Tim Powitz - Thou Shalt Not Kill

Let me just start off by saying that I think that film is an amazing way to interpret old texts and laws. As you said in your background to the assignment, the Jews, upon returning from the Babylonian diaspora re-interpreted the laws so that would make sense for their current time. Kieslowski is doing the same thing here. Film is the most popular literature of today and it is very useful for visual learners like myself. Now to dive in to the short film itself. We discussed in class how there is not much different between the killing of the taxi driver and the killing of the killer. They both weren't exactly the most charming people, they both put up a fight in their death, they both had reason to live, etc. By the time of their deaths, we sort of feel for both of them which is a little odd especially for the killer. Do we not want what he had coming for him? He learned his lesson, but must he still die? I won't go far into the argument of the death penalty because I'm not an arguing man and wish not to start now. But this brings me to a point I learned in my Hebrew Bible class. The term "Thou shalt not kill" is more accurately phrased "Thou shalt not Murder." If we couldn't kill, then how do we sacrifice to God? How do we eat, for don't we even kill plants when we pluck them? We shall not murder. Now the true question of the death sentence is: Is it murder? I think that Kieslowski's film portrays the killer's death as murder. We see the court system determine the outcome of his life just like he determined the outcome of the taxi driver's life. Who is anybody to determine who lives and who dies except God?

Joshua Booth- Decalogue

The film concerning “No other God before me” had a good theme within it. The Midrash is used to develop a moral principal that the boy should put nothing before God, including his father and all his father’s teachings. We all expected the boy to make it throughout the movie but he did not and we struggle to come up with a reason that he deserved to die. No one likes death and when it happens to the innocent young people in society it just naturally seems harder to overcome and to accept. The boy who is taught by his father to trust science, reason, and logic was unfortunately ultimately killed by this method although the aunt tried to convince the boy that God had an impact on everyone’s life and that the boy should have had more faith to lead him throughout life. It was sad that after all the work the father and son did together he still fell through the cold ice. I suppose this was the point of having no other Gods before me.

“Thou shalt not Kill” is a commandment that should only be used in context to certain situations. I feel as if you are in war or if you meet the killer of one of your family members I believe you should kill and if you don’t then you’re going to be killed although it does not always happen physically. The boy had many issues after the death of his sister and had lost touch with reality. He was feeling so much guilt he could no longer function with reality. He did not see the signs that God was actually with him every step of the way. He was trying to reach out and save him or even help him grow into a stronger person but the boy never realized it. He really had no reason to want to live and this ultimately killed him. He did not care if he was going to get away with it. He just reacted upon depression and sadness that he did not know how to channel the right way. The torment that the boy was suffering was seen vividly when the boy killed the taxi driver and how he did it displayed the boy’s darker side in which he was now apart of much more than before. Although the taxi driver was not the best of people he did not deserve to die. Since the boy made the decision to kill he deserves the consequence in which he earned.

Elissa Wilcox- No other Gods

This Decalogue was my favorite between the two, although it was very sad. I thought that the contrast of the father's and the aunt's beliefs was presented well. The commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" was given to the Israelites in the context of the worship of many different gods in the shape of actual graven images. This film is a very good Midrash to the commandment because of the interpretation and application to society today. Not only does the commandment relate to actual carved images, but to anything that is held in higher esteem and worshiped above God. In the film the father believed that science and facts had a bigger impact on life and made more sense, where as the aunt believed that God was simple if you have faith. The father teaches the son about the computer, which symbolized facts and science, and the boy was very excited to learn about it. The aunt taught him about God and the boy was also very open to learning about Him. After the son and the father did the calculations for the thickness of the ice in order to see if it was thick enough to skate on, the father went out on the lake to actually test the thickness by hand. At the end of the film the viewer finds out that the son fell through the ice, even after all of the calculations. The film maker's purpose for this film was to show that science fails sometimes and was used as Midrash in the way that it expanded on the definition of idol and what it meant to "have no other gods before Me".

Elissa Wilcox- Thou shalt not kill

I think that one of the purposes of the film was to bring to light a different view of capital punishment than is usual. Neither the boy who committed the murder, nor the taxi driver who was murdered had any redeemable qualities. This made it hard to relate to either person and in the end it was the boy that gained the most of my sympathy. The reason that the boy was so troubled was because his sister was accidentally killed when he was drinking with his friend and that led to a series of bad decisions. He left home and suggested to the lawyer that he would have stayed if his sister was still alive which would have been a more stable situation and therefore he may not have killed the taxi driver. Although morality issues should not be affected by the character of a person they are. Whether or not someone likes another person will effect how they treat them. Because this is the death of the taxi driver was not as terrible, emotionally, as if he had been someone that was likable. The boy did not commit the murder in a way that would hide his identity and did not seem to care whether he was caught or not. There was intention and death, but this does not answer the question of whether or not the boy deserved death himself.

Lindsay Conrad Decalogue: Thou Shalt Not Kill

The second film in the Decalogue series is a great midrash on "Thou Shalt Not Kill". Once again, God is interpreted to be an ever-present being and even comes around three times as the same character as seen in the first Decalogue movie. This is like the trinity in mainline Christian beliefs. One of the appearances is as the obnoxius man int he bathroom, one is the man with the ladder, and one is the construction worker. He is there through the entire walk of this man's life as he makes decisions that effect his fate.
The film relates to the Cain and Abel story, because the boy who killed the taxi driver seems to be fighting with a reasonable amount of guilt over the loss of his sister. His friend accidentally rna over her while they were drinking in the field, just like when Cain killed Abel in the fields and then dealt with the guilt. The guilt that the brother must have been feeling could have driven him into a bad decision that ended up costing him his life. The feelings in this part are shown by the rope itself. While the man is cutting it and planning the taxi driver's murder, his wrapping of the rope around his hands time and time again shows the turmoil in his soul. The other feelings are shown in the lack of emotion in the taxi driver by some of his decisions. He may have had some aggression or other poor decisions that also eventually lead to his demise.
Finally, the appearance of the God figure throughout the film suggests the ability for God to interfere with what man calls one's fate, but how he could choose whether or not to.

Lindsay Conrad, Decalogue: No other Gods

The Decalogue is a very interesting portrayal of the 10 Commandments. The first one we watched, Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me, was very easily seen as Midrash. The "God" character is the homeless man by the lake. He is always with a fire and he is seen often in the movie. This is an interpretation of God a s ever-present and a kind of light to people - even those who don't understand Him or think they don't need Him.
In the film, the computer is the idol, which relates back to Exodus when the Bible talks about the people making golden calves to worship instead of God who was bringing them through the wilderness. The computer says "I am ready" but the readiness is just giving the man power to put empower the computer. So many idols are just the things that we let have power over us. Relationships, role models, homework, alcohol, all these things are just idols that we give power to, and the more power we give to them, the more destructive they can get.
Feelings are also shown in a very interesting manner. At first, a lack of feeling was shown when the dog had died. This emptiness the boy seemed to feel was touching because most humans will become soft-hearted at the sight of a dead dog, but the boy felt nothing but confusion. Later, when he is talking to his aunt, God and love was explained to him through a hug. expressing feelings through commonly-felt emotions are significant ways to bring forth the message the producer is trying to make.
The interesting point in the movie was the showing that life does happen, tragedies occur, but the God that the movie producer has encountered is a God that is always there, despite the losing of one's faith. When the calculations didn't work, and when all was lost, the god-figure in the movie was experiencing grief with the mom, the aunt, and the dad. There is a song in contemporary Christian music by Stephen Curtis Chapman that is titled "I Have Been There" and it talks about God knowing the pain and the troubles of life due to the life of his Son and sacrifice, and it very much parallels the goings on of this film.

Jared Free - Decalogue "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

In discussing this film I found it hard to determine which death was the greater sin. From a cold and literal perspective, the death of the cab driver was the greatest and only sin. From a legal standpoint he was an innocent victim. From a moral perspective, however, he was significantly flawed and was a man without any redeemable qualities; at least none that the audience was made aware of. Does this make his death, from a religious standpoint, justifiable? or sinless?
The murderer himself was killed. Was his death a sin? I felt that the death of the murderer was more tragic than the death of the cab driver. The murderer was a young man, he had lost the one thing in the world he loved most and had sentenced himself to a life of solitude and loneliness by running away from home, there was no warmth in his life save for one occasion when he was able to briefly interact with two young girls.
Both deaths were calculated and deliberate. Even though only one was unjust from a legal perspective, from a religious perspective both were sins. If there is a degree to which something can be a sin (a minor sin or a major one), however, than which one was more severe?