I first watched The Dekalog probably 15-20 years ago, I do not remember exactly. I had heard about it in reverent terms for years and probably watched it on DVD via a mail rental service, maybe Netflix, but more likely Facets. Even though I was a great admirer of Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy and “The…

Yesterday, I rewatched two episodes of Kieslowski’s Polish TV miniseries “The Dekalog,” probably for the first time in more than a decade. Originally, I planned to write solely about Episode 9, the one that introduces the fictional composer Van den Budenmeyer. But after rewatching episodes 1 and 9, it became apparent to me that I…

So, if you’re wondering what’s going on with my Kieslowski project, the next phase of it will cover at least part of The Dekalog, his 10 part TV series for Polish TV based loosely on the Ten Commandments. This series is not available currently on any streaming platform, I had to buy the BluRay collection…

As I look back on “The Double Life of Veronique” and ahead to “Dekalog 9,” a curious throughline has emerged. The simple way of viewing “Veronique” is making it Veronique’s story. She is, after all, the title character. In this way of looking at the movie, Weronika is the enabling character, she is the one…

Kieslowski did not know how to end “The Double Life of Veronique.” At one point in the editing process, he considered opening the film in 18 Paris theaters and having a different ending in each. And, in fact, the film has two different official endings. There is the version of the film that was shown…

After the fade to black, we awaken in a Veronique dream. But it’s not her recollections, it’s a memory of Weronika — the upside down inside-the-superball view of a church, the same church her father was painting … the same painting she earlier described to her father. Kieslowski needs to reinforce something with us: Veronique’s…