[CYCLE] THE DECALOGUE 4 : honor thy father and thy mother

On the occasion of the re-release in restored version of the ten parts of the Decalogue of Kieslowski distributed by Diaphana, back on one of the works of the founders of cinema is the european post-Walesa, a monument of ten hours made by one of the greatest directors of his time. Box of various themes and navigating between the social and the religion, we chroniquerons the entirety of the episodes, four hands, with each day a new article. Study on a case-by-case basis within a follow-up analysis more broad : we find the author behind the quilt, the thought behind the human drama.

The Decalogue 1
The Decalogue 2
The Decalogue 3

The Decalogue 4
The Decalogue 5
The Decalogue 6

The Decalogue 7
The Decalogue 8
The Decalogue 9

The Decalogue 10

With “honor thy father and thy mother“, Kieslowski tells the story of the relationship between a father and his daughter – is upset when the young woman discovers a letter from his mother, hidden in a drawer. The wounds of the past resurface while the daily diet is seen reversed. This fourth episode evokes both the conventions of family that the blurring of relations which can surround the common life : it was difficult to discuss incest without falling into subversion, but it is with poetry as it is recognized that Kieslowski tackled the subject straight.

THE TEN commandments 4 – honor your father and your mother

Each episode of the DECALOGUE seems to be punctuated by a central relationship and the decision-making of the joints narrative that will be around it. As indicated in the command associated with this fourth outing, honor your father and your mother, here is the link parental, and more particularly father-daughter. This is the true cement of the film, in which the main spring is also the danger of this family relationship. More than a pretext, it is therefore a motor.

The bond of parenthood is at the heart of all spirituality – krzysztof Kieslowski, from the first seconds of this episode, questions the very nature of this link. The ambiguity constant, this formula vis-à-vis this report may be disturbing, it is in fact anything but christian : by rewriting the look of the breed, he does love wholly of a sensuality almost œdipienne. THE DECALOGUE 4 is not a film about incest, but he does not hesitate to mention so as front end.

“A father is a father, a lover is a lover – the two are incompatible, there is no ambivalence. What would happen if, suddenly, this statement was called into question ?”

The director shows, in a certain way, the fluctuation of the gaze in the function of social conventions. A father is a father, a lover is a lover – the two are incompatible, there is no ambivalence. What would happen if, suddenly, this function was called into question ? Everything would take on another meaning, and the look would change. Kieslowski does not tend to call into question the validity of this moral genetics, but more to demonstrate its own paradoxes : a man living with a young woman who is not his daughter is he her father or her lover ?

When the uncertainty is too pronounced, the chaos appears. The characters are reluctant to be fear, before finally fleeing from a truth that is disturbing. It is the destruction of the doubts that erases the discomfort : choose a admiration in relation to another, sweeping turns and continue on the path that had led up here. In some way, they reject and embrace the past of the same movement.

As usual from Kieslowski, the function of the symbol is central. This obstacle is found materialized in the form of an object. Such a MacGuffin sentimental, the letter embodies all of the doubts, the solutions, and the responses of characters to which it relates. It is a Schrödinger Cat film – closed, it is a mystery and asks questions ; is open, she gives her answers, but these are irreversible, ineffaçables.

“The letter embodies all of the doubts, the solutions, and the responses of characters to which it relates. It is a Schrödinger Cat film – closed, it is a mystery and asks questions ; is open, she gives her answers, but these are irreversible, ineffaçables. “

THE DECALOGUE 4 evokes the truth, his quest and its importance. If it is customary to make the search for meaning a corollary of this so-called truth, Kieslowski makes him the reverse. And if the meaning was in his rejection ? And if it was in the non-response that was found well-being ? This is not so much the definition ofhonor that Kieslowski opposed to its social sphere, but that of father and mother. What would be a parent, eventually ?

It is in the way to transmit the key – the eyes that a character puts on another. They are sometimes soulful, sometimes sultry, sometimes admiration, sometimes anger. Sometimes they will be the same judges as those of the character ghost, who seems to haunt the nodes narrative of each episode and which, by its simple appearance, decided indirectly on the outcome. Is it a consciousness, a god ? Or is it Kieslowski himself, who, as Creator, gives physical to his moral philosophy ?

The words become smoke, the loves that are unhealthy, become ash. One might think that nothing was changing, because the situation does not change – but only from an external point of view. These disturbances will, however, enable the installation of the calm and confidence : the climax is neither bitter nor pessimistic, and it is a surprise when you look at the whole DECALOGUE. This is perhaps not a coincidence that this conclusion anarchist that leads to this relative well-being – Kieslowski puts again in question the conventions, but he does not reject it : for him, such a phoenix, they would be destined to be reborn from their ashes ; stronger and more healthy.

KamaradeFifien

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INFORMATION

• Original title : Jeden Dekalog

• Realization : Krzysztof Kieslowski

• Scenario : Krzysztof Kieslowski

• Main actors : Maja Komorowska, Wojciech Klata, Henryk Baranowski

• Country of origin : Poland

• Output EN : June 29, 2016

• Output POL: 1988

• Duration : 10 parts of 50 min

• Distributor : Diaphana Distribution