Short Film About Killing (1988)/DECALOGUE
The film is not easy to watch, being the story of a young man who kills a taxi driver and is caught, brought to trial, condemned to death and executed. Both deaths are dreadful and depicted in detailsA Short Film About Killing, Krzysztof Kieslowski's powerful examination of the nature of murder, was a stunning success at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, taking home the Jury prize. In the same year, the film also captured Europe's coveted Felix award. An extended version of Decalogue 5, A Short Film About Killing was one of two features to spring from Kieslowski's ten-part television drama about applying the Ten Commandments to modern-day life (The other being A Short Film About Love ).
There are two murders in A Short Film About Killing: the killing of the cab driver, which runs slightly over seven minutes in length (may the longest murder in the history of cinema) and the execution of Jacek, a scene that lasts about five minutes and Kieslowski doesn't spare the audience any details.
Jacek (Miroslaw Baka) climbs into the taxi driven by Waldemar (Jan Tesarz), tells him to drive to a remote location, then brutally strangles him seemingly without motive. He's soon arrested , with his only ally his idealist defense attorney , Piotr (Krzysztof Globisz) for whom this is the first case.
Defending his client, Piotr throws himself into the trial, get emotionally connected to Jacek but but the outcome is never in doubt.
"There are moments when you feel everything is possible" Piotr says to his girlfriend who he brought to cafe to celebrate passing the final exam and officially becoming lawyer certainly seems to be one of those moments for young Piotor.
In the same cafe at the same time Jacek is eating the cake waiting for the police officer from the street to go away so he can go get available taxi driver for ride in order to kill him. But there was nothing to be done there nor later during the trial , the destiny of the young Jacek seems to be written deep in the stone , as well as the one of the grumpy taxi driver Waldemar who would be alive had he picked the passenger he did not like few moments earlier.
On the other note the character of taxi driver Waldemar is quite interestingly depicted in this story and his love for "big dogs" and hate for the "small ones" is certainly something I can relate to .
In the same cafe at the same time Jacek is eating the cake waiting for the police officer from the street to go away so he can go get available taxi driver for ride in order to kill him. But there was nothing to be done there nor later during the trial , the destiny of the young Jacek seems to be written deep in the stone , as well as the one of the grumpy taxi driver Waldemar who would be alive had he picked the passenger he did not like few moments earlier.
On the other note the character of taxi driver Waldemar is quite interestingly depicted in this story and his love for "big dogs" and hate for the "small ones" is certainly something I can relate to .
THE DECALOGUE
Initially made for Polish television with the idea of selecting ten different filmmakers to direct each one-hour episode—two of them to be expanded into theatrical features—Kieslowski and Piesiewicz began to “suspect intuitively that Decalogue could be marketed abroad.” Indeed, the series, which Kieslowski ultimately directed with nine different cinematographers, became a critical sensation on the festival circuit and served as the West’s first major exposure to his work.
The Decalogue films are noted for their tight dramatic constructions, vividly rendered characters, and emotionally resonant ethical dilemmas depicting characters attempting to live in the modern world according to (or in search of) presupposed ideals. Although Biblical in theme, the series’ only explicit foray into theological meaning occurs in Decalogue: One, with its heart-rending story of a father dependent upon rationality and technology who is devastated by his son’s illogical death. In a striking image, the father (played by Henryk Baranowski) knocks over an altar in grief, causing a candle to drip down the face a Virgin Mary icon like paraffin tears—an enigmatic and yet wholly appropriate beginning to a series confronting the harsh realities of daily life in dialectical relationship to its metaphysical values.
Kieslowski chose Decalogue: Five and the Ministry of Arts and Culture (who funded the series) chose Decalogue: Six as the two episodes to be expanded into features entitled, respectively, A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love.
Kieslowski chose Decalogue: Five and the Ministry of Arts and Culture (who funded the series) chose Decalogue: Six as the two episodes to be expanded into features entitled, respectively, A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love.
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