• The sixth film in Kieslowski’s Dekalog – a series of ten moral tales about or surrounding each of the ten commandments. This is a companion to episode five- A Short Film About Killing and both were expanded from the normal 55-60 minutes to a longer 80-90 minute format. This is “thou shalt not commit adultery”
  • This is a slow-burn film about a voyeur and an unhealthy obsession. It is nearly impossible to talk about cinema as voyeurism and not bring up Hitchcock (whether it is Rear Window, Vertigo (which leads you to Lynch and Blue Velvet), or Psycho or resulting body of work from De Palma. Powell’s Peeping Tom is always an important text as well. Kieslowski starts with much of that basic premise slowly detailing the creepy surveillance a man following a woman— he’s patient here, building character slowing and it pays off as this turns into both a story of a fixation but also a well-rounded complex character for a shorter film.
  • The standout visual in Kieslowski’s work here is the red-stained window pane background first shown at the 23 minute mark. He goes back to it and holds it for a sustained stunning shot at the 43 minute mark as both Grazyna Szapolowska’s Magda and Olaf Lubaszenko’s Tomek (a very rich character) are framed by the window

The standout visual in Kieslowski’s work here is the red-stained window pane background first shown at the 23 minute mark. He goes back to it and holds it for a sustained stunning shot at the 43 minute mark as both Grazyna Szapolowska’s Magda and Olaf Lubaszenko’s Tomek (a very rich character) are framed by the window

  • Like almost all of the films in the series Kieslowski upends your initial impression of these characters. Tomek, though disturbed, is genuine, and there is clearly sympathy for him as he goes from perpetrator to victim
  • It doesn’t touch the heights of A Short Film About Killing but like episode three there is a clear dedication to a visual aesthetic—here it is the color red (and we’re talking about the future director of the three colours trilogy)—a red bed, red phone, red blood heavily emphasized to mirror and match the motif of the window pane

here it is the color red (and we’re talking about the future director of the three colours trilogy)—a red bed, red phone, red blood heavily emphasized to mirror and match the motif of the window pane

  • The angel/devil/observer Artur Barciś character is here in the park
  • A highly recommend film- top 10 of the year quality work