The Dekalog was created for Polish television and for many years, it could only been viewed in the low resolution 480i standard for global broadcasting. Criterion’s BluRay was remastered from Kieslowski’s original film, so it looks far more beautiful today than it did in its day. There were art houses around the world that screened The Dekalog on film, usually in two episode chunks.
I mention this because this segment includes some very striking cinematography that isn’t so impressive in old TV formats. Krzysztof begins the scene telling Pawel to go to bed, he’s going to go outside for a bit — to check the ice on the pond, but he doesn’t say that right away. Now, about that ice. He is able to jump on it, and it doesn’t crack, but some water comes off his boot as he lands. It looks very slushy to me — and as Pawel looks to the far end of the pond where the mysterious homeless man is sitting next to a fire, that part of the pond is not frozen at all.
I’m not well versed in physics, but it seems pretty obvious to me that if there’s running water entering or exiting a pond and that leads to a section of the body of water that does not freeze, this will affect the overall freezing rate and capacity of the full body of water. Krzysztof‘s calculations seemed to have been based on a uniform body of water. At any rate, just seeing that unfrozen portion would have been enough for me to tell my children to not skate there.
Of course, the script in this case might not match what the director was hoping to find on location and Kieslowski just had to make do with what he had. He is far more effective in getting the most out of actors, even when they don’t speak a word. The homeless man gives Krzysztof a stare that seems to warn of danger ahead. You get the sense that Krzysztof senses this intuitively, but doesn’t know what to do with this kind of information.
Next, on the way back to the apartment, Krzysztof walks by a makeshift church that seems partially open air. Outside of it is a congregation, I assume of worshippers, all locking arms. This too seems ominous, as if they are pre-grieving for something Krzysztof is about to experience. Again, he senses something, but isn’t moved by it, he returns home.
In the next shot, we see the new skates hanging in Pawel’s room. He’s laying in bed staring at them, as if in worship. The false gods of this episode are physical objects — computers and skates — things that create hope and excitement for the future. When his father returns home, he tells Pawel that he was just out to check the pond and that it seems solid, but keep at least 15 meters away from where a stream enters the pond, that part doesn’t freeze up. This seems like awfully specific advice from someone who doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.
It’s the next afternoon and Krzysztof is at his desk in the apartment. He looks down at a sheet of paper on his desk and notices blue ink quickly spreading across the paper. This is another portent — a visualization of how the warm water of the stream spreads as well. He again gets an intuition that something is off, but just investigates the source of the ink. The doorbell rings. A young girl is at the door and asks if Pawel is home — she says her mom wanted her to ask.
Krzysztof goes into the bathroom to wash off the ink. He begins to hear emergency vehicles in the distance, another portent, but he again ignores the signal. As he looks into the mirror, the camera picks up a brief glimpse of Kieslowski’s head in the frame. He liked to get down on the floor during shots to mime direction to actors. It’s strange that someone so meticulous would let these frames slip in … but to be honest, this is the first time I’ve noticed them and perhaps in a low resolution, it was impossible to see the top of his head. In the BluRay version, it’s a very spooky sight.
Unintentionally, perhaps, that mysterious rising head heightens the fear and Krzysztof looks out the window to see an emergency vehicle driving by. Then the phone rings and Krzysztof tells the mother of one of his friends that they are in their English lessons, which is why they aren’t home yet. But she doesn’t seem comforted — she says “something’s happened” and then says that she’s going to go find them.
Next we see an older couple yelling and running down the stairwell in a panic. Everyone in the community except for Krzysztof seems terrified at this moment. He goes outside and this time sees a police car racing in the same direction. He decides to follow in the same direction.
While not a great deal happens in these brief scenes, these are some of the most important moments of the episode. They reveal Krzysztof to be a man who has tremendous faith in what he thinks he knows.
Leave a Reply