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The Decalogue (Complete Set)

The Decalogue (Complete Set)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gift from heaven
Review: All Kieslowski fans. Consider this a gift from heaven. Up until this release, the only way for the US fans to obtain this set was to buy bootlegged copies and let this masterpiece be destroyed by fuzzy picture and sound quality result of PAL-NTSC conversion. I paid about $70 for a set of Decalogue on VHS tapes. This is something not to miss. Definitely grab a copy before it goes out of print.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible
Review: Being a fan of Blue, White, and Red I was anxious to see this ten hour piece. I could hardly wait to get home and pop it in the DVD and I wasn't disappointed. This work is absolutely astounding. Kieslowski is/was a true master of the film artform and even weeks after seeing them all, they still reverberate in my mind and heart every day. Few directors come close to the power and emotion Kieslowski throws on the screen. Once again this proves an Oscar doesn't mean you were the best director (no film surpassed RED in 1994). Every time I see a masterpiece from a great director, almost all movies afterwards seem to be nothing less than failure.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dagnammit Kieslowski, why did you have to smoke so much?
Review: How could I ever forget March 13th, 1996? It was a depressing, drizzly day in the city Krzysztof Kieslowski called "Hell". I was absolutely crushed when I heard the news that morning that he had died at the horribly young age of 54. Oh! And I was right in the middle of reading "Kieslowski on Kieslowski", with all that talk about his writing those letters to his daughter and all that...

Oh! Oh!

Finally, 1999 rolls around and I get to see Decalogues 8, 9 and 10 for the first time at the L.A. County Museum of Art... heaven! Oddly enough, I see them again, dubbed in Spanish, on a local TV station when visiting my dad in San Diego the very next weekend... cielo!

And now, thanks to the DVD release, I've finally been able to see them all! They're SO good... I just wish he were still around to make more movies.

So when are they going to release "Blue", "White" and "Red" on DVD? Do you hear me, Miramax! Your public is waiting...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Get the set, and enjoy them over and over again
Review: I first watched "A short film about love", the cinematic version of Decalogue 6, back in the early 90s. I have re-watched for at least 20 times now. It is amazing how it always managed to move me. It remains my best loved film of all time.

The Three Colours Trilogy by the same director is like a piece of symphonic music while The Decalogue is more like chamber music - on a smaller scale, more direct in approach, but equally great, if not greater.

The Decalogue should provide you with life-long enjoyment. Personally, I find it hard to imagine how such a standard of achievement can ever be surpassed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: TREAT YOURSELF TO THESE FILMS- ITS LIKE NOTHING ELSE
Review: I have been raving about these short films for years and now I am trying to find some lucky soul to watch them with me. These are the films you want to talk about with your friends after viewing them preferrably over coffee. I actually bought a DVD player just so I could have these films on DVD. I saw them for the first time five years ago on a friends murky bootleg copy. There is something almost magical about Kieslowski's quiet style. You can see the characters thinking and can't help but read their minds as you watch. The feeling is as intimate as reading a very good book. Also, pay attention to those curious details that add to the atmosphere (a Kieslowski signature): a dropped cup of coffee, a crooked picture, a torn up plant, an ink soaked mess on a pile of papers, a surviving insect etc. It is easy to identify with these characters and to wonder what they are thinking about and to wonder what motivates them. These are films about human nature and our struggle to exist in a world with no easy script to follow.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Mystery of Life at 24 Frames Per Second
Review: The only other Kieslowski film I had seen before "The Decalogue" was "Three Colours: Red", and that astounded me (here was a film that seemed to capture what it is to live in this strange strange world with utter precision and glowing artistry). But "The Decalogue" is something else entirely... I've just watched the first two films in the series, and the depth of emotion and feeling captured and revealed by Kieslowki's camera is overwhelming. I don't have children, yet I get the feeling of what it is like to be a father and suffer great loss from watching the first of the series (I have a suspicion that all of the films will instil profound emotions in me - I'm preparing to watch the next three tonight and then the remaining five tomorrow - it might be the most important marathon I'll ever run...). If you like your cinema to teach you about the depth of everyday living then Kieslowski's "Decalogue" will have you weeping with new-found wisdom.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: So excited this is out
Review: I'm so glad the Decalogue was finally released! I saw the series at a film festival in NYC about 7 years ago, and then (cough) acquired a video copy. But I'm so glad it's out on DVD - the quality is amazing.

The stories are touching and poignant (a word I thought I'd never use!) - and relevant to this day. Each is based on one of the ten commandments, and each story intertwines with the others in subtle ways (characters from one film appear in others, there's a mysterious character who watches all but 2 of the films from the outside).

So well done - Kieslowski was a phenomenal director (see the Blue, White and Red trilogy for more examples).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure emotion, pure films
Review: Many years ago, I lived the artist's life in Paris: bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner, cheap wine, Flaubert, and the neighborhood cinematheque. This tiny theater on the rue Champillon showed 2 episodes of the Decalogue every day at noon. After seeing one of these screenings, I made it a point to see the rest of the films. I didn't stop after I'd been through the cycle once. I got friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to go with me. No one was able to make it through the cycle without acknowledging that this Polish director, whoever he was (there were no credits on these prints) was a genuine genius. Not merely a filmmaking genius as the word is thrown about today, but a true master -- a person of unique talent who knew how to capture a moment of pure emotion on film in such a strangely precise way that even the most cursory of moments seemed emotionally dramatic.

Years pass. I watch Kieslowski become an international celebrity. But I don't go out of my way to see the Decalogue again; I'm too afraid that my vision of the films is too wrapped up with the youthful memories of my bohemian days. Finally, the DVDs are released, and I can't resist anymore: I get them the day they come out. Nothing about the films has aged. They are still truly great, moving, and masterful. Each of them is a small masterpiece -- but as a series, the films are cumulatively astounding.

There's no question that these are among the greatest films ever made. As far as movies go, these transcend the category. They're marvelous and they have to be on any serious movie buff's list.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I'm completely in awe
Review: After watching this remarkable work of art, I can't imagine going back to see Hollywood movies. Each episode of this TV series kept me glued to the screen with a well executed plot, superb acting, and the Kieslowski touch that is luminous in his films. Imagine the simplicity of the setting (an apartment high rise) and so many stories to tell! Each of the episodes is unique and interweaving with others. I want more!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: To think
Review: These movies will make you think on the very important things of your life: not only God, but also your family, friends, trust and lies, love, justice...

I strongly recommend them to everybody. It doesn't matter if you are a believer or not. It matters if you do think and feel or not.

Personally, I liked No. 1 and No. 5 the most.


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