Decalogue 4 (Honor thy Father and Mother) (1989), Krzysztof Kieslowski, B
The Decalogue marches on at its tortoise’s pace. I’m recognizing the pattern here — obtuse, inscrutable storytelling for twenty minutes, til you just can’t take it anymore, and then the planets line up and a recognizable conflict is presented. Number Four, like the others, is straight-up soap opera — but interesting nonetheless. Teenaged daughter (and lead singer in a Pat Benatar cover band) discovers that her single parent (Dad) may not actually be her Dad. Can she confront him on this? Does he even know the truth? Oy, such troubles. Well played by both actors.
” obtuse, inscrutable storytelling for twenty minutes, til you just can’t take it anymore, and then the planets line up and a recognizable conflict is presented”
Very well put. I like that about his films (not just the Decalogue). The way I see it you are thrown in the middle of a story and nothing is explained, not even who’s who exactly. You sort of have to piece it together. That’s why it seems so confusing and uneven at first. Maybe he assumes his viewers are smarter than average (as opposed to a CSI episode where everything the characters are doing is explained by…them)?
P.S. nothing against CSI, I actually like the show, it’s fun.
Comment by e. nassar — May 15, 2007 @ 11:40 pm