The seventh installment of the "Dekalog" opens with the blood curdling cries of a six year old child coming from an apartment in the complex that is the central setting of Kieslowski's world. The film is not just about theft, but also about the importance of a mother's love. It's clear that this child lacks a mother's love. The child lives in the apartment with her grandparents and 22 year old mother (so, the film is also about babies having babies), who has just been expelled from the university. To save face, the grandparents adopted the child from their daughter. The mother and the grandmother have a very strained relationship, all things considered. Now the mother plans to kidnap her. But she asks, "Can you steal something that's yours?" Again, this is the perfect example of Kieslowski taking one of the ten commandments and twisting it into something much more interesting than a simple morality tale. Though this is so, the episode has a much more conventional plot than the other episodes. It has all the hallmarks of an adventure film: a getaway, a search for the fugitives, death threats, and so on. There's also a bit too much explaining back-story through dialogue for my tastes. These occur between the grandparents and between the mother and father of the six year old. On the other hand, the acting is exceptional. Perhaps the best actress is the girl who plays the six year old child. She's one of the best actresses in the entire series. The end is also fantastic: it turns out that the 22 year old child needs as much love from a mother as the six year old child needs. This is my eighth favorite episode.
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