The Decalogue (1988– )
"Dekalog" (original title)

Ten television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.

Stars:

Artur Barcis, Olaf Lubaszenko, Piotr Machalica

9 wins.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Artur Barcis	...	Young Man (9 episodes, 1989-1990)

Storyline

This is a series of ten shorts created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Two of these, Dekalog 5 and 6, are shorter cuts from the feature-length films--Krotki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) and Krotki film o milosci (A Short Film About Love), respectively. They deal with the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict.

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Plot Keywords:

ten commandments | polish | morality | poland | christianity | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

10 December 1989 (Poland)

Also Known As:

The Decalogue

Filming Locations:

Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$16,807 (USA) (23 June 2000)

Gross:

$447,093 (USA) (24 November 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sender Freies Berlin (SFB), Telewizja Polska (TVP), Zespol Filmowy "Tor"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min 55 min (10 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Stanley Kubrick described 'Dekalog' as the only masterpiece he could name in his lifetime.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

User Reviews

Ten highly sophisticated moral plays

The Decalogue is without doubt a monument of movie history. The ten films are apparently based on the ten commandments, but this relationship is tentative. Kieslowski himself commented that "the films should be influenced by the individual Commandments to the same degree that the Commandments influence our daily lives". The amazing thing about them is that they are much more than a series of abstract cinematic emblems. Assisted by superlative acting, they acquire each their own depth, their own real personalities and complex dilemmas. Kieslowski presents a cinematic view of morality that is about as sophisticated as it gets. A grand achievement of one of the great film-makers of the twentieth century.