethical questions.
The Dryden Theatre program elaborates: “Although the films explore moral
questions, they do so in the context of lives of a modern, generally
areligious, urban populace. The films do not pretend
to provide answers, but to present questions.”
In “Decalogue Two,” a woman waits to find out from the doctor
whether her critically ill husband will live or die — she’s pregnant with
another man’s child, and the answer will determine whether she chooses to have
an abortion. “Decalogue Five” revolves around a young attorney, vehemently
opposed to the death penalty, who finds himself trying the case of a seemingly
amoral killer. In “Decalogue One,” a father and his son put their faith in a
computer that can calculate when the ice on a nearby pond will be safe enough
to skate on. Each new story presents new ambiguities, and nothing is ever as
simple as black and white. Taken cumulatively, the 10 films offer a rich, often
moving portrait of humanity in all its beauty and complexity.
The Rochester Polish Film Festival screens “The Decalogue”
beginning Thursday, September 29, at 8 p.m., with “Decalogue One & Two,”
and the series continues every Thursday through October 27. Tickets can be
purchased at the Dryden box office before each screening. General admission is
$8, $6 for members, and $4 for students.
Part II of the film festival begins on November 2 with “11
Minutes,” from director Jerzy Skolimowski.
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2016.
