Dekalog

Writing about the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Decalogue (VL-3/00), a 1988-1989 series of 10 one-hour made-for-television films, I said: "Almost without exception, these cinematic pearls, loosely inspired by the Ten Commandments, exercised mental moral muscles long gone to flab from a semi-steady diet of Hollywood-lite fare. Set in a high rise apartment building in a middle class section of Warsaw, each of the segments presents an interesting dilemma: a young voyeur spying on a promiscuous woman receives a sobering lesson in the difference between love and sex; a Holocaust survivor confronts an ethics professor who refused her a hiding place as a little girl during the war; an impotent husband, after trying to convince his reluctant wife to have an affair, is both shocked and obsessed when she finally does (sounds like a soap opera, but it's an incredibly touching, heartbreaking hour); and so on. While some will undoubtedly find one or two of the episodes slow-going, the cumulative impact of the entire series is amazing: you walk away from The Decalogue rethinking life's big questions, and when was the last time an Adam Sandler flick made you do that?" Sporting a decent DVD transfer, The Decalogue is now available in a special edition boxed set with a number of nice extras, including a 16-minute introduction by film critic Roger Ebert, a four-minute featurette shot on the set of The Decalogue, a meaty 42-minute group interview with Kieslowski (who talks about his decision to switch from making documentaries to feature films, Polish politics, and his beliefs about what cinema can and cannot accomplish), a 14-minute remembrance by friends and colleagues, and a 20-page booklet. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Oct. 4, 2016—Criterion, 583 min., in Polish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: 5 discs, $99.95; Blu-ray: 4 discs, $99.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1988's Dekalog features a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include longer theatrical versions of the series' fifth and sixth episodes A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love (171 min.), archival interviews with director Krzysztof Kieślowski (48 min.), cinematographer interviews (31 min.), a new program by film studies professor Annette Insdorf (28 min.), more interviews—with co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz (25 min.), actors (21 min.), editor Ewa Smal (16 min.), and journalist Hanna Krall (16 min.)—and a booklet featuring an essay and capsules on the films by cinema scholar Paul Coates, along with excerpts from Kieślowski on Kieślowski. Bottom line: a landmark achievement in cinema makes an impressive debut on Blu-ray.]