• A severe 84 minutes shot through a hazy green/yellow filter with heavy shadows. It is some of the best 84 minutes of cinema in the 1980’s—pure and perfect.

A severe 84 minutes shot through a hazy green/yellow filter with heavy shadows. It is some of the best 84 minutes of cinema in the 1980’s—pure and perfect.

  • This is episode V in Kieslowski’s Dekalog series. It and episode VI (A Short Film About Love) were made into longer films. It works both as a standalone film and in the greater context of the series.
  • Starts with a dead rat, a cat hanging by a noose, a shrunken head in a rearview mirror—this is an unnerving dystopia—ugly, cruel—fitting for this subject (and the level of detail in the décor is on part with Stalker or Nostalgia– a world of dark clouds and mud). Miroslaw Baka’s Jacek character is a monster in the first half of the film (entirely Kieslowski’s point). He chases pigeons, throws rocks at traffic from an overpass, and barks like a rabid dog at foreigners on the street. This is intercut with Krzysztof Globisz’s Piotr character being interviewed talking about why he has decided to become a public defender (with palpable enthusiasm and optimism) – this is where we get the Cain and Abel quote.

Starts with a dead rat, a cat hanging by a noose, a shrunken head in a rearview mirror—this is an unnerving dystopia—ugly, cruel—fitting for this subject

the level of detail in the décor is on part with Stalker or Nostalgia– a world of dark clouds and mud

  • Like all (or nearly all) in the series of Kieslowski’s Dekalog, Artur Barciś (angel, witness, devil) shows up as a construction worker
  • Slawomir Idziak is the DP- he’d go on to make Blue and The Double Life of Veronique with Kieslowski. Their achievement here can’t be overstated. The filter idea is genius (apparently they tried about 600 filters to get the right look). It isn’t just the lighting though—green is peppered throughout the mise-en-scene here. Jacek’s motorcycle is green of course. There is green transparent tape on the windows of the taxi—stunning.

Slawomir Idziak is the DP- he’d go on to make Blue and The Double Life of Veronique with Kieslowski. Their achievement here can’t be overstated. The filter idea is genius (apparently they tried about 600 filters to get the right look). It isn’t just the lighting though—green is peppered throughout the mise-en-scene here. Jacek’s motorcycle is green of course. There is green transparent tape on the windows of the taxi—stunning

It is both rendered with a staggering amount of cinematic beauty—and a punishment to watch at the same time

  • The grisly murder is half-way through the film- which is no accident. Kieslowksi has the precision and formal rendering of Kubrick here. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Largely a silent film, the story of three men, the murder, victim, and the lawyer.
  • A haunting, indelible shot at 44 minutes. The camera looks through the open door of the car as the body is being dragged down the hill. The camera is fixed and the door slowly swings shut.

A haunting, indelible shot at 44 minutes. The camera looks through the open door of the car as the body is being dragged down the hill. The camera is fixed and the door slowly swings shut.

  • Another jaw-dropper of a frame when Piotr is talking to the judge with the green pouring in from the windows
  • The harsh ugly oppressive prison in the second half mirrors the sky in the first half. And of course Kieslowski changes Jacek- 180 degrees—he talks about the devastation of losing his sister and wanting to be buried next to her. This is a film about two killings—both involving Jacet and again- that is precisely the point.
  • It is both rendered with a staggering amount of cinematic beauty—and a punishment to watch at the same time
  • A masterpiece