837 Dekalog

[swo17]

Dekalog



This masterwork by Krzysztof Kieślowski is one of the twentieth century's greatest achievements in visual storytelling. Originally made for Polish television, Dekalog focuses on the residents of a housing complex in post-Communist Poland, whose lives become subtly intertwined as they face emotional dilemmas that are at once deeply personal and universally human. Using the Ten Commandments for thematic inspiration and an overarching structure, Dekalog's ten hour-long films deftly grapple with complex moral and existential questions concerning life, death, love, hate, truth, and the passage of time. Shot by nine different cinematographers, with stirring music by Zbigniew Preisner and compelling performances from established and unknown actors alike, Dekalog arrestingly explores the unknowable forces that shape our lives. Also presented are the longer theatrical versions of Dekalog's fifth and sixth films: A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love.

SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET:

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
• New high-definition digital restorations of A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
• Selection of archival interviews with director Krzysztof Kieślowski, culled from footage from the 1987 production of Dekalog: Two, excerpts from the 1995 documentary A Short Film About "Dekalog," and a 1990 audio recording from the National Film Theatre in London
• New program on the visual rhyming of Dekalog by film studies professor Annette Insdorf
• New and archival interviews with Dekalog cast and crew, including cowriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, thirteen actors, three cinematographers, editor Ewa Smal, and Kieślowski's confidante Hanna Krall
• Trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay and film analyses by film scholar Paul Coates and excerpted reprints from Kieślowski on Kieślowski

[djproject]

Of course, it would have been more sweet if it was released on my birthday. But we can't have everything =]

Now I'll be figuring out how everything will be divided amongst the four discs. My guess will be 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-10 (with Killing on the second and Love on the third to make it join with their respective episodes). Supplements, of course, will be spread throughout it.

Nice to see the aspect ratio is maintained (little doubts there).

Personally I've been waiting for at least a decade to own a price-to-own home video release of this. (The Facets was fine but I had a feeling it could be made better.)

[domino harvey]

Glad for the fans of this series to finally have a decent copy (like many here, I saw this years ago via Facets' usual abomination), but I'm in the extreme minority on this one: I thought part four was great, part ten was okay, and I didn't like any of the other eps! Doubtful I'll ever devote another ten-plus hours to changing my mind, but I've been on this board long enough to appreciate it when one of those impossible Criterion release suggestions people would always ask about and make fake covers for actually transpires!

[Big Ben]

A pity I'm only really interested in A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love. I'd have loved to have had a double disc set of them but I guess I'll have to put up with this. For those who have seen them how do they compare with their television counterparts other than the obvious?

[TMDaines]

Different takes on the same themes. Not better, not worse, just different.

[Ribs]

A pity I'm only really interested in A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love. I'd have loved to have had a double disc set of them but I guess I'll have to put up with this. For those who have seen them how do they compare with their television counterparts other than the obvious?

I'm a little confused by this response - you haven't seen Dekalog and you only want the other two you like? Or you have seen Dekalog and you don't want it but maintain interest in the two other films?

I'm happy that the two are bundled in given the relative speed these and the Hanekes are coming in from Criterion but do wish there was something that made it seem less like the "Short Films" weren't just thrown in as an aside rather than significant major works from Kieslowski in their own right.

Also Criterion's been better about encoding but I'd still be a lot more comfortable if there was another disc to allow a bit more room to breathe.

[Big Ben]

Sorry! I'll be more precise.

I haven't seen Deklog and would like to see the "Short Film" versions only. Call me weird if you wish!

Different takes on the same themes. Not better, not worse, just different.

Thanks!

[djproject]

Killing and Love are just expanded versions of Dekalog 5 and Dekalog 6 respectively. Think of it as the "extended episode" option that happens every now and then =].

[Ribs]

But it's all new footage, right? They have a different OAR and change some important things.

[swo17]

No and no, it's mostly the same footage in the same ratio. Love has a different ending that changes the meaning somewhat. I don't recall anything all that different about Killing, other than it being longer.

[MichaelB]

The correct ratios for Dekalog 5, Dekalog 6, A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love should all be 1.66:1. Even on the original British television broadcast they were letterboxed, at a time when this was unusual.

[Gregory]

I haven't seen Deklog and would like to see the "Short Film" versions only. Call me weird if you wish!

You're weird. If you liked the "Short Films About..." much, I'd think you'd want to jump on this set like an extremely rare stamp missing from a collection.
In case it helps generate any interest, I'm pretty sure this is one of Criterion's most-requested releases of all time (like the Three Colors Trilogy was before they released it several years ago). Release after release of this has been seriously compromised in some way and, while some will inevitably have quibbles, this will almost surely be the release most have been waiting for for a couple of decades.

[Big Ben]

You're weird. If you liked the "Short Films About..." much, I'd think you'd want to jump on this set like an extremely rare stamp missing from a collection.
In case it helps generate any interest, I'm pretty sure this is one of Criterion's most-requested releases of all time (like the Three Colors Trilogy was before they released it several years ago). Release after release of this has been seriously compromised in some way and, while some will inevitably have quibbles, this will almost surely be the release most have been waiting for for a couple of decades.

I think I'll make the jump since it's one of those things I've heard so much about but never had the ability to see before. I'm very interested in the themes the films the film has to offer. I'm just interested in Killing/Love the most.

[kekid]

"Chimes at Midnight" and "Dekalog" were two of the most anticipated titles for me. I am astonished by the lukewarm response to this announcement. Also, I may be weird but in some ways I prefer the concision of the versions in Dekalog to the expanded versions of the two episodes.

[djproject]

Just keep in mind, it faintly follows the Catholic numbering. So the first one is "no other gods before Me", the second one is "Do not take My name in vain", the third is "Remember and keep the Sabbath holy" and so on until nine is "Do not covet your neighbour's wife" and ten is "Do not covet your neighbour's goods". (The Jewish and Protestant sans Lutherans have the second as "no graven images", third as "not take My name in vain" and then continues until the "not covet" ones are combine as the tenth.)

Yes I know they are never explicitly mentioned by any of the characters (even the titles are just utilitarian: i.e. "Dekalog: One"). And yes there are cases made that each episode represents "more than one". All that said, it is apparent that each one was used a springboard to create a story/situation/moral dilemma that is there to test it in the modern world and even - I think anyway - affirm it as a dependable and sound moral and ethical principle.

And above all else, these are not mere "Sunday School lessons". The moral situations are highly intricate and extremely human. This is what makes it so beautiful as not just cinema but art in general. I call it cinema achieving apotheosis, right on the level of Bach's music or El Greco's paintings. (Yeah, you can tell I was one of the vocal supporters to get this a spine number =] )

I would say if you have seen Three Colours, this is no different: characterizes humanizing and personalizing ideas. And if you enjoyed Three Colours, you may enjoy this even more as there is a lot more to chew on. Also I find the interconnect aspect to be slightly more subtle than in Three Colours (and I really enjoy it as well).

[MichaelB]

I've never been a huge fan of the Three Colours trilogy (apart from White, the ugly duckling), but Dekalog (which I saw first) is for me one of the great works of moral philosophy of the last three decades. It's much less self-consciously arty than Kieślowski's later films, and that's very much to its advantage - I suspect the TV schedule and astonishingly tight shooting ratio of reputedly just 2:1 helped here.

[Ribs]

So is it at all concerning that Criterion has listed only 1.33 as the AR if different ratios are used in the Dekalog itself? Or is it just a copy writing error?

[MichaelB]

I suspect it's more for the sake of copy-writing convenience. Eight out of ten should be 1.33:1, with the two that fuelled the feature films in 1.66:1.

[swo17]

The Polish BD has none of the episodes in 1.33:1, so that's the more important ratio to disclose up front.

[Ribs]

Why was it done in the differing ARs, just preference of the specific DPs? Did this influence the choice to have these two in particular expand to features or was it just a coincidence?

[MichaelB]

Dekalog 5 and Dekalog 6 were shot first, planned as dual cinema/TV productions from the outset, and it was the cinema versions that premiered first - despite the official production date of 1988, the complete Dekalog wasn't screened until Cannes 1989 (a few episodes) and Venice 1989 (the whole thing), the latter a few weeks before the Polish TV premiere.

Had they been made exclusively for TV, they would undoubtedly have been in 1.33:1 as well.

[Ribs]

Thanks, Michael.

[Luke M]

"Chimes at Midnight" and "Dekalog" were two of the most anticipated titles for me. I am astonished by the lukewarm response to this announcement. Also, I may be weird but in some ways I prefer the concision of the versions in Dekalog to the expanded versions of the two episodes.

I'm super happy about revisiting this after watching that god-awful Facets release years ago. I think perhaps the tepid response is due to it not being all that much of a surprise. It was a New Years' Hint, I believe. Also, I think in this day and age where we'll soon see an announcement for Pan's Labyrinth - nothing much can surprise.

[swo17]

This was actually one of Facets' best releases, i.e. what would have been an average, serviceable release for any other label.

[domino harvey]