Nicholas Dease: Midrash in The Decalogue

At its core, film has always served the purpose of interpretation—movies interpret everything from the values of society to the very meaning of existence itself. Like any work of art, a film is always created with a purpose in mind, a thesis of sorts, that ensures all the imagery, music, and dialogue are relevant to the ultimate goal of making a statement. While certainly not always limited to religious interpretation, there are myriad similarities between the medium and the practice of midrash. Generally speaking, film utilizes specific methods for portraying reality with a goal or purpose that is relevant to the audience viewing it. Camera Angles, lighting, color palette, and dialogue are few of the many tools an artist utilizes in the crafting of an experience that, to the first time viewer, will appear to be a linear progression of events that portray reality. In one sense, the film itself is an interpretation. In another, the film provides the viewer with a sandbox project their own interpretations upon.

Simply put, Midrash is the interpretation of biblical passages in order to make it relevant to contemporary society. In the case of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogues, it is the practice of “crafting” a real experience that invites its viewer to perform Midrash of their own accord. The Decalogue provides only experiences, no answers. The answers to the questions are left up to viewer to interpret. However, to state that all the responsibility falls upon the viewer would be to completely disregard the Artist's crafting of the experience. In essence, he takes the ten commandments and interprets them in such a way that it invites one to interpret his interpretation. By providing the viewers with highly emotional situations, feeling becomes the currency for exchanging meaning.

In the case of “Thou shall not kill,” Kieslowski provides us a day in the life of a hoodlum that will ultimately commit murder. With a slow progression toward the kill, Kieslowski gives the audience a main character to project themselves upon. The hoodlum walks about the town performing all manner of misdeeds, but none compare to the horrendous act of murder at the end of his travels. The act itself is ugly, long, and uncomfortable. The experience is familiar in so far that it takes place in a contemporary setting and the emotions are realistic—like the dying man calling out for mercy. This sense of realism and familiarity allow the viewer to fundamentally integrate the event into their own setting through empathy. One can easily imagine being in that position and therefore the very core concept of “Thou shall not kill” is translated, but the meaning is created by the viewer themselves and is thus much more significant.

The same can be said for first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” We are given a figure that recognizes rationality as the only answer to the universe. Throughout the film, the audience is provided scenes where the limits of rationality are shown, like in the case of the Chess scene. The viewer therefore forms their own idea that rationality cannot answer all the questions.God,therefore, must be the source of meaning. The presence of the emotional loss provides a common ground of emotion for the transfer of ideas to take place. Ultimately, both short films are very successful.