The setting of the episodes in the Dekalog have really stood out to me. Each episode of the Dekalog is set in a dark, gray, gloomy Communist-era Polish housing development. To me, a western viewer, this setting seems very realistic. However, upon more research and examination the setting appears over simplified. Kieslowski as a documentary filmmaker native to Poland would have been able to create a true representation of realistic every-day life in Poland. Instead, he very intentionally chose this over-simplified route. He wrote in his autobiography "Kieslowski on Kieslowski"  that he "attempted to show individuals in difficult situations. All the contextual social difficulties, or difficulties of everyday life, remained somewhere in the background."

                                               Photo from: whitecitycinema.com
Kieslowski's autobiography can be found at http://www.amazon.com/Kieslowski-Krzysztof/dp/0571173284/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332202162&sr=1-1