Written and directed by famed Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, a mini-series of ten short films, each based on one of the Ten Commandments. Set in Warsaw, we meet everyday people and their (largely) everyday problems, resulting in a moral lesson.
The premise of this series was interesting: ten short-films each based on one of the Ten Commandments. The fact that they're written and directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski piqued my interest too though didn't mean it this was necessarily going to be great. I find his movies a bit hit and miss, veering between powerful, profound works of art and dull pretentiousness, with degrees of both.
This turns out to largely be somewhere in between, and is more over to the dull and pretentious side. There's some decent character engagement but everything develops at a glacial pace.
The conclusions are hardly powerful nor profound, especially if the slow pace already had you zoning out. Many of the times the ending just happened, leaving me thinking "So?". It was only by reading IMDB reviews that I worked out what I was supposed to be reading into the ending and even then it seemed a bit of a stretch.
The Ten Commandment aspect is not very obvious at all and seems very dogmatically and clumsily applied. E.g. In the first episode, the kid apparently died because he and his dad were spending a large amount of time on the computer and relying on it too much and this apparently offended God. How judgemental! Where's the grace, rather than the dogma? So even the religiosity is misaimed.
On the plus side, the characters and their situations are reasonably interesting and do give a good feel for everyday folks just trying to get through life no matter the trials and tribulations. The bleakness of the setting helps this sense of claustrophobia and despondency too.
The premise of this series was interesting: ten short-films each based on one of the Ten Commandments. The fact that they're written and directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski piqued my interest too though didn't mean it this was necessarily going to be great. I find his movies a bit hit and miss, veering between powerful, profound works of art and dull pretentiousness, with degrees of both.
This turns out to largely be somewhere in between, and is more over to the dull and pretentious side. There's some decent character engagement but everything develops at a glacial pace.
The conclusions are hardly powerful nor profound, especially if the slow pace already had you zoning out. Many of the times the ending just happened, leaving me thinking "So?". It was only by reading IMDB reviews that I worked out what I was supposed to be reading into the ending and even then it seemed a bit of a stretch.
The Ten Commandment aspect is not very obvious at all and seems very dogmatically and clumsily applied. E.g. In the first episode, the kid apparently died because he and his dad were spending a large amount of time on the computer and relying on it too much and this apparently offended God. How judgemental! Where's the grace, rather than the dogma? So even the religiosity is misaimed.
On the plus side, the characters and their situations are reasonably interesting and do give a good feel for everyday folks just trying to get through life no matter the trials and tribulations. The bleakness of the setting helps this sense of claustrophobia and despondency too.