This masterwork by Krzysztof Kieslowski is one of the twentieth century’s greatest achievements in visual storytelling. Originally made for Polish television, The Dekalog focuses on the residents of a housing complex in late-Communist Poland, whose lives become subtly intertwined as they face emotional dilemmas that are at once deeply personal and universally human. Its ten hour-long films, drawing from the Ten Commandments for thematic inspiration and an overarching structure, grapple deftly with complex moral and existential questions concerning life, death, love, hate, truth, and the passage of time. Shot by nine different cinematographers, with stirring music by Zbigniew Preisner, The Dekalog explores the unknowable forces that shape our lives.

Honor the Sabbath Day (Dekalog 3)
Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski. 1988, 56 mins. Restored DCP. With Daniel Olbrychski, Maria Pakulnis, Joanna Szczepkowska, Artur Barcis. It is Christmas Eve, and a young man, Janusz, is celebrating with his wife and child. Suddenly his ex-lover shows up at his doorstep with a favor to ask, and before long they’re wandering together through the city, with Janusz toggling between impatience, guilt, desire, and reckoning with some difficult truths about their relationship.

Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother (Dekalog 4)
Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski. 1988, 55 mins. Restored DCP. With Adrianna Biedrzynska, Janusz Gajos, Artur Barcis, Aleksandra Bardini. Anka has had a close relationship with her father ever since her mother died when she was little. Now a beautiful young woman, she discovers a letter from her mother, written on her deathbed, that calls her father’s paternity into question. With the family tie binding father and daughter seemingly suspended, impulses and emotions that each have carefully buried suddenly start rising to the surface.

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