Decalogue, The - VIII: "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Thy Neighbor." (1989)

Kieslowski's Decalogue

Ethics class: the first thing you forget once you're done university...

Genre: Drama (Poland)

Starring: Maria Koscialkowska, Teresa Marczewska

Directed By: Krzysztof Kieslowski (The Double Life Of Veronique; Three Colours Trilogy)

Overview: A young woman attending an ethics class puts forth a moral dilemma to her teacher: what is ethical about a six-year-old Jewish girl being turned away after curfew in a Warsaw ghetto during Nazi occupation of Poland. The six-year-old in question is now the student, the woman who turned her away is her teacher.

Performance:

Teresa, as Elizabeth, had a way of playing with her gold chain, upon which sat both a Christian cross and a Hebraic letter, indicative of the two beliefs she shares. Girlfriend of Squish said, 'Alright now, I get it stop waving it around like a flag'. I found that for the first time Kieslowski overdid a symbolic gesture to make his point. For as much as I liked the scene where the student confronts the teacher in front of the whole class, and though the roles were well portrayed, I found that there was an element of depth and honesty missing.
Rating: 7

Cinematography:

Professional and naturalistic as it, I've never found films with so much dialogue all that exciting to watch. Constant cutting to two-shots or over the shoulder shots does little to entice. There is a successful attempt at adding artistic flair with symbolic moments but ultimately there was all too much talk from the spectatorial style I've grown to expect.
Rating: 7

Script:

Dramatic as it was, personal as the memories being rehashed were to all those involved, the character depth and the moral ambiguity were not conveyed anywhere near to my expectation. It's my opinion that this tale fell by the wayside in favour of other more poignant episodes in the series. Sometimes we just don't have time for everything...
Rating: 6

Plot:

Weaker than the other episodes in The Decalogue, the ethical conundrum presented is too easily explained away. This is the first time that the sin committed is one from the past, and the way forward is an attempt to rectify that sin, to understand it. I found myself disappointed at the fact that this tale went against the established theme of a Commandment being broken leading to consequence in favour of watching the atonement for a past sin.
Rating: 6

Mood:

Two symbols stand out clearly, and I'll hazard a guess to their meaning. Firstly we have the teacher, Zophia who has a crooked painting that she constantly fails to readjust. When the student visits Zophia's home after their bonding moment, Elizabeth adjusts the painting. It does not fall, indicating Elizabeth's restoration of stability to Zophia's life. I also noticed the frequency of interior light playing a part in this. Elizabeth is all too often next to or in front of a table lamp, or an orange overhead lamp, which after enough times may make one think of halos, reinforcing the redemption that Elizabeth represents. I've missed these touches of late in the series. It's good to know they're back.
Rating: 7

Ah, the student is nowthe teacher, grass-a-hoppa!

Overall Rating: 66% (Neither For You Nor Your Neighbor)

Aftertaste:

It had to happen I suppose, a tale that was my least favorite, and below par for the Kieslowski course. When the most enjoyable part is recognizing a head-shaking student in Ethics class as The Watcher, it's a good sign that perhaps this isn't quite the most meaningful of the ten. This threw me for a loop, as though it was written by someone else entirely...