Episode guide
Dekalog: Miniseries
10 episodes · premiered Dec 10, 1989
Inspired by the decalogue of the Ten Commandments for thematic inspiration and an overarching structure, grapple deftly with complex moral and existential questions concerning life, death, love, hate, truth, and the passage of time, each installment explores characters facing one or several moral or ethical dilemmas as they reside in an austere housing project in 1980s Poland, whose lives become subtly intertwined as they face emotional dilemmas that are at once deeply personal and universally human.
- Episode 1: Dekalog: One Dec 10, 1989 · 56m “I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other God but me.” Ten-year-old Pawel and his father Krzysztof run their lives on their beloved home computer, while Pawel’s aunt worries that…
- Episode 2: Dekalog: Two May 11, 1990 · 59m “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” An elderly doctor is approached by a woman with a complicated request. Her husband is gravely ill and may die, and she is…
- Episode 3: Dekalog: Three May 18, 1990 · 58m “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Janusz is a taxi driver. It’s Christmas Eve, and he honours the (Polish) traditions for this (holy) day: he gives presents to the members of…
- Episode 4: Dekalog: Four May 25, 1990 · 58m “Honour thy father and thy mother.” 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…
- Episode 5: Dekalog: Five Jun 1, 1990 · 1h “Thou shalt not kill.” A shorter, slightly less graphic version of “A Short Film About Killing,” but the plot is essentially the same: murder followed by execution, two killings, one…
- Episode 6: Dekalog: Six Jun 8, 1990 · 1h 1m “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” A shorter, scaled-down version of “A Short Film About Love,” with a less complex plot and a different ending—though the basic narrative about the…
- Episode 7: Dekalog: Seven Jun 15, 1990 · 58m “Thou shalt not steal.” But in this case the “theft” is of a child by her real mother, who then finds herself emotionally unable to cope with the responsibility, while the stable and…
- Episode 8: Dekalog: Eight Jun 22, 1990 · 57m “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” A Polish-American researcher visits Warsaw and attends a lecture about ethics. Afterwards, she approaches Zofia, the lecturer…
- Episode 9: Dekalog: Nine Jun 29, 1990 · 1h 1m “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.” Roman, after discovering his impotence, urges his wife Hanka to take a lover. She reluctantly complies, and Roman, despite his earlier words…
- Episode 10: Dekalog: Ten Jul 6, 1990 · 1h “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods.” Especially not when it leads to the conclusion of this black comedy about two brothers who inherit their father’s valuable stamp collection…