Episode X - Thou shalt not covet

The Dekalog series finishes on a different note with episode 10 which tackles the tenth commandment: thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. This episode follows the story of two brothers, Jerzy and Artur, who inherit a stamp collection when their estranged father dies. The collection ends up being worth a fortune but the brothers soon find themselves deep in the heart of the stamp collecting underworld. When they are robbed, the brothers learn that familial relationships are worth more than anything bought with money.

                                        Photo from: cultprojections.com

Only Kieslowski's talented filmmaking could change the tone of an episode and still have it fit with the series as a whole. The tone of this episode is more humorous than the preceding 9; but of course the humor is dark humor, I believe it is a stretch to call this episode a commedy. A great deal of the commedy arises from the extreme differences between the brothers. Jerzy is an unemployed middle-class family man while his younger brother Artur is the destitute lead singer of a rock band. Kieslowski artfully highlights these differences in the opening sequence where Jerzy is at his brother's concert. A strobe light helps the viewer feel as disoriented as Jerzy while the jump cuts between the brothers point out the differences, and the similarities, between the brothers. While they are completely different people, the skillful acting makes it very easy to believe they are related. Comedic genius is made incarnate in the form of a Great Dane guard dog who keeps the brothers on their toes and is eventually switched to allow the crooks to rob the brothers dry. The very idea of a stamp collecting underworld makes you both think and laugh, without knowing which is the correct response.

This episode is grittier and less polished than the preceding 9 episodes. The diegetic world is much less polished which illustrates the faithlessness of the Polish people as their communist government was meeting its end. This episode aired on June 24, 1989 (imdb.com). To put things into context (, the Berlin Wall did not fall until November 9 of the same year. However, Poland was one of the first Eastern European communist governments to fall. Their "semi-free" elections were held on June 4, 1989; a mere 20 days before this episode was aired (news.bbc.co.uk). The changing world and tone in the episode mirrors what was happening in the world surrounding the making of this episode. The dark tone in this episode is certainly not an accident. Jerzy's young son is cheated out of a few of his grandfather's stamps. Later, after being robbed, both brothers implicate each other to the police. Although that is resolved in the last scene, the tougher greedier people prevail in this episode. The stamps are never found and justice does not prevail. This dark side has been preposed as a reason the compassionate witness did not make an appearance in this episode. However, there still is a collection to the other episodes. Jerzy and Artur's father is the neighbor of Zofia, the ethics professor from episode 8.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1054724.stm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094983/