The first
Decalogue film we watched clearly represents the second commandment that
states, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Mariela Pelaia states in her
article About Judaism that there is a type of midrash known as Aggada
(story). I would like to focus specifically on Aggada and explain the parallel
to the film and its accordance to that of the golden calf story in Exodus. The
gist of the story of the golden calf is that Moses’ people (the Israelites) turn
their back on God and while Moses is on the mountain getting commandments from
God, they worship a golden calf as their own god. Moses then comes back to the
people as God is furious with them and wants to end the human race and start
over. However, Moses begs God to show
mercy. In the film we see a similar concept. The father also worships a false
idol, which is his computer. It is clear that the computer is his God because
he constantly puts time into it, keeps it to himself in a selfish manner, and
constantly puts its importance above everything else in his life. This false
idol blinds him from truth in his life and his sole focus on it causes him to continuously
miss the bigger picture. There is a distinct visual moment in the film where
the father is playing in a chess match with his son against the reigning
champion. The pure innocence of his son gives the son a unique wisdom that is
unattainable for his father. The son tells his father to simplify the game with
a ‘faithful’ move and he can win. The point he makes goes far beyond any chess
match and speaks volumes of truth that the father cannot yet see; he sees it
only as a winning tip for a chess match. Stanley Kubrick states that “by making their (their
being the directors) points through the dramatic action of the story they gain
the added power of allowing the audience to discover what is really going on
rather than being told” which is exactly what happens after that scene. Instead
of the film directly telling us, we as the audience are able to realize that
the father is given this rare opportunity to see the truth yet it slips through
his fingertips. The realization I made
is that it is this moment that transitions to the start of some sort of
downfall. This relates to the golden calf story of the Israelites because they had
Moses who shared truth with them right to their face but still chose to disobey
God, which led to their downfall and punishment. One can interpret the downfall to be inevitable
because of the sad concept of worshipping false idols. The sense of meaning is
greatly increased and the significance of that meaning is honoring the right
God and not being fooled into the temptations of false idols. This emphasis on
meaning is so great it has been integrated into the viewer’s lifestyle and
mindset after watching the film. The director makes this meaning truly felt by
the emotional appeal the viewer gains for the son. By making the son the one
that is “sacrificed” for the father’s wrong doings of worshipping a false god, there
is a lot more significance in the meaning because it tugs on the heartstrings
of the viewers.
http://judaism.about.com/od/glossary/g/midrash.htm
I want to hear your thoughts on the son’s role in
this film, what do you think it was? Also, the son is the one that died yet he
was so innocent, do you see any parallel to the son dying to Jesus dying? The
son did die and then the Father decided to possibly take God more serious,
think about it.
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