The symbolic, poignant scene was included in the film – observed (also from the inside of a small Fiat) by Ewa. It became an interpretive clue and a sort of gift reality gave to cinema. ‘It’s tough being alone on a night like this’ – says Ewa in another scene, and Decalogue III is all about the type of people who must battle their own solitude and sense of exclusion on this very day.
The film was of special importance to Piesiewicz. In the extensive interview quoted above, he spoke of his career as a lawyer. During his studies, he received a lesson in humanity from his teacher, who made him pay Christmas visits to the prisoners he was defending. The story of people controlled by their own issues, internalised lies and lack of fulfilment became the first part of The Decalogue in which film mysticism gave way to psychology, and the reflection on human fragility was more important than pompous dogmas and ontological questions.
‘It’s one of the innumerable variants of the story about the insanity of love, about love in its most burdensome phase, deprived of almost all positive elements, and yet still fierce and intense, transforming itself into a destructive force’, wrote one of the critics about this episode of The Decalogue. Decalogue III stamped its place in history mostly thanks to Maria Pakulnis’ daring performance as a suffering manipulator, a lonely woman, temperamental and possessive, incapable of being at peace with herself.
Decalogue III. Directed by: Krzysztof Kieślowski. Written by: Krzysztof Kieślowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Cinematography: Piotr Sobociński. Music: Zbigniew Preisner. Starring: Maria Pakulnis, Daniel Olbrychski, Joanna Szczepkowska. Release date: 10 Dec 1989.