Decalogue VIII

Decalogue VIII
DVD poster
Directed by	Krzysztof Kieślowski
Produced by	Ryszard Chutkovski
Written by	Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Starring	Teresa Marczewska Maria Koscialkowska
Music by	Zbigniew Preisner
Cinematography	Andrzej Jaroszewicz
Editing by	Ewa Smal
Distributed by	Polish Television
Release date(s)	1988
Running time	55 min.
Country	Poland
Language	Polish
Budget	$10.000

The Decalogue - VIII (Polish: Dekalog, osiem) is the eighth part of the television series The Decalogue by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski, connected to the eighth imperative of the Ten Commandments, "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Holocaust survivor (Teresa Marczewska) confronts an ethics professor (Maria Kościałowska) who once refused to help her on the basis of this commandment.^[1]

Plot

Elzbieta (Teresa Marczewska) listening to lecture of professor Zofia (Maria Koscialkowska).

Warsaw, Poland, around year 1985. Zofia (Maria Koscialkowska) is an elderly professor at the university who is very active and has a strong friendship with stamp collector Czesłav "Root" Janicki. Elzbieta (Teresa Marczewska), a woman in her forties, who is from New York, is visiting the University of Warsaw. She goes to Zofia's lecture of ethics. They are acquaintances from the USA, Elzbieta translates Zofia's works and the latter is glad to introduce her friend to the students.

The professor continues her lecture, which consists of the students posing ethical cases to be discussed in class. One of the students poses the case of a doctor and a woman who needs to have an abortion. Elzbieta gives an example on the true-life tale set in 1943 during World War II: a 6 year old Jewish girl whose parents were sent to the ghetto was promised to get help from some willing Catholic family, unfortunately the woman from the family refuses to provide the help and sends the girl away just before curfew.

Zofia figures out that Elzbieta herself was the small girl, left to uncertain fate since she is the lady who refused to help her. Her initial explanation that by lying about Elzbieta's baptism would break their duty of not lying is not enough. Zofia asks Elzbieta to dinner and she explains that the reason why she refused her help was very mundane: Zofia's husband was an officer of the Polish resistance and they were told that the invading Germans were posing fake Jews to hunt the underground and anyone who helped Jews. Czesłav Janicki enters and shows Zofia a series of German Reich Flugpost Polarfahrt 1931 Zeppelin that he recently acquired.

Zofia has had difficulties to live with what she did since the war. Elzbieta asks to be taken to the family that had offered to help her but when she gets there, the man refuses to speak about the war. Zofia tells her that he suffered a lot during the war and after it and that is why he will not say anything.

The story was based on an experience of the filmmakers' mutual friend, the journalist Hanna Krall.^[2]

^{[3] [4] [5]}

Cast

Zofia (Maria Koscialkowska) and Elzbieta (Teresa Marczewska).

• Maria Koscialkowska - Zofia
• Teresa Marczewska - Elżbieta
• Artur Barciś - young man
• Tadeusz Łomnicki - tailor
• Bronislaw Pawlik - philatelist, Zofia's neighbour

In other roles:

• Marian Opania,

Wojciech Asinski, Marek Kepinski, Janusz Mond, Krzysztof Rojek, Wiktor Sanejko, Ewa Skibinska, Hanna Szcerkowska, Anna Zagorska

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094990/ Episode overview
2. ^ http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/krall-hanna
3. ^ http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Dekalog_8.html Episode review
4. ^ http://www.facets.org/decalogue/synopsis.html Episode synopsis
5. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/decalogue_vol_4_parts_vii_and_viii/# Episode Synopsis and critical review