The fourth episode in Kieslowski's ten hour masterpiece is as much about honoring thy father and thy mother as it is the integrity and rigidity of social roles (father and mother need not be biological father and mother). It just goes to show that Kieslowski is after something much more complex than morality tales based on the ten commandments. The fourth episode is my second favorite. One of the reasons I place it above many of the others is because of its beautiful cinematography (see photographs for a flavor). But the other reason is that it is an exemplar of Kieslowski story-telling. The story is about a
daughter and father. The daughter wakes the father up by dumping water one him. Next we see the father getting revenge. It begins in such a way that one might have guessed that the two were lovers. We don't know they don't share the same bed, and when the father goes after the daughter, she's in the bathroom (an intimate space). Given where the story goes and how complex a story-teller Kieslowski is, I'd venture to say that this ambiguity is intentional. After a few scenes it's revealed nonchalantly and abruptly that they are father and daughter when the daughter addresses her father as father. The main plot ostensibly concerns the contents of an envelope. When the father goes on a business trip, the daughter notices he's left behind the envelope (curiously, he usually takes it with him). It has the words "to be opened after my death" written on it. She feels he forgot it on purpose and toys with the idea of opening it. What could it possibly say inside? What's interesting about the end, is that what's inside the envelope may not be the most important revelation between the two.
The fourth episode in Kieslowski's ten hour masterpiece is as much about honoring thy father and thy mother as it is the integrity and rigidity of social roles (father and mother need not be biological father and mother). It just goes to show that Kieslowski is after something much more complex than morality tales based on the ten commandments. The fourth episode is my second favorite. One of the reasons I place it above many of the others is because of its beautiful cinematography (see photographs for a flavor). But the other reason is that it is an exemplar of Kieslowski story-telling. The story is about a
daughter and father. The daughter wakes the father up by dumping water one him. Next we see the father getting revenge. It begins in such a way that one might have guessed that the two were lovers. We don't know they don't share the same bed, and when the father goes after the daughter, she's in the bathroom (an intimate space). Given where the story goes and how complex a story-teller Kieslowski is, I'd venture to say that this ambiguity is intentional. After a few scenes it's revealed nonchalantly and abruptly that they are father and daughter when the daughter addresses her father as father. The main plot ostensibly concerns the contents of an envelope. When the father goes on a business trip, the daughter notices he's left behind the envelope (curiously, he usually takes it with him). It has the words "to be opened after my death" written on it. She feels he forgot it on purpose and toys with the idea of opening it. What could it possibly say inside? What's interesting about the end, is that what's inside the envelope may not be the most important revelation between the two.
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