Daniel Gordon - Dekalog 1

As we watched Dekalog 1 I searched for interpretation of the story presented as the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” I saw that Pavel’s father, the college professor depended entirely on science and technology; especially his computer, which he termed “colleague.” Throughout the film we see his dependence on science and lack of faith in God and anything that he cannot prove by science, especially when contrasted with the unshakeable faith of his sister. His wife, Pavel’s mother has left, and he hasn’t the heart to tell Pavel. Pavel is interested in matters of faith and would like to attend something like a confirmation Sunday school. The Jewish concept of Midrash removes the direct text of the scripture, presenting instead an opportunity for the reader, or in this case the viewer to examine to come to terms with the meaning of the text in a more personally involved way. As I watched Dekalog 1, I noticed the way in which Kieslowski challenges the viewer to question what really constitutes a “god.” Over the past few years my definition of a god has developed to an understanding that anything someone worships can be a god. And by worship, I do not necessarily mean prays to, or sings songs about. One can worship something or someone more fully by pursuing him, her, or it in thoughts and deeds. You worship what you devote yourself to, and that thing becomes your god. Many worship the god of money. For some, fame is the object of worship. Still others have made themselves their own gods. The professor has put his faith in science and mathematics. If he can solve it with an equation or enter it into the computer, then he has faith in it. He gives a scientific answer for all of life’s questions. Pavel asks him what happens at death, and he is clearly talking about a deeper sense than the physical. Yet his father answers, “The heart stops beating.” His faith is in science and this gives him the assurance to let Pavel skate on the pond. And since he has worked out the equation that shows how the pond would support Pavel at four times his weight he does not even consider for what seems to be an hour that it is Pavel who may have fallen through the pond. I am not saying that science and religion are in irreconcilable conflict. In fact, I believe that the God who created me created everything in this universe and the scientific laws that govern it. I do however think there is a point made by this film that human understanding will never comprehend the vastness and the complexity of all God has made. If it did, He would cease to be God, and there would be no need to have faith in Him. The film presents the audience with a character who has put the god of science before God who created the world that science describes. The film does not suggest that it is the father’s fault that Pavel drowns, nor that if he had not had such faith in science and had instead had faith in God the same would not have happened. I do, however, believe that at the end of the film his world would not have been so shaken if his faith had been in God instead of human scientific understandings of the physical world. Instead his god has failed him and he is left with nothing.

Robert Pinkett Decalogues

"no other gods before me"

The first film there was a homeless looking man shown randomly about with little detail on his purpose. By the end you understand he is the movies "god." To start off the movie the little boy stumbles across a dead dog and glances at the church. He questioned his aunt about god and death however, his dad wasn't having it. His dad was based on science and reason for everything and looked to his computer for every answer. The man looks at his computer as his "god" but when his son falls into the lake after the computer was wrong was showing that anything can happen and there are "no other god before me"

"Thou shall not murder"

The second film we viewed was pretty intense the main characters were one creepy taxi driver and the other was the hometown trouble maker. The taxi driver would drive people selectively and turned down people. However for some reason he decides to pick up the trouble maker and it all goes downhill. The trouble maker was creepy he would get very excited at the sight of young kids and later we find out that he lost his sister who also was his best-friend at that age. He uses these excuses in court to hopefully get the sympathy card. This film shows that "thou shall not kill"

Mark Blasingame - Decalogue(Thou shalt have no other god before me)

Kieslowski's film has many interesting themes. There is much to be interpreted in this highly emotional picture. The two main characters are a father Krzysztof, and his child, Pavel. It is clear from the beginning that the boy and his father have a very close relationship. Much of the bonding they do is through calculations made on their household computer. Krzysztof holds the computer in the highest regards, often talking about it(and to it) as if it were a person. His great admiration for the computer comes through in a lecture he gives to his class. Then when Pavel wants to go skating on a frozen pond Krzysztof uses his computer to make the calculations to determine whether the ice is safe or not. His calculations show that the ice is safe to skate on. The next day, in a gut-wrenching scene, Krzysztof watches as his dead son is pulled from the frozen pond that he was sure was safe for skating. I really enjoyed this film and trying to interpret the symbols to reach the deeper meaning. It is fairly obvious that Krzysztof's God was his computer and calculations. In the end he discovers that unpredictable things can happen, and reason can be defied. A powerful scene was when he sat in the darkness in front of the computer just after his son died. The computer is almost mocking him with its input command, and its not until he goes to the altar until he is really able to grieve. Another thing that really interested me was the homeless man who was the God-like figure. He was always by the fire when Krzysztof would see him, but then when they were pulling his son out of the pond he was nowhere to be found. I'm not really sure what this means. Does it mean it mean that the homeless man fell in the lake with Pavel, maybe even causing this tragedy? Or perhaps his absence means that God did not do this? In the end was what Krzysztof did really a bad thing? He made sure his son was not at risk by calculating the thickness of the ice. He also tested the ice himself to see if it was safe. Maybe one of the statements this film makes is the unpredictability of everyday life.

Eric Saxon - Decalogue (Thou shall not kill)

This film portrays a young man who murdered a taxi driver. This man is then hung for his crime. The young man in the film is shown to be somewhat of a hooligan. He stands on top of an overpass and drops a rock onto a car. He also flings a piece of cake onto the restaurant window. The taxi driver he kills is also shown to be not a very good person. He sees people waiting for his car to open up, but drives off anyways. He also honks at a man walking his dogs, causing the dogs to run away. I find it peculiar that both the young man and the taxi drivers are portrayed in this manner. Like in the first Decalogue movie we saw, a god-figure appears. In this film, it was the traffic guard. As the taxi carrying the young man stops to let a group of children pass, the god-figure stares at the young man as if to confince him to not kill the driver. The young man's excuse for killing the driver was that his sister died at a young age. This experience scarred the young man. However, many people have tragic things happen to them in life and not all of them murder someone. Using his sister as an excuse was rather pathetic in my mind. While talking to his lawyer before his execution, the young man references his sister, saying that if she did not die, maybe he would not be in prison. I don't recall him ever mentioning the taxi driver he killed. He only talked about himself. This led me to believe that the young man felt no sorrow for killing the driver, only regret that he ended up on death row. The commandment of "thou shall not kill" can be interpreted as if you kill someone, you will either end up dying for it, or going to hell after you die of natural causes. I did not see much of a reference to God in this film. Yes, it had to do with the commandment, but the young man ended up being killed by other men, not by nature. God gave man free will. This free will led the court system to execute murders. Is this an act of God? This question is up to individual viewers to decide.

Eric Saxon - Decalogue (Thou shall have no Gods before me)

This film portrays the commandment that one shall have no other gods before the true God. The story takes place in Poland and the main characters are a father and his son, Pavel. Pavel's father is a professor who relies on science and technology to guide his life. Early in the movie, Pavel asks his father about death. His father gives a scientific answer about how blood stops flowing to the brain and the body shuts down. Pavel's father goes on to say that humans do not have souls, and he does not really know what happens after death. Pavel's father seems to have viewed the computer as a godly figure, answering any questions he may have. Later, to find out whether it was safe for Pavel to ice skate on the lake, he and his father put a formula into the computer. The computer concludes that the ice will not break under Pavel's weight. As it so happens, the ice does indeed break and Pavel dies. Many might think that Pavel's death was God punishing his father for viewing the computer as a godly existence. However, the Christian God is supposed to be loving. How could a loving God take the life of an innocent boy just because of his father's actions? This also is not consistent with the loving God that Pavel's aunt described to him. Many symbols led the viewer to believe that Pavel's father was traveling down the wrong path. When Pavel's father gives a scientific answer, his milk turns sour. Later, Pavel's father's ink container breaks, causing ink to black out all of his rational papers. I felt mixed emotions about the film. If God is supposed to be loving and caring, then why would he kill Pavel just because of his father's actions? In fact, this film may have caused people to turn away from God. Who would want to follow a God who takes the lives of innocent children? All in all, there could be many interpretations to this film's meaning. Myself, I believe that the director portrayed God as vengeful and cruel, not loving and caring as many like to believe.

Decalogues Vincent Farino

Vincent Farino

In these Decalogue short movies there were two commandments from the Bible that were displayed. The first was “You shall have no other gods before me” (Holy Bible). During this Decalogue there were many uses of the visual mediums. There was a god like figure in this Decalogue that if one looked closely could see gave the man a very serious look. He was dressed as a bum and was very mysterious throughout the film. Whenever this character was shown I could feel a sense of mysterium that made me wonder of his meaning.

Another visual was the computer. This computer was a god to the man. The man revolved his life around knowledge and facts. This computer worked as a symbol to bridge the gap of understanding. The symbol that it represented was a god that the man relied on. This connection is how those who believe in God relate. When they face a problem they turn to God in prayer. This man however when he had a problem he turned to his computer and his knowledge.

This film showed the man that he couldn’t control life or death for that matter. No matter how much knowledge and understanding he may have there is an “otherness” that plays into affect in this film. This film certainly made the connection of the moment to the eternity. The man realized that there is a higher being and that his control on life is not as effective as he thought.

The second Decalogue played on the commandment that “thou shall not murder” (Holy Bible). This Decalogue had similar symbols and meanings like that with the god figure. This time the god figure was a traffic man and a janitor. The symbolic connection that he played was to warn the man that he is going down a deadly path. There was another symbol in this film and that was the little kids. Everytime the boy (the murderer) saw the kids he would laugh or smile. This reminded him of his sister who he lost in an accident. I believe that this pain that he would feel when remembering his sister is what motivated him to kill the taxi driver.

Both of these films displayed the commandments in different ways. Both times the main characters went against the commandments, and they both experience great pain and anguish for that. Both films displayed that man does not have as much control of his life as he thinks he does.

Tim Powitz - Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me

As I said in the previous blog, film is a great tool for interpretation in today's time. I still think this is true but due to the complex nature of this Kieslowski short film, I believe that you cannot bank on somebody interpreting things for you. You must interpret laws on your own accord and on your own beliefs. Everybody sees life through a different and personal lens. So I believe that your personal interpretation is the best midrash.

Kieslowski left this one to our own interpretation. I think the father believes in God, after all we are told that he went through religious school, but I think that he believes and trusts knowledge more. Calculations always give a concrete answer where God doesn't always smack you in the face with an answer; that is what faith is for. I don't think that God caused the boy's death to teach his father a lesson, I think that the father is learning a lesson about God through the unfortunate events. He learns that calculations, however concrete an answer they may produce, can still be wrong. You control the variables of the calculations which is a safe and confident feeling. God can make you feel vulnerable because he has all the control. Even when Pavel goes missing, the first thing the father does is search at all the places he knows that Pavel has been or should be. He tortured himself by looking elsewhere as opposed to remaining at the pond where his answer would be revealed to him. This film just shows an example of what can happen if you trust your mind before God.