Of Elephants and Toothaches: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Decalogue' by Eva Badowska & Francesca Parmeggiani

Author:Eva Badowska & Francesca Parmeggiani
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Published: 2016-05-17T22:00:00+00:00

Figure 7–1. Saying prayers before the execution in Decalogue Five.

Furthermore, through Jacek’s final conversation with Piotr, the film reminds us about the Church’s traditional policy of denying Catholic burial rites to certain people, thus suggesting that Jacek’s praiseworthy yearning for community with his deceased sister (i.e., his desire to be buried near her) might well be thwarted, in the end, by the requirements of institutionalized religion. This is not to say that Kieślowski denied that there may be some system or metanarrative (religious or otherwise) within which we might find some genuine meaning and liberation. But even if there is such an overarching system or metanarrative, Kieślowski seems to hold that the meaning provided by any such system or metanarrative, whatever it might be, remains just beyond our grasp.

The existence of an overarching yet ever-elusive meaning-providing metanarrative is suggested by the recurring appearance of a character identified in the script only as “the young man” (Artur Barciś). At decisive moments in eight of the ten Decalogue films (he is absent only from Seven and Ten), “the young man” appears as a silent, detached witness who seemingly observes or understands the purpose that mysteriously escapes the comprehension of those who are being portrayed in the film, and us who are watching the film. In One, “the young man” sits at a campfire near the pond where a young boy will later drown; in Two, he is a worker in a hospital where the film’s protagonists are confronted with issues of birth, life, love, fidelity and death; in Three, he drives a city tram that narrowly misses colliding with and killing the protagonist; in Four, he is seen kayaking on the Vistula River and then later carrying the kayak on his back shortly before the protagonist makes her fateful decision about whether or not to open a mysterious letter; in Five, “the young man” is seen first as an inspector surveying the road that Waldemar traverses on the way to being killed by Jacek, and then later as a ladder-carrying painter in the prison where Jacek is to be executed; in Six, he appears first when the protagonist is joyously running home after learning about an upcoming date, and then a second time when the protagonist runs home after he has been humiliated by the date; in Eight, he is a student who listens as the protagonist presents a lecture; and in Nine, he is a cyclist who witnesses the attempt by the film’s protagonist to commit suicide.

The regular appearance of “the young man” at decisive moments throughout the Decalogue series serves to convey the important message that there may indeed be an overriding (theological) purpose at work in our fallen and alienated world. But his mysterious expression and strange silence also convey the sense that any such metanarrative or purpose—assuming that one is discernible at all—may inescapably remain beyond the scope of all possible comprehension by us. Furthermore, Five adds a sinister and unique complement to this character who silently witnesses events as if from a God’s-eye perspective.

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