director Krzysztof Kieślowski
screenplay Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Krzysztof Kieślowski
director of photography Sławomir Idziak
music Zbigniew Preisner
with Mirosław Baka, Krzysztof Globisz, Jan Tesarz, Zbigniew Zapasiewicz
awards
European Film Award for Best Film, 1988
Jury Prize, FIPRESCI and Golden Palm nomination at Cannes Film Festival, 1988
French Film Critics Award for the Best Foreign Film, 1990
Grand Prix, Golden Lions (together with ‘A Short Film about Love’) at the 13th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, 1988
three prizes awarded by the head of the Polish Film Council for creative excellence in feature film for Krzysztof Kieślowski, Sławomir Idziak and Mirosław Baka, 1988
Golden Duck (Złota Kaczka) ‘Film’ magazine Readers Award, 1989
KRZYSZTOF KIEŚLOWSKI, KRZYSZTOF PIESIEWICZ, ‘DECALOGUE V – SCREENPLAY,’ [DEKALOG V – SCENARIUSZ]
Scene 24: With great effort and bracing his legs against the driver’s seat, Jacek lowers the rope and tightens it on the driver’s neck. (…) The taxi-driver jerks his other hand free; the grip weakens for a second. Jacek tightens it again. The driver, leaning backwards, wheezes, his eyes popping out of his head… Epilogue: With one sweep of the arm the executioner draws the curtain and reveals the true purpose of the room. Jacek goes in. The executioner follows him and draws the curtain. The metal rail grates. Inside, carefully and slowly, he puts the noose around Jacek’s neck. He comes up to the button and presses it. The trapdoor under Jacek’s feet opens with a loud clatter. The body convulses for a few seconds and then freezes. The stretched legs swing a little. After a while a few drops of thick brown liquid fall from the trousers to the lino-covered floor.
TADEUSZ SOBOLEWSKI, WSZYSCY JESTEŚMY MORDERCAMI?, ‘KINO’, 1989, NO. 8
The title clearly suggests that premeditated murder and execution in the name of the law are equal. (…) Paradoxically, protest against evil is linked here with sympathy for both the victim and the executioner. Lack of judgement does not mean ethical relativism at all. On the contrary, the whole reality presented here is full of evil. Protest against capital punishment, refusal to condemn a human being completely, a flicker in the darkness – all this bounces off the bottom of determinism and leads the film-maker (who never revealed his religious stance) back to faith
history periods
