A Short Film About Killing - Dekalog: Five (1988)

<p>Watch on YouTube: <a href= "https://youtu.be/uYdtpAoLjo8">https://youtu.be/uYdtpAoLjo8</a></p> <p>This film makes us confront on a visceral level the horror of taking a human life, even the life of someone we might find despicable. It is the fifth installment of <em>Dekalog</em>, the famous Polish TV series inspired by the Ten Commandments.</p> <p><em>Dekalog: Five</em>, which was expanded into the feature-length <em>A Short Film About Killing</em>, coincided with an intense debate over capital punishment in Poland, and in the year of its release (1988) the nation finally suspended use of the death penalty.</p> <p>Catholic film scholar Maria Elena de las Carreras often uses <em>Dekalog: Five</em> to teach her students at Cal State Northridge about the value of life. She brings a lively energy to the discussion along with a deep knowledge of Polish cinema and, in general, the work of filmmakers living in totalitarian regimes.</p> <p>Thomas tracked Maria Elena down because of an article on Kieslowski she wrote for <em>Crisis</em> magazine twenty years ago—which, she tells us, she sent to Pope John Paul II, and received a letter from his secretary saying it had been read “with great interest”.</p> <p>Next in our discussion of the Vatican film list: William Wyler’s epic <em>Ben-Hur</em> (1959), starring Charlton Heston.</p> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <p>Watch <em>A Short Film About Killing</em> <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKqmukHCGUQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKqmukHCGUQ</a></p> <p>Maria Elena de las Carreras article on Kieslowski <a href= "https://www.crisismagazine.com/2000/filming-the-10-commandments-kieslowski-as-a-catholic-director"> https://www.crisismagazine.com/2000/filming-the-10-commandments-kieslowski-as-a-catholic-director</a></p> <p>Her writings on film at Crisis Magazine <a href= "https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/kuntz">https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/kuntz</a></p> <p>More writings <a href= "https://csun.academia.edu/MariaElenadelasCarreras">https://csun.academia.ed