The Decalogue Disk II (Vol.IV-VII)

A Three-Disc Box Set

Krzystztof Kieslowski has fashioned a cinematic masterpiece.This collection of ten films is a work of supreme daring, imagination, and sheer brilliance, riveting and profound.Each of the films uses one of the Ten Commandments as a thematic springboard.As the films in The Decalogue were completed, they awed audiences at film festivals world-wide.The best actors, cinematographers and film technicians joined Kieslowski (Three Colors: Blue/White/Red, The Double Life of Veronique) and his co-writer and long-time collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz in these extraordinary stories.The experience of watching The Decalogue is so compelling and powerful that film critic Kenneth Turan wrote that to see The Decalogue was "no less than a privilege."

I."I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have other gods before me."A university professor trusts in the infallibility of the computer and instructs his young son in its use.Anxious to try out a new pair of ice skates, the two consult the computer to calculate the safety of the thickness of the ice on a nearby pond.A freak thaw results in unforseen and tragic consequences.

II."Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."Dorota visits her dying husband in the hospital.She is pregnant by another man.She asks the doctor for her husband's prognosis -- considering abortion should he live, choosing life for the fetus if her husband dies.By predicting the fate of the husband, is the doctor determining the life or death of the unborn child?

III."Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."A married man's Christmas Eve festivities are interrupted when he is enlisted by an ex-lover to desert his family and spend time with her searching the streets of Warsaw as she looks for an errant new boyfriend.Under various pretexts, she manages to keep him out until 7 a.m., convinced that this will now make her life "normal".

IV."Honor thy father and thy mother."A young woman discovers a sealed envelope in her father's (Michal) room that is marked "not to be opened before my death."Inside is a letter from her deceased mother, which reveals that Michal, is not, in fact, her biological father.A complicated new relationship emerges as the two struggle with this revelation.

V."Thou shalt not kill."A psychotic youth (Jacek) randomly and brutally murders a taxi-driver.Arrested, he is given a young lawyer to defend him.Jacek is put on trial, found guilty and executed by hanging.Is an eye for an eye just, and does the legal system, in the name of the people and sanctioned by the government, have the right to kill?

VI."Thou shalt not commit adultery."Tomek, a young post office worker, is obsessed with Magda, the promiscuous woman who lives in the apartment complex opposite his building.He spies on her through a telescope and takes a job as a milkman simply to hear her ask "who is it?" through the door.Obsession turns to love, and a meeting proves dangerous and pivotal for both.

VII."Thou shalt not steal."Six-year old Ania is being brought up by Ewa in the belief that Majka, Ewa's daughter, is her sister, whereas Majka is really her mother.Tired and saddened by the deception and desperate to have Ania love her as a mother, Majka "kidnaps" Ania and runs away from her parents.She will only return home if her mother allows her to bring up her own daughter in the recognition of the true relationship.

VIII."Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."...
IX."Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife."...
X."Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.?????