Dekalog Episode Rating Graph

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods.” Especially not when it leads to the conclusion of this black comedy about two brothers who inherit their father’s valuable stamp collection and end up paying rather more than they bargained for…

“Thou shalt not kill.” A shorter, slightly less graphic version of “A Short Film About Killing,” but the plot is essentially the same: murder followed by execution, two killings, one illegal, one legal, both hideous.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” A shorter, scaled-down version of “A Short Film About Love,” with a less complex plot and a different ending—though the basic narrative about the relationship between a lonely 19-year-old boy and the thirty-something artist that he spies on every night is the same.

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Janusz is a taxi driver. It’s Christmas Eve, and he honours the (Polish) traditions for this (holy) day: he gives presents to the members of his family and attends Midnight Mass. Later, Ewa, a woman who he had betrayed his wife with three years earlier, asks him to help her. Her husband is missing, and she asks him to help her search for him. Should Janusz stay home to keep the day holy? Or should he help Ewa, who says she needs his help, to keep the day holy? Is it his duty to help her? This episode seems to be about both…

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” A Polish-American researcher visits Warsaw and attends a lecture about ethics. Afterwards, she approaches Zofia, the lecturer, and says that she is the little Jewish girl whom Zofia refused to shelter during World War II. But Zofia has a very good reason for her apparent cowardice…

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” An elderly doctor is approached by a woman with a complicated request. Her husband is gravely ill and may die, and she is pregnant by someone else. If her husband dies, she wants to keep the child, but not otherwise, and she wants the doctor to give him an honest verdict on his chances. But the doctor is disturbed by her request, because his answer will directly affect the life or death of another human being. Is he entitled to play God?