John Tyler: The Decalogue

The Decalogue

In Krzysztof Kieslowski’s film “Decalogue”, he uses visual mediums to convey an interpretation of each of the ten commandments. The style of interpretation used by Kieslowski is Midrash, an ancient commentary of the Hebrew scriptures.  Midrash focuses on the deep meaning of the text as well as the comparative meanings surrounding it.  Kieslowski instills the film with visuals that cause the viewer to search for and struggle with the meaning themselves.  

One film is a Midrash of the first commandment “Set no gods before Me” where Kieslowski deploys symbolic imagery in order to invite the viewer into dramatic action of wrestling with the meaning behind the 1st commandment.  The short film ends with the death of the young boy which was an indirect consequence of his agnostic father’s fetishizatoin of the computer.  The father believed in only what could be measured and quantified thus he did not believe in God nor in any form of an afterlife.  Having believed in his calculations and formulas all his life, he could barely fathom that his son fell through the ice.  Even after watching his son being pulled out of the freezing water the father remains standing in shock and disbelief while everyone else sorrowfully kneels on the snow.  Immediately following the death of his son, Kieslowski includes several scenes of tears being shed whether it’s by the boy’s aunt, the stoic homeless man, and the wax running down the icon’s face.  This imagery acts as a powerful midrash of the 1st commandment by bringing deep emotion into the meaning of the text.  Not only does it place the viewer into the dramatic action by stirring up emotion from within but also in how the viewer is transmitted through an array of feelings.  In line with this, Rudolf Otto notes in The Idea of the Holy, “It is not that the actual feeling gradually changes in quality...but rather that I pass over to make the transition from one feeling to another as the circumstances change” (Otto, pg. 42-43).  The film stirs up emotions within the viewer.  However, it is the individual and not the feeling that undergoes transition.  

I interpret the tears to be an indication of the consequences of a broken commandment.  Since God deeply desires for us to worship Him and Him alone, our disloyalty can actually trouble God’s soul and bring Him grief.  Kieslowski is expanding upon the ramifications of idolatry.  We were created to worship God alone in which Saint Augustine states "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." Therefore, the tears bridge a gap in our understanding by signifying the gravity of our actions committed against God’s desires.