Dekalog 4

The segment begins with a long shot of Anka in bed. Given all that we have seen in this episode, we can’t be entirely sure that she’s in that bed alone — but she is. She’s awakened by clanking milk bottles. We will learn the significance of those

After some silence and delay, the first thing Michal says next is that when he went away on long trips or found other reasons to be out of the house, he hoped something irreversible would happen. He wanted Anka to find someone, get pregnant and start a family so his

Dekalog 4 takes on a difficult subject matter, but it has universal meaning. The father-daughter element makes viewers squeamish. But the relationship between Anka and Michal could also be viewed as a stand-in for any impossible relationship surrounded by longing. Longing is the most difficult feeling because it pits our

This segment starts with a lie. Anka is examining the shards of glass in the door that Michal shattered and he says, while changing his shirt, “it was a draft.” She gives a bemused “hmm,” sits down and asks if he has a cigarette. He lights one for her and

It’s always valuable to bear in mind what Kieslowski had to say about all of the main characters in The Dekalog — they don’t know why they are living. They don’t begin episodes in despair. In most cases, there’s no imminent crisis in their lives. But they

Anka is drinking coffee at the kitchen table. She has taken her mother’s letter out of her father’s envelope again and has it propped up on the table so she can see her mother’s writing. She has beautiful pale green eyes. You can see a sly smile