“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods.” Especially not when it leads to the conclusion of this black comedy about two brothers who inherit their father’s valuable stamp collection and end up paying rather more than they bargained for…
“Thou shalt not steal.” But in this case the “theft” is of a child by her real mother, who then finds herself emotionally unable to cope with the responsibility, while the stable and loving family that brought the child up are distraught.
Originally made for Polish television, “The Decalogue” focuses on the residents of a housing complex in late-Communist Poland, whose lives become subtly intertwined as they face emotional dilemmas that are at once deeply personal and universally human. Its ten hour-long films, drawing from the Ten Commandments for thematic inspiration and an overarching structure, grapple deftly with complex moral and existential questions concerning life, death, love, hate, truth, and the passage of time.