Mya Sulzer : The Decalouge

 When watching the two excerpts of the Decalogue movies, I was very disturbed. The overall sense of the two episodes was very eerie. The visual medium of film was used very well to explain Midrash. The first film explained the 1st commandment, "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me." The way Krzysztof put this saying into imagery was unique. The father did not believe in a higher power, and in the film, it seemed that because the father put his beliefs into science instead of God, he was punished by losing his son. Throughout the film, a homeless man was sitting near the lake, where later in the movie, the son would drown. I questioned why this man filmed or why the character was included, and now I wonder, was he a visual representation of God or an angel? The second film expressed the 5th commandment, "Thou shalt not murder." This film also expressed the political aspect of the death penalty. A young man kills a cab driver and is sentenced to death by hanging. So, because he murdered the cab driver, he is reprimanded and punished by death, an eye-for-an-eye. This also adds an interesting question about our prison system in America. We use the death penalty, we also want to separate church from state, and in the ten commandments, one of them is thou shalt, not murder. So by using the death penalty and backing up with the commandment of thou shalt, not murder, are we separating church and state? Some of the symbols of the films helped me better understand the idea of Midrash. For example, the first film's computer almost represented how the 21st century is ever-evolving, and we are straying more and more from our religious ways. In the bible, there is a story about Cain killing Abel by hitting him with a stone. The young boy is dragging the cab drivers' limp body to the river's edge during the second movie. The cab driver starts to regain consciousness, so the young boy grabs a river rock and smashes over the driver's face, ultimately killing him. This was a symbol in itself to relate to religion. There are many stories in the bible that relate murder to a rock being used. This film showed that all humans have feelings. We all feel pain, happiness, joy, sadness, regret, or jealously. Every character in the films had an inner struggle, and Krzysztof does a great job of making the viewer feel the character's emotions. He knows how to tug at your heartstrings, and when you leave the movie, you feel different.


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