Garrett Dalton-Decalogue

The Decalogue is a series of movies that portays the teachings of the Ten Commandments by way of parable. The first film the class viewed dealt with the first commandment; thou shalt no have no other gods but me. The story follows a Polish boy and his father who both place great emphasis on technology and reason to order their lives. The boy has a computer program that allows him to lock the door or turn on the lights with a command. The computer that the father and the boy used constantly makes the statement "I am ready". In essense, the characters have made themselves out to be godlike beings in their own world, where technology is subject to thier will. A key scene in the film involves the father using a computer program to determine the thickness of the ice on the local pond. The father's calculations proved insufficient which leads to the death of his son. Though the director does not portray the tragedy as an act of God, one can see that the loss of faith and overconfidence in technology had a negative effect on the lives of the characters.
The second film the class watched dealt with the 5th commandment; thou shalt not murder. The film is far more brutal than the first, depicting the murder of a taxi driver by a troubled teen. The taxi driver is not an innocent bystander and the director seems to believe that "one reaps what one sows". Much of the film dealt with the trial of the accused. Set in Soviet Poland, the prisoner is quickly executed by the state. The executioners are themselves portrayed as murderers, binding the man's hands and hanging him. Not only does the film make a political statement against capital punishment, it shows the senselessness of killing in the name of justice.