Movie Analysis

While a computer plays a central role in the movie Decalogue I, computing as a concept is not the focus. Instead, the computer is used as a metaphor for the strict adherence to atheism, the scientific process, and technology. The failure for the computer to predict that the son will fall through the ice isn't so much an argument about computers, but a continuation of the idea that that by rejecting God through putting sole faith in science, you miss out on a greater perspective and will suffer the consequences.

Krzysztof, the one of the main characters of this movie, holds faith in anything that can measured. This is displayed in scenes where he explains scientific reasoning in a bored, matter-of-fact manner while Pawel responds in awe. However, Kieślowski shows the viewer a fact that some scientists often forget. All science is built on studying the effects of phenomenon to reach support a hypothesis; nothing is certain and the few things that are certain are within a specific requirements.

For example, there is a scene were Krzysztof sees a ink leaking on the table but he doesn't knows where it is coming from. He eventually discovers his ink well spontaneously leaked. He couldn't have known the ink well cracked unless the ink leaked first. In order words, Kieślowski is showing the viewer that Krysztof's "certainty" requires the spontaneity of immeasurable, unpredictable events that looks down upon.

Additionally, this explored again after Krzysztof discovers the ice breaking. A portion of the movie is used following Krzysztof investigating the location of his son. The viewer for the first time sees him grow with doubt and fear as he deals with more complicated variables that are not easily calculated. When the revelation is revealed, when the cause is found, Krzysztof is lost and distraught because nothing leading up to Pawel's death could have indicated that outcome. Furthermore, he doesn't have that nice, clean conclusion his computer produces. He's forced to deal with the aftermath of his decisions long after the answer is revealed.

In the movie, Irene, the aunt of Pawel, says Krzysztof used to have faith in God but shifted to having faith in empirical measurement which he believes is infallible. This is a belief he has imparted on his son as seen from his despair from learning death cannot be easily answered.

Another example is the scene where Krzysztof is playing chess with a woman who was playing with 4-5 other people at the same time. It is said that she must be a genius because she's beaten six other people before him. Pawel claims her moves are easily predictable since she's using a system to make her moves. Krzysztof does the move Pawel suggests and he wins the game. It reaffirms their worldview, everything is predictable when you understand the underlying system. Computers are simply tools that helps you reach that conclusion much faster.

Kieślowski contrasts this belief with liquid and it's shifting states. Milk becomes sour. Liquid milk becomes solid ice. Ink trapped in ink wells leak across the table. Ice proven to be solid one day becomes breakable the next. Matilda Mroz attributes these events in her analysis of Decalogue as a constant reminder to the viewer of the changeable state of nature.* The director is creating to contrast to show the viewer the holes in his beliefs, how his faith in science is just as fallible as someone's beliefs in religion.

*Mroz, M. (2013). Temporality and film analysis. Edinburgh University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt3fgs7c.8?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

This concept was highly debated in our group. In this movie, God is real. Does this mean God killed Pawel to punish Krzysztof for his hubris? Did God kill Pawel because it was fated to be? I, Olajumoke (again, not everybody agrees with me), argue it depends how you view Krzysztof

There is a particular person, the silent witness, who overlooks the frozen lake that Pawel will skate on. Many analysts inference from this movie and Kieślowski's other movies that is person is an angel from God, sent to overlook events in each movie and interact with the main characters*. In this movie, he is speculated to awaiting the death of Pawel but he isn't happy about it. He apparently wipes a tear, looks solemnly, and even questions the entire the notion his existence, "why must some people be saviors and others the saved?" This is supported by the scene of Krzysztof breaking the altar in the church and wax falls on the black Madonna, symbolizing tears that weeps for Krzysztof's pain.

Another entity that is famous in this movie is the computer who spontaneously turns on and writes "I am ready". It does this after Krzysztof asks, "Colleague, what do you want?" This is another area of debate. Some believe the computer is spontaneously developing intelligence like Krzysztof wanted, mirroring the exponential, technological advancement in computers. The other perspective by analysts is that God speaking to Krzysztof from the future, revealing his intention to execute the plan and await Krzysztof at the church. (This is supported by the fact that this message comes the night before Pawel dies and the discussion on AI that is talked about earlier in the movie is never brought up again.)

One can perceive this as a duality created by Kieślowski to show both sides of God: one side that weeps for what will happen and one side that acts the same manner as Krzysztof, cold and detached from the situation. At the same time, this can be a mirror depicting the viewer. Are you the viewer who can sympathize with Krzysztof for his ignorance or are you the viewer who believes he deserves to lose his son for his arrogance?

*Baugh, L. (2005). Gregorianum (86th ed.). GBPres. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23582403