Shawn Erwin-The Decalogue

The first film is an artistic portrayal of the first commandment where God proclaims that He is the lord and that there are to be no other gods worshiped save for him. In Decalogue I, the two main characters are seen to be obsessed with a computer and they marvel at what they can do with it. The Midrash in this case can be said to be the computer as a representation of a false god. Not only does is it portrayed in this way, but the father puts all of his faith into the computer which represents a non-reciprocal relationship. Not only is he worshiping a false god in a sense but he is also not adhering to the covenant which is a key part of the commandments for God provides guidance and protection but at the cost of worship. His only relationship is type in commands in order to receive a result. This back fires when he and his son type in calculations in order to see if the ice will hold the son if he were to go skating. The son falls in the ice and dies leaving the father with nothing else and ultimately he strives to seek God and abandon the computer. The ice breaking can be symbolic of the breaking in trust that the father had for the computer and it finally dawns on him the consequences of relying solely on a false object. Once the veil has been lifted, the father realizes his error but at great cost, however, it moves him to God.
The second film covers the fifth commandment, Thou shall not kill. The Midrash in this film, isn’t so much as saying killing is forbidden but murder is. The difference lies in that killing my be carried out in defense, if you are attacked and you kill your attacker in self-defense then this may not break the commandment. However, the main character kills for no apparent reason other than just to do it. The only remorse that he shows for killing the taxi driver is only present because he gets caught. Rope is a key figure in symbolism in the film. The killer uses rope to commit murder, yet he is unable to full achieve his aim with the rope. It is messy and prolonged and results in him having to use a rock in order to finish the job. He too is later killed by hanging which involves using rope, and his death is just as prolonged and messy resulting in him having to be carried by multiple police officers.