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Krzysztof Kieslowski, Artur Barcis, Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Olaf Lubaszenko, Piotr Machalica ... see more see more... , Jan Tesarz , Katarzyna Piwowarczyk , Henryk Baranowski

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74% want to see it

7,211 ratings

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28 critics

Unrated, 9 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski

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DVD Release Date: March 28, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (445)

  • bookmunki
    June 3, 2011
    bookmunki
    Epic! It's well worth the time commitment to watch these modern envisionments of the ten commandments. These interpretations are rife with ethical ambiguity, forcing the viewer to question and analyze their moral assumptions.
  • kenstachnik
    October 28, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Decalogue I - 5/5
    Decalogue II - 4/5
    Decalogue III - 4/5
    Decalogue IV -
    Decalogue V - 4/5
    Decalogue VI - 3.5/5
    Decalogue VII -
    Decalogue VIII -
    Decalogue IX -
    Decalogue X -
  • thirdway821
    November 22, 2011
    thirdway821
    Will write more in the future...

    Decalogue One: I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me.

    So far I have watched the first episode. The Decalogue is Krzysztof Kieslowski's representation of The Ten Commandments. I was imediately pulled in, the story of... read more father and son both intelligent but is skeptical on the forces of God. The father is an atheist and has great difficult dealing with God and the realities of death.

    Decalogue Two: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

    Not as provoking as the first but still enjoyed the premise. An old man who happens to be a doctor lives in an apt. A young woman who also lives in the same apt complex is seen smoking. At first she is reluctant to talk to him but later conforonts and asks if he knows her. She asks the doctor if her husband is going to live and he responds "I don't know". The reason why she asks is beccause she is pregnant with another man, if her husband lives she will abort the pregnancy if the husband dies she will let the child live so the doctor has to decide and give her a reasonably answer. The doctor swears to give her a solution. The dying husband also has a say and it's amazing what he says on screen. It's unique how characters happen to crash into each other at ill turning events.

    Decalogue 3: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

    Episode 3 is great and pretty much sad. A story about a man and a woman who use to be in an affair join together Christmas Eve. It's clear what the woman's true motives is but it's also great to see how mature the man handles the woman so called games. In other words they keep things holy.

    Decalogue 4: Honor thy father and thy mother.

    One of the best episodes so far. Young Anka and her father have lived together since her mother's death, and have always been more like close friends than father and daughter. One day, Anka discovers a letter from her mother whose contents make her question her whole relationship with her father. It's amazing when the truths reveal and how mature Anka and Michal deal with their personal struggle of bitter resentment. The ending with the burning of the letter is just as complex as with the sled name Rosebud in "Citizen Kane".

    Decalogue 5: Thou shalt not kill.

    Decalogue 5 is whoa...I won't even explain the details except a carefree kid who winds up in jail and suffers the consequences.

    Decalogue 6: Thou shalt not commit adultery.

    A naive young man Tomek spies on a woman, Magda through her window and falls in love with her. Dec 6 would have to be my fav and i'm sure it inspired filmmaker Patrice Lacontice to make the great "Monsiere Hire".

    Decalogue 7: Thou shalt not steal.

    I didn't really care for this episode. Found it boring and a little bit uninteresting. The story involves a woman kidnapping a little girl but is in fact her real daughter. The woman's mother believes her daughter is not capable of raising her daughter and it's evident when the child cries in her sleep. The final scenes were disappointing maybe because I knew the kidnapping mother wouldn't hear from her daughter and family again. Maybe it's all for the better.

    Decalogue 8: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
  • smootysveen
    December 20, 2007
    smootysveen
    Individually, each film is good. As a whole it's just too much.
  • vkelman
    April 10, 2011
    vkelman
    Krzysztof Kieslowski is perhaps the best movie director of all times. There is not much I can tell about him and his movies: all this is so deep, philosophical, and heavenly beautiful, so full of love, that I'm just not up to this task. You just need to see all and every movie Kr... read morezysztof Kieslowski and think about each.
    It's an integral part of human culture.
  • jclark311
    November 2, 2010
    jclark311
    10 short films, 10 commandments; it's not quite as simple as a film per commandment - most are a mixture of a number of commandments. But the film fuses the virtues of the 10 commandments and applies them to 'regular' people who inhabit the same Warsaw apartment complex.
  • kmbridge1
    July 2, 2007
    kmbridge1
    Kieslowski left us way too soon. But he did leave behind a handful of achievements that place him at the forefront of filmmakers of the last quarter of the 20th century. The Three Colors movies and The Double Life of Veronique - the movies for which he is probably best known - wo... read moreuld be enough to ensure his reputation, but is this film - or ten films, if you wish - that elevate him.

    While the movies are based upon the Ten Commandments, they are not simple morality tales and illustrations. Kieslowski and his co-writer, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, create meditations that connect both intellectually and emotionally with the commandments instead. They explore the commandments' themes with the head and the heart. One great example is the first movie, in which a parent and his child use a computer to predict the freezing rate of a pond. Casting the computer and human knowledge as false Gods is not a new or unique idea, but in Kieslowski's hands, the idea expands and fills not only the mind but the heart. Man, I wish I had the vocabulary to express what moves in me every time I watch any one of these films.

    There are some `movies' that are hard to describe. `Dekalog' is one. It's not really a movie. It is a ten part made-for-TV mini series. Don't remember seeing `Dekalog' when it was first shown on TV? Neither do I. `Dekalog' was made for made for Polish TV in 1987 by Krzysztof Kieslowski (`Blue', `White', `Red' and `Double Life Veronique'). Each segment of `Dekalog' is about one hour and is thematically driven by one of the 10 Commandments. All the stories take place in the same high rise apartment in Warsaw. The characters in each of the stories don't necessarily overlap, yet we see some of the characters from one story walk through another. This lack of overlap is also true of the stories and the commandments. Even knowing which commandment was the basis for a story, I couldn't always see a direct correlation. It's as if Kieslowski and his co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz view the 10 Commandments as a ruler to measure one's actions, a curb to provide bounds for one's choices or maybe a mirror to reflect on one's life. This reflective view of the commandments comes through in each of the stories. In "I Am the Lord Our God" a young boy and his father rely on a computer to decide whether or not it's safe to go out on the ice. "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" is about a young boy who spies on and stalks the woman next door. Magda, his neighbor, is free and easy. And when she finds out about the young voyeur, she sets out prove there is no such things as love. Commandment by commandment Kieslowski provides us our own voyeuristic moment into the lives of the people in this one Warsaw apartment. This is truly a great movie. Buy a copy and watch the stories with another movie fan. Dekalog contains 10 stories that you'll want to talk about long after you've watched them.
  • SysOpShadow
    March 13, 2007
    SysOpShadow
    Kieslowski is the best realist in cinema. This series of films is beautiful. Easily the best achivement in foreign cinema that I've witnessed.
  • nanoqna
    January 20, 2007
    nanoqna
    this is about the 10 cmnandments ubt its not jus moralts. its all so good. who is that guy who doesn tspeak tho? u should se eit.
  • ryanjantz
    July 16, 2006
    ryanjantz
    My #5 film of all time. a mammoth achievement and a very thought provoking study portrayal of the 10 commandments.

View All The Decalogue Reviews

Critic Reviews

Chris Vognar
January 10, 2002
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

See part of it, or see all of it. Just be glad it's around. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
March 20, 2001
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

An overwhelming psychological and spiritual epic for our times. Full Review

Judy Stone
February 21, 2001
Judy Stone, San Francisco Chronicle

There is no question that Dekalog is the summit of Kieslowski's achievements. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
February 21, 2001
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

All of the films in The Decalogue are easy and pleasurable to follow as stories, yet part of the excitement they generate stems from discussions about their meaning after their dramatic impact registers. Full Review

Stephen Holden
February 21, 2001
Stephen Holden, New York Times

A masterwork of modern cinema, essential viewing for anyone who cares about the movies as a serious art form. Full Review

Roger Ebert
February 21, 2001
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The 10 films are not philosophical abstractions but personal stories that involve us immediately; I hardly stirred during some of them. Full Review

James Berardinelli
February 21, 2001
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

This is the product of a expert storyteller/filmmaker at the height of his craft, creating a masterwork the likes of which comes along only once in a great while. Full Review

J. Hoberman
February 21, 2001
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Powerfully evokes the last, dispirited days of Polish communism. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 3, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Brilliant and moving, a masterpiece about the fragility of human nature. Full Review

Philip Martin
October 29, 2007
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

... a stone masterpiece.

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The Decalogue Trivia

  • 1980s. a conteporary take on the ten commandments. it is about 10 hours long.  Answer »
  • Master filmmaker Kieslowski is famous for making The Decalogue and The Three Colors Trilogy, Which of the following films did he also direct?  Answer »
  • Which Polish film director is known for the film cycle 'The Decalogue'?  Answer »
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