A Critical Review and Comparison of the Decalogue and the First Two Commandments.
A Critical Review and Comparison of the Decalogue and the First Two Commandments
The Ten Commandments, found in the Old Testament book of Exodus, have often attracted intellectuals from different parts of the world, especially in a situation of moral and spiritual crisis. Krzysztof Kieœlowski, a respected Polish film-maker, in 1988, made a series of ten, one hour films for Polish television titled Dekalog / The Decalogue 1-10, which are exploring in a predominately secular way, the validity of these Ten Commandments and how they could relate to contemporary times, not only in Poland, but also to the rest of the world. Using William Barclay's critical commentaries from the book titled The Ten Commandments and Kieœlowski's own interpretations from the handout Kieœlowski on Kieœlowski I will examine specific issues addressed in the cited material.
The Decalogue by Kieœlowski was produced in 1989, and is set in Warsaw, Poland. The film's primary characters are a father, son, and aunt. The film takes place over a two or three day period and focuses on the family's microcosm and specifically its relationship to the computer and their individual belief systems. The son, Pavel is a school aged boy approximately 10 years old, who lives with his divorced father in a housing complex near his aunt. The only active relationship he has with his loving mother is via mail and her visits around the holidays; she never appears or is formally introduced in the film. The film is focuses on and expands upon the role the computer and the father's measurement theory play in each of their lives. The father is a linguist professor, who is a self-proclaimed atheist and believes only in scientific facts that can be measured or concretely proven - his so called "Measurement Theory". He thrives on logic and is infatuated with technology, specifically computers. His sister is a much more compassionate and simple person; she is a practicing Catholic who believes in the Christian doctrine. In the film Kieœlowski examines how the father, son, and aunt interact and expands upon their belief systems and their individual idiosyncrasies. In the Decalogue, Kieœlowski shows how the first two Commandments are being broken; he uses a modern computer as a replacement of a traditional pagan idol, and the father's belief in pure logic as the primary sources of conflict with the classical teachings of the Commandments.
What exactly are the Ten Commandments and why did God give Moses the Commandments on Mount Sinai? According to the book of Exodus, God commanded Moses to liberate the Israelites/Jews from slavery in Egypt. Moses takes this group of former slaves from Egypt into the desert to escape their torturous lives; they are in search of the Promised Land God has offered them. The Egyptian Pharaoh gives chase and many of Moses' followers begin to have doubts about God's path for them. The exiled Jews begin to doubt the wisdom in following Moses because the Egyptian army is about to overtake and destroy them; however, at the last moment, God parts the sea as the Pharaoh's army is about to destroy them and allows them to escape. As the Pharaoh's army pursues them, the sea closes behind them and swallows the Egyptians, which again bolsters their faith (Exodus 19-21). According to Barclay and the book of Exodus, after three moons of traveling, the group is beginning to become tired, restless, and doubt again begins creeping into their hearts. They come to Mount Sinai and make camp. Moses leaves the group at the base and seeks direction from God by climbing the mountain, fasting, and mediating. After he leaves the group, they become disorderly because there is no one there to lead them. They begin fighting amongst themselves and their morality quickly deteriorates. They lose faith in their God and begin to melt their gold and silver in order to make idols to worship. God sees what is going on and becomes furious and tells Moses that He is going to strike them down. The God of the Old Testament has destroyed nonbelievers before, specifically in the story of Noah, and Moses knows this. Moses pleads with him, asking for directions to give the exiled Israelites in order to live the way the Lord wants them to. The Commandments were given to Moses and he returns to the Jewish people camped at the base of the mountain and tells them God has spoken to him and has given him specific instructions. The Commandments, are a "charter for democracy" they are often criticized as being negatives or "thou shall nots", but at this stage of the social evolution that is all that they can be (Barclay 3-4). Barclay goes on to state, the Commandments are not the end-all of ethics but the very beginning upon which morality and full social ethics can evolve. The Jews acceptance of self-limitations was the beginning in which true community can develop. The very acceptance of these laws, offered to Moses, is what changed these people from being a wandering group of former slaves into the beginning of a nation (Barclay 3-4).
The story of Moses and Exodus influenced Kieœlowski's decision to write and produce these films because he saw the "Polish people's plight, apathy, and exhaustion as similar characteristics of the exiled Jews. [...] Poland from a geographic perspective is perched between Russia and Germany" (Kieœlowski 141). Both countries have smashed their way through Poland and destroyed the true character of the people and country. "Poland has taken on a defeatist and bitter attitude, and its 38 million people, only unite in adversity and suffering but cannot unite in agreement" Kieœlowski (143). Kieœlowski focuses on the lack of a ...
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The story of Moses and Exodus influenced Kieœlowski's decision to write and produce these films because he saw the "Polish people's plight, apathy, and exhaustion as similar characteristics of the exiled Jews. [...] Poland from a geographic perspective is perched between Russia and Germany" (Kieœlowski 141). Both countries have smashed their way through Poland and destroyed the true character of the people and country. "Poland has taken on a defeatist and bitter attitude, and its 38 million people, only unite in adversity and suffering but cannot unite in agreement" Kieœlowski (143). Kieœlowski focuses on the lack of a solid charter for democracy. He sees how society is becoming like the exiled Jews were at the base of Mount Sinai and hopes to expose their shortcomings by creating and airing these films on the public Polish television station, in the hope of challenging the status quo.
The Commandments are a link to nationhood in both stories because they offer the foundation upon which a society can evolve. The Polish plight is similar to many of the developing world's struggles. In order for there to be a healthy society, mankind must respect himself, and according to Christian religious doctrine, believe in a single God. God is defined in the Old Testament by Barclay as being the "lonely supremacy, whom demands reverence for himself and demands mankind respect itself" (Barclay 2).
Man's connection to God according to Barclay, is that mankind will inevitably become like the God he worships. "If he worships a licentious God [...] he will become a licentious man. If he worships a hard stern God, then he will, as the world so often tragically has seen, become a hard stern man [...]"(Barclay 7). Man's connection to God is parallel to his perspective on himself, and without a belief in something other than itself, a society based on morals and positive identity would have no foundation. The decline in public interest, social apathy, and selfishness reflected in the film highlights mankind's shortcomings when believing and only focusing on itself (Barclay 7).
The Old Testament God is defined by Kieœlowski as being a cruel and demanding God, who does not forgive and ruthlessly demands obedience to the principles which he has laid down. The God of the Old Testament leaves a lot of freedom and responsibility to the individuals and then observes how it is used, and then either rewards or punishes, with no appeal or forgiveness. A representation of the Old Testament God has several cameo appearances throughout the film: dressed in a sheepskin cloak, sitting around a small fire near the pond, never saying anything, but always looking, just looking around with piercing blue eyes, which never show any definite or obvious emotions. This man just looks at the father as he passes him, never giving warning or offering anything, just observing (Kieœlowski 149).
Pavel's aunt lives nearby, and she and the father are polar opposites from a religious standpoint. The Aunt defines God as love and compassion. In the first part of the Decalogue Pavel asks the Aunt if she believes in God, and she answers yes for, God is very simple if you have faith. The Aunt is trying to give Pavel an alternative perspective of God from the one his father instilled/s upon him. As the Aunt explains her beliefs to Pavel, he is taken back by her compassion and faith, and asks with complete composure, if she and his father are really related. She smiles and answers, "of course" and explains how they are so different; "as a young boy the father discovered that everything can be measured, and he developed what he calls the measurement theory [...]" - in which everything is measurable and there is no room for a "God". The Aunt tells Pavel, God is simple and the only thing you need to have God in your life is faith. In the scene you can see Pavel is interested and can relate to the God she is talking about (Kieœlowski).
Pavel's father doesn't actively believe in a religious God, though his seemingly steadfast disbelief in a God is tested; there are several instances where he actively doubts his "God" of science. This lack of complete and total faith in his God of measurement or science is demonstrated initially when after calculating the density of the ice; he manually goes out to verify his conclusion. It again manifests itself when he starts to be afraid that it is Pavel who broke through the ice, and finally and climatically, when he overturns the altar after Pavel's death because his God of science has failed him.
The man in the sheepskin is a representation of the Old Testament God; the detached God who allows man to have many freedoms and passes judgment on them with no room for appeal or compassion. Kieœlowski always shows this man alone, either staring into a fire or looking around with his piercing blue eyes. The man in sheep's clothing looks around at people throughout the film but never says a word or makes challenging or prolonged eye contact. His eyes and facial expression reflect few emotions, at most an aloof yet piercing sorrowfulness.
Kieœlowski continuously draws attention to the Old Testament God character and Pavel's father because he is there to pass judgment on Pavel's father's modern idol worship and disbelief in God. The few times they make eye contact little or nothing is exchanged via the glances. One of the ways the film maker emphasizes the downward trend in Polish society's alignment to the Commandments is by people's individual and society's apathy towards one another. I believe this apathy is emphasized when the father never approaches the man, who looks destitute, or offers him any kind of help or compassion.
Pavel approaches his father after seeing a stray dog dead in the snow and asks him about death. The father explains death to Pavel in a very scientific way, "the heart stops pumping blood to the brain, breathing, and life ceases to exist" (Kieœlowski). Pavel uncomforted by this response asks about the soul and the father says there is no soul. The father says that memories are the most important part of death because once death occurs, the only things people have are memories of their accomplishments, which live on after they pass away. People should not be sad when someone dies because they always have the memories, and one must cherish and hold on to those. The father believes that he is living today to make the world better for people to come and he openly shares this belief with Pavel (Kieœlowski).
The second commandment is "Thou shall not make a graven image". This is a seemingly simple statement with regard to direct idol worship, but in this film the director aligns the reliance on a computer as a modern version of the traditional "idol", rather than the traditional pagan idol. The father sets up his computer as a revered piece of hardware for Pavel, by implicitly trusting Pavel's life to it; he believes concretely that everything is measurable and through critical and exact scientific measurements, everything can be accurately predicted. Pavel is taught that if the proper data is programmed into a computer with enough accuracy, it is possible to predict the outcome of everything - even understanding what his mother is dreaming about [there is a scene where Pavel shows off the computer to the aunt. He has programmed into the computer a daily schedule of what his mom is doing, yet when the aunt asks him if he knows what she is dreaming, the computer responds "I do not know". The boy, disappointed by the lack of response believes that his father's computer, which is more powerful, could predict what she is dreaming].
Eventually the father's smug belief in the power of computers betrays him, when through careful calculations and manual double checking, the ice breaks and claims Pavel's life. The all-knowing computer, which the father idolizes, lets him down in the most catastrophic way possible. Pavel relied totally on the father's belief that the computer and scientific measurement could predict nature, but once again, nature wins over measurement. Though the director never really focuses on how or why the ice broke, the whole event just highlights man's submissiveness to the power of nature, which from a religious perspective could be viewed as the power of God or life.
The father mourns Pavel by initially reacting in total disbelief, then anger directed at a church altar [the father alone in a basic church pushes over the altar and falls to his knees weeping, candles fall over, and wax drips down an icon of the Virgin Mary; it looks like she is crying], and finally he falls before the altar he overturned and takes the frozen holy water and touches his head and recognizes his arrogance and self-righteousness. Without saying anything, he opens himself up to disbelief in his measurement theory and possibly has an epiphany that his reliance on scientific measurements is incomplete or totally superficial.
When Pavel dies, the father is forced to confront his ability to believe in his theory that memory is all there is after someone dies, and because his belief in his own theory is wavering he turns to the church for relief. I believe that he attacks the altar not specifically out of anger towards the loss of his son but more out of the anger and despair that his whole belief system is and/or has crumbled around him. His idol, the computer and scientific measurement, has failed him, and now he is forced to turn inward and reexamine his belief system.
The film maker ends the film shortly after Pavel's death, and thus, we are only able to speculate how the father deals with his grief and how it affects his long-term perspective. But, because of his wavering views in the church and his reluctant acceptance of the holy water, I am forced to conclude that the father must commit a significant amount of time and energy to introspection and a total review of his belief and reliance on computers. When the computer failed him, he not only lost the person whom he loved most in the world, but his concrete belief in the infallibility of machines broken, and in this matter of catastrophic circumstances, his whole world is shaken to the core. The second commandment specifically and emphatically prohibits the making or worshipping of an idol, not just the pagan idol of old, but the new modern machines or items in which the ends becomes the means.
The father as a young boy discovered that many things could be measured, and as he got older his hypothesis evolved into a belief system which he called his measurement theory. The theory stated all events could be measured if you have precise enough data, and his theory has no room for God in it because he can not be measured. His theory is based on the thought that if you can't see it, feel it, or measure it, it doesn't exist. The father's theory discounts God and leaves no room for him to exist, and thus his theory leads him to worship logic. The father's main focus of his "logic God" is the computer, because a computer can only respond with pure logic; its data processing capabilities are very black or white, it is either yes or no. The father believes if a person or people could program a computer perfectly the computer would be able to do anything imaginable, in a sense it would become a God. He believes that logic and science are the true religions and sees traditional religion as illogical and un-provable. The father brings Pavel up to believe in the power of computers and to respect and possibly even revere them and logic.
The computer is the focal part of the house. The whole house is wired to the computer which is capable of turning lights, water, and locks either on or off; Pavel proudly shows off its capabilities to his aunt. To both Pavel and his father the items they are most proud of in the home are their computers.
Nature is portrayed as the computer's rival when the father tries to predict the strength of the ice. There are other scenes where the unpredictability of nature arises: such as when the ink bottle bursts as the father is writing and spills ink over his work, the death of the stray neighborhood dog, and finally the souring of the milk the father used in his coffee. Each of the referenced scenes depicts how man's influence over nature fails and the natural course of action takes place. These scenes are subtle, but they show nature will eventually triumph over man's will.
In the Decalogue the father's smug belief system based on logic, machines, and measurements comes catastrophically apart as his closest companion and most beloved person in life seemingly, needlessly dies. The father has created a system which can not fail him, but it does, and he is forced to review his values and the depth of his beliefs and convictions. Barclay introduces the Commandments to us in a primarily religious way, and Kieœlowski interpreters them and creates a story in a very secular and modern way. He allows the audience to see how machines and science are replacing God and shows how the Old Testament God passes judgment on those that turn their backs to Him. The Polish society has turned apathetic to its fellow members, and Kieœlowski shows this several times during the movie: initially the father's speech to the son regarding death and the soul, the father's response to the child that knocks at the door for Pavel and he closes the door in the child's face when Pavel is not there, again when he is walking past a group of people after checking the ice and they just look on with concern only for their own child's safety, after running home from the English tutor's apartment the old man he holds the elevator door for says nothing and simply stares at him while they share the elevator to their respective floors, when he is on the ice and Pavel's friend's parents find their child - he chases them to ask the whereabouts of Pavel and they ignore his pleas to slow down and speak with him, and ultimately when the Old Testament God has left the ice because his work is over.
The filmmaker has made a film that transcends borders or language barriers. In this film he shows a handful of people's plight with God and their beliefs. Idol worship may be difficult to relate to in modern ages but if you look at our society's selfishness, arrogance, self-reliance, material dependency ad infinitum one can see how prevalent we worship our material goods. Worship seems like an antiquated word that is difficult to relate to when it comes to our modern niceties such as our cellular phones, laptop computers, hand-held assistants, etc., but if you remove the archaic connotation of the word one can see that it is a very appropriate word for our reliance/dependence on the above-referenced items. Kieœlowski attempts to stir the pot with this series of films; he hopes to bring to light how far we as a society stray from the path offered to us through the Commandments. As Barclay mentions, the Commandments are but a foundation upon which a real society can be formed, and are but stepping stones or the bare minimum required of us by God to live in a way he has laid out before us. Kieœlowski's film and Barclay's Ten Commandments both interpret the Commandments in a way that explains their modern relevance. God commanded Moses to instruct his followers, and as modern society strays from the path laid out by the Commandments Kieœlowski offers us an opportunity of introspection to realign ourselves and society.
