Dekalog X

We’ve made it to the final installment. Dekalog X deals with the tenth commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods. Though, in this case, the goods do also get stolen.

The episode begins at a concert. Punk rockers City Death are mid-set when the lead singer, Artur’s “normy” brother, Jerzy, barges through the crowd to announce that their father has died. Why he couldn’t wait until the end of the set is beyond me.

After the funeral, the brothers visit their father’s heavily secured ramshackle apartment. It is a strange setup. The place is only one step above a solitary confinement cell, yet it has an alarm system, nailed-shut windows, and a huge set of cabinets kept under lock, chain and key. Inside is an enormous stamp collection. The brothers barely knew their father and knew nothing about it.

As they try to understand the collection, a few collectors attempt to dupe them. The brothers catch on and become protective of what they have. One of their father’s friends drops by and explains that their father wanted to insure the collection for 250 million zloty, around $63 million today, and God knows how much back then. On his way out, he makes a paggro remark about the boys being absent sons.

The brothers become fixated on two rare stamps in their father’s collection. He does not own the third matching stamp, which, according to notes he left behind, is incredibly hard to find. Lo and behold, one of the collectors who tried to dupe them earlier has it. He is even willing to trade. Not for other stamps, but for a kidney. WTF.

It turns out this scheming fella’s daughter needs a kidney transplant, and Jerzy is a match. The boys must really want that stamp, because Jerzy goes into hospital to have the kidney removed. And they do get the stamp. But while Jerzy is recovering and Artur is waiting, thieves break into their father’s apartment and clean out the entire collection.

The brothers are heartbroken. At first they suspect one another, but that passes. They never recover the collection, but they do begin collecting on their own, and they seem to bond over it.

One thing I love about this installment is the contrast between the brothers. One is in a punk rock band and looks the part. The other looks like a middle manager in an accountancy firm. Chalk and cheese. This is how families really are. Also, while City Death sucks, I like that a few scenes are set at shows. I grew up playing in the punk and hardcore scene in New York. Much of the music sucked in retrospect too, but that time mattered to me.

It is sad that the brothers hardly know their father, and that their own lives seem to have pulled them apart as well. Still, they come together in the end, which leaves you hoping they might stay in touch.