The first part of the ten-episode 'Decalogue' series is a story about the confrontation of reason and faith, framed as a psychological drama.
'Thou shalt have no other gods before me' – the first commandment of the Decalogue – became the starting point for the ten-episode series by Krzysztof Kieślowski and Piesiewicz. In an attempt to create a narrative that would correspond to its content and at the same time would not be too literal and unambiguous, they created the story of Krzysztof, an excellent scientist who trusts science and its rules completely, and his son Paweł. When one day the young boy wants to go ice-skating on a local lake, Krzysztof uses a computer to precisely calculate the thickness of the ice sheet, its load-bearing capacity and strength. Unfortunately, due to an unfortunate turn of events, twelve-year-old Paweł falls into the icy water and dies. This causes Krzysztof to reflect on the existence of the absolute, the malice of fate and the limits of reason.
In an extended interview with Mikołaj Jazdon, Krzysztof Piesiewicz mentions the double inspiration behind Decalogue I. The first one was connected to a personal story of the screenwriter, who one day bought skates for his son, and when he didn’t come back from playing on a frozen lake for a long time, frightening thoughts about an accident and the breaking of the ice started to come to his mind. Piesiewicz supplemented this personal story with elements from another biography – that of his friend, a physics professor who raised his son to become a future genius.
From these two stories, Kieślowski and Piesiewicz created a narrative about a rationalist who, believing in science, its laws and rules, forgets about the unpredictability of human fate and the verdicts of providence.
The story of the atheist scientist was of particular importance to Kieślowski, who himself struggled with questions about the existence of God and the essence of faith. This is probably also why the director even planned to play the role of the father in the film. However, he was talked out of the idea by the film crew.
This did not mean the end of casting problems. It was also not a small feat to find a person to play the role of a twelve-year-old boy. Kieślowski grasped at all ideas – among others, he invited the young son of Krzysztof Piesiewicz for the casting, but it turned out that the boy had no acting talent. Another young actor was chosen to play the role of little Paweł. Kieślowski shot 30% of the film material with him and then decided that he had made a casting mistake. The shooting was stopped, and Kieślowski had to find a new Paweł. Fortune smiled on him very soon – because Wojciech Klata, one of the most talented and natural child actors Polish cinema has ever had, ended up on the set of Decalogue I. It was he who starred in the film’s final version, contributing to its huge international success.
The first part of the Decalogue series, perhaps the most literal reference to the content of the Ten Commandments, nearly caused the failure of the entire project. When Kieślowski received the green light from the Polish Television to make the series in 1988, television, like the entire Polish economy, was on a financial downward spiral. After eight episodes had been produced, it turned out that the funds for the last two had already been used up. Krzysztof Zanussi, responsible for the production of The Decalogue, started a tour of European TV stations looking for co-producers ready to finance the work. There were not many willing to join the project. Even the Italian Catholic television saw no chance of the investment being financially viable, while German contractors, after seeing the first episode, said outright: ‘No way! This is so shamelessly blunt. We can’t speak to our audience in that language.’
Fortunately, despite these reactions, Zanussi managed to find financial support, and several months later, the same criticised and misunderstood Decalogue became one of the most important artistic events of its time.
- Decalogue I, Director: Krzysztof Kieślowski. Screenplay: Krzysztof Kieślowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Cinematography: Wiesław Zdort. Cast: Henryk Baranowski, Wojciech Klata, Maja Komorowska, Aleksander Bardini. Polish premiere on 10.12.1989.