Dekalog V

I’m halfway through the Dekalog series. Put another way, I made it through the fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill.

In Dekalog V, a young drifter murders a taxi driver. They haven’t met before. There’s no motive. The drifter simply wants to kill. The episode follows two threads. In one, we follow the drifter throughout the day on which he commits the murder. In the other, we listen to the defense attorney prepare to defend the drifter in court. The drifter is ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging. The hanging is fast and brutal.

Dekalog V reflects Kieślowski’s opposition to the death penalty. He later released an extended version of this episode titled A Short Film About Killing. The film was released at a time when debate had arisen in Poland about the death penalty and is believed to have influenced public discourse on the topic.

The film explores the fifth commandment in two ways. The first is through the senseless murder of an individual. The second is through the state’s execution of a murderer. We all agree that the first is wrong. What about the second? Can the state justify killing a killer, or is that just another form of murder? It’s the only episode of Dekalog that seems to take a stance.

We know how Kieślowski feels. What does the angel make of it?