Guided by Edward Kłosiński, the camera carefully observes the characters, both during their intimate confessions and whilst performing everyday, seemingly trivial activities. The director tells the story in a subtle way, often using understatements and leaving much to conjecture. The viewer is informed about the characters’ mental states not only through words spoken during brief moments of confessions, but above all by gestures, glances, interactions of the characters with objects and sensual visual metaphors. The photographs of mountains filling Dorota’s flat, a glass of tea splashing on the floor or the stump of a plucked plant become evidence of the growing sense of emptiness in the woman’s life. Flooded with water (as in Andrei Tarkovsky’s films), the destroyed walls in the hospital room and the symbolic image of a drowning wasp laboriously extracting itself from a glass of fruit compote suggest Andrzej’s inner experiences.
Decalogue II is a great example of the psychological nuance of Kieślowski’s films and at the same time a picture that combines many of the themes running through the director’s work. Concentration on detail, focus on objects that have – sometimes clearly allegorical and sometimes puzzling – additional meanings, or the motif of a man’s right to decide on the fate of others, are elements constantly appearing not only in the television series but also in the artist’s later magnum opus, Three Colours. It is worth adding that Decalogue II also became an inspiration for other artists – in 2009, the Indian film Dwando by Suman Ghosh was made, loosely based on the Polish director’s work.
Decalogue II, Directed by: Krzysztof Kieślowski. Screenplay: Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Krzysztof Kieślowski. Cinematography: Edward Klosiński. Production design: Halina Dobrowolska. Cast: Aleksander Bardini (head doctor), Krystyna Janda (Dorota Geller), Olgierd Łukaszewicz (Andrzej Geller), Jerzy Fedorowicz (Andrzej’s friend), and others. Produced by the Polish Television, Tor Film Group, Sender Freies. Poland 1988. 58 minutes.
Originally written in Polish by Robert Birkholc, translated into English by P. Grabowski, June 2021