The Decalogue

Movie Information

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present The Decalogue Parts 1 thru 3 at 8 p.m. Friday, June 17, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District, upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
Score:

Genre: Drama
Director: Krysztof Kieslowski (Red)
Starring: Various
Rated: NR

World Cinema is tackling Krysztof Kieslowski’s The Decalogue (1989), his ten-part TV film that consists of separate 55-minute episodes that are grounded—not always very strictly—in the Ten Commandments. Well, World Cinema is tackling the first three episodes (each if the 10 is a self-contained story), in any case. Kieslowski stated upfront that the stories were by no means meant to be literal takes on the Commandments—and they are not specifically religious in tone. (That’s not surprising since Kieslowski was hardly traditionally religious.)  According to Kieslowski, the whole series is about the mere difficulty of living, and was made recognizing that the Ten Commandments are ignored and/or violated on a daily basis. It’s in essence about “things that some people found more important than God.” I have only been able to sample the episodes, but I’ve seen enough to be impressed by them and to recommend them to anyone who admired the director’s Trois Couleurs films, though it should be noted that The Decalogues are much more spare and much less stylish than the trilogy.

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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One thought on “The Decalogue

  1. Me

    This might be a good time to get into some Krysztof Kieslowski, Filmspotting has been doing their marathon on him and its got me really interested in finally checking out some of his stuff.

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