Decalogue
Colleen Real
In the assignment description, Kieslowski describes Midrash as " to minimize the literal meaning of the text and force the reader to struggle with the meaning, to make the meaning personal". This means that the viewer is supposed to figure out the meaning to them and not take it so literally. Kieslowski's description also says that "the tradition of Midrash focuses on legal and homiletical Biblical texts". Decalogue portays Midrash well as the series displays an episode for each of the ten commandments. The first episode we discussed was on the first commandment, which states "thou shalt have no other gods before me". Basically referring to those who believe in other gods and ideals when there should only be a belief in the one. In this particular film the "other god" happens to be technology, a computer to be specific. Pavel's father in this film puts his faith in the computer and thought that everything could be measured or calculated. Throughout the movie the father's computer seems to have a mind of its own, turning on and displaying a screen that says "I am ready". This could be a reference to God. Is God the computer or is the programmer of the computer God? Pavel's father calculates that the ice would be thick enough not to break and he puts his faith in that calculation but then the ice does break. This causes the father to rethink his belief. The loss of his son makes him seeks answers in a church where he gets angry and destroys the church's altar; this is significant because it shows that he putting his blame in some higher power. When he is also in the church he puts the frozen holy water to his forehead and it begins to melt, this could signify that his feelings are starting to change. He is starting to be more open to the thought of God, but he questions why God would take his son from him. The emotion the viewer experiences while watching this father try to find his son, realizing what has happened, and beginning to mourn really emphasizes the meaning of the film. Pavel dies towards the end of the film to emphasizes the deeper meaning, that technology and calculations arent always correct and that there is one true being, God.
The second episode we watched was referencing the fifth commandment which is "thou shall not kill". Decalogue's rendition of this is showing a young man murdering another man for no reason other than to kill him. The young man gets sentenced the death penalty as punishment. The government says "thou shall not kill", but they are basically murdering this young man for his actions. This is not an eye for an eye situation, killing the murderer wont bring back the man he murdered. The commandment contradicts itself. The film shows a parallel of how individuals and the state preform killings. The young man killed the taxi driver brutally while the taxi driver struggled against his attacker, just like how the young man struggled against the people bringing him to the noose to die. There is a juxtaposition of the young man grabbing the taxi driver roughly and the state grabbing the prisoner roughly to hang him. There is also an interesting juxtaposition of the man killing the other with rope and then he gets killed with rope. This parallel was shown to bring to attention that both killings were equally wrong. I believe that making the viewer get attached to a character and then having something happen to said character really helps get the point and beliefs of the films across to the viewer. It allows them to struggle with the meaning and make it more personal like Kieslowski described midrash.
In the assignment description, Kieslowski describes Midrash as " to minimize the literal meaning of the text and force the reader to struggle with the meaning, to make the meaning personal". This means that the viewer is supposed to figure out the meaning to them and not take it so literally. Kieslowski's description also says that "the tradition of Midrash focuses on legal and homiletical Biblical texts". Decalogue portays Midrash well as the series displays an episode for each of the ten commandments. The first episode we discussed was on the first commandment, which states "thou shalt have no other gods before me". Basically referring to those who believe in other gods and ideals when there should only be a belief in the one. In this particular film the "other god" happens to be technology, a computer to be specific. Pavel's father in this film puts his faith in the computer and thought that everything could be measured or calculated. Throughout the movie the father's computer seems to have a mind of its own, turning on and displaying a screen that says "I am ready". This could be a reference to God. Is God the computer or is the programmer of the computer God? Pavel's father calculates that the ice would be thick enough not to break and he puts his faith in that calculation but then the ice does break. This causes the father to rethink his belief. The loss of his son makes him seeks answers in a church where he gets angry and destroys the church's altar; this is significant because it shows that he putting his blame in some higher power. When he is also in the church he puts the frozen holy water to his forehead and it begins to melt, this could signify that his feelings are starting to change. He is starting to be more open to the thought of God, but he questions why God would take his son from him. The emotion the viewer experiences while watching this father try to find his son, realizing what has happened, and beginning to mourn really emphasizes the meaning of the film. Pavel dies towards the end of the film to emphasizes the deeper meaning, that technology and calculations arent always correct and that there is one true being, God.
The second episode we watched was referencing the fifth commandment which is "thou shall not kill". Decalogue's rendition of this is showing a young man murdering another man for no reason other than to kill him. The young man gets sentenced the death penalty as punishment. The government says "thou shall not kill", but they are basically murdering this young man for his actions. This is not an eye for an eye situation, killing the murderer wont bring back the man he murdered. The commandment contradicts itself. The film shows a parallel of how individuals and the state preform killings. The young man killed the taxi driver brutally while the taxi driver struggled against his attacker, just like how the young man struggled against the people bringing him to the noose to die. There is a juxtaposition of the young man grabbing the taxi driver roughly and the state grabbing the prisoner roughly to hang him. There is also an interesting juxtaposition of the man killing the other with rope and then he gets killed with rope. This parallel was shown to bring to attention that both killings were equally wrong. I believe that making the viewer get attached to a character and then having something happen to said character really helps get the point and beliefs of the films across to the viewer. It allows them to struggle with the meaning and make it more personal like Kieslowski described midrash.
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