Dekalog, jeden

I find the Dekalog series to be brilliant. The first episode is one of the most memorable for me, and the most sad. The sense of loss is realistically conveyed, and brought tears to my eyes. It was an amazing intro to a wonderful series.

'Dekalog' is a towering achievement and a televisual masterpiece that puts many feature films to shame. Although a big admirer of Krzysztof Kieślowski (a gifted director taken from us too early), and who has yet to be disappointed by him, to me 'Dekalog' and 'Three Colours: Red' sees him at his best.

Episode 1 of 'Dekalog' is one of its best episodes, and not only is it of the most thought-provoking and poignant pieces of television (or any kind of visual medium) there is but it's also one of the best first episodes personally seen for any television series. Would even go as far to say that it moved and interested me more than most thought-provoking and emotional feature films double its length.

As to be expected from Kieslowski, it is both beautiful and haunting to look at, with photography that's startling in its beauty and atmosphere. All of the 'Dekalog' series is visually stunning, and Episode 1 is one of the best-looking, and here especially in the final scene the photography actually enhances the emotional wallop to a scene that is heart-breaking already. The direction is intelligent and unobtrusive, while the music is hauntingly intricate.

The story is deliberately paced but never dull, the whole idolisation of science concept is explored with great intelligence while the final 10 minutes affected me (and very deeply) more than any other film or anything television-related in a while, much of it without dialogue and more through moods and expressions. The themes and ideals are used to full potential, and the characters and their relationships and conflicts feel so real and emotionally resonant without being heavy-handed. Despite being based around one of the ten commandments, don't let that put you off, resemblance to religion is relatively scant.

Couldn't have asked for better performances, Henryk Baranowski, Wojciech Klata and Maja Komorowska give remarkably complex and nuanced portrayals. Baranowski is especially outstanding, especially in the scenes detailing the aftermath of the tragedy, but Klata shows amazing maturity and naturalness for his age.

Overall, simply brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox

It is true that Dekalog 1 was made 20 years ago by Kieslowski.A thing that can be said about human emotions is that they will however remain same regardless of the time factor.In the last two decades,a lot has changed in Poland and elsewhere.It is also true that contemporary computers do not look the same as they looked when they were filmed for this film but a big lesson for humanity that can be learnt from this film concerns the loss of a child which is a human being's greatest loss as other losses can be recouped but one can never recover a lost person."Dekalog,Jeden" is a great film by Kieslowski as it is one of the few successful films which challenge the supremacy of science over human faith and religion.Faith and Religion have become two of the most important topics of human existence and current day kids are readying themselves to search answers about them.This is also the case with this film's protagonist,a young boy named Pawel who is torn between two extremes.His inquisitiveness forces him to ask so many relevant but unsuitable questions for kids.His love for his father forces him to think of him as his god.This is an act which requires absolute dedication As in other films of this series,there is neither denial nor avowal of god.It is not the severe cold of Warsaw's snow capped buildings which is causing the most damage,it is the coldness of feelings,coldness of human heart which is harming human relationships beyond repair.

Like in a Kafka book, a character is cool and rational, but suddenly sees everything around falling down. He painfully sees that the mystery of evil can't be explained by the faith in God or by the bare cause-effect paradigm. Mourning is indeed more painful, if you can't explain why an accident happens, and the movie is about this (or, my interpretation). Despite something ingenuity about computers and despite the low budget, the movie is tremendous and wonderful.

It's not necessary at all to repeat the worth and the offer of the 'Dekalog''s director in the cinema history and in the symbolic interaction. I read all the critic reviews that cover totally this part.

As the most of these reviews are written at about during the first decade of 2000's, I would like to underline the connection of this film in the 2020's. The technology steps on, but the uncertainty of the life doesn't change. This film should help us to realize that Artificial Intelligence and the digitalization of our lifes cannot transform the human nature in supernatural superiority.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind'. No matter if against that the communist computer science of the late '80s or the neo-liberal AI of the 2020s is placed.