Amanda: Decalogue 8

Decalogue 8: thou shall not bear fault witness against thy neighbor

This chapter of the Decalogue deals with taking sides on ethical dilemmas which decide the fate of someone’s life. Again, it amazed me how Kieslowski is able to create perfect story lines that challenging the viewer’s perception of the commandment while relating it to real life situations.

I was particularly impressed with this film in the series because it intertwined so many of the other stories and brought so many overarching ideas that have been prominent throughout the whole Decalogue series together. In particular, this story exhibited the most midrash we’ve seen thus far referencing story lines from previous Decalogue films and investigating moral dilemmas on an even larger scale.

The fact that the old woman is a professor of ethics who begins her class with a question of ethical hell is a phenomenal beginning to the task Kieslowski takes on in this film. When she challenges her students to examine the motives of the characters actions rather than the action itself this sets the tone for the way the viewers are supposed to take the film. One of the most interesting moments in the film is when the professor responds to a student’s remark by saying “we all have equal rights” and later continues on saying, “the child’s life is most important.” These comments foreshadow the confrontation between the two women and references the story told to us in a previous chapter of the Decalogue.

Another highlight of this film for me was it’s ability to tackle yet another seemingly impossible question to answer in life which is why circumstance allows for certain people to live and others to die. The character of Elizabeth expresses her inability to understand this line between those who rescue and those who need to be rescued and why she was placed in a situation that left the fate of an innocent child in the hands of strangers. The film seems to answer this question by showing the incredible healing that occurred between the two women, providing yet another example of redemption and connection between us all.