History Film / TheDecalogue

* BitchSlap: When in ''Four'' Anka finishes reading the letter to him, Michał, without a single word, slaps her across the face and leaves the room.

* {{Bookends}}: Irena in ''One'' is watching on her TV a documentary from Paweł's school - the film started with the making of it.

* {{Jerkass}}:
** Jacek spends the first half of ''Decalogue Five'' engaging in all manner of petty acts of sociopathy, such as shooing away a flock of pigeons that an old woman wants to feed simply because she told him to leave and stop scaring them, shoving a man into the troughs at the bottom of a row of urinals, dropping a stone from an overpass onto a passing car, flicking the dregs from a cup of coffee at the café window and then spitting in his dirty cup before leaving... all of which is merely a setup for his biggest crime: murdering Waldemar to steal his car.
** Waldemar, the taxi driver. He's rude toward his customers, leaves a pregnant woman hurrying to the hospital to her own devices, abuses a dog that did nothing to him... Ironically, the only person he doesn't treat like shit is Jacek.

**  Michał in ''Four'' always had his suspicions and can even pin-point the potential father of Anka among family photos.

** Anka from ''Four'' opens a letter from her deceased mother, in which she explains that Michał is not her actual father. After a moment of pondering on the subject, Michał goes to a family album, takes out a single photo with two strangers and Anka's mom and explains that either of the men is likely her real father. [[spoiler: Except the letter was fake and Anka wrote it herself when her father was on a delegation - and as the situation unfolds, she has nothing, but regret about doing so, eventually admitting the whole charade]].
** Ewa in ''Seven'' arranged for Majka to get a passport (which was quite a feat under the commie government) and a travel visa to Canada, in the hopes that she will not only go, but also decide to stay, not wanting to go back to [[CommieLand Poland]]. She gets her wish fulfilled in the end, but not before having a massive fight with Majka and is heartbroken as a result.

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Used extensively in ''Five'', particularly in scenes with Jacek.

* DeathByChildbirth: Anka's mom, again. She passed away a week after giving birth due to unspecified complications. Since she was aware of her impending death, she left behind a letter to her daughter, to be given to her later.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Exploited. During his bar exam, Piotr quotes [[Creator/KarlMarx Marx]] for a good measure. This being [[CommieLand Poeple Republic of Poland]], the bar now ''can't'' fail him, even if they wanted to.

* {{Irony}}: The ophthalmologist checking on Anka's eyesight is wearing a pair of huge glasses. It's little surprise that Anka ends up with NerdGlasses.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: The ending of ''Two'' is Dorota's performance in the philharmony.

* LostInTranslation: Throughout the whole duration of ''Six'', Tomek is always addressing Magda in a very formal way, which is part of what amuses her during their date.

** [[spoiler: In ''Decalogue Two'', Dorota ultimately decides to keep her pregnancy, despite it being the result of an affair. Then her dying husband gets better]].

* MsFanservice: Magda from ''Six''. Not only is she a beautiful woman, but she spends third of her screen time naked or in lingerine, befitting a story about ThePeepingTom.

** Paweł mom in ''One'' is alive and well, just abroad. And, because it's still the commie era, that means almost no contact.

* NerdGlasses: In ''Decalogue Four'', drama student Anka visits the optometrist over concerns about a sudden decline in her eyesight, and when Michal returns from his trip, she greets him at the airport while wearing an unflattering pair of glasses with bright pink frames[[note]]However, those were just the regular glasses of that era, at least in Poland, and people would be hard-pressed to get any other frames for prescribed glasses, even if they wanted to[[/note]].
* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted. The hangman, being a professional, even has a litter box prepared precisely because a hanged man ''will'' poop.

* OpenSecret: The landlady in ''Six'' is fully aware of what Tomek is doing at night, but is cordial about it, seeing it as an adolescent thing. At one point she tries to even distract Tomek with ''Miss Polonia'' competition, but he has his eyes only on one woman.

* PunchAWall: After pulling the prank with the gas company and laughing about it, Tomek suddenly smashes nearby wardrobe.

** [[spoiler: Majka wen through TeenPregnancy and Ania, her "sister", is actually her child]]

* SecretTestOfCharacter: A medical variant. The ophthalmologist admits she isn't picking the letters at random, but rather to see what people know and how much they use their intellect to answer, rather than their eyes.

* StalkingIsLove: The premise of ''Decalogue Six''. Magda initially is annoyed at Tomek and humiliates him. [[spoiler: After he attempts suicide, she starts to feel for him]].

* {{Troll}}: In ''Six'', Magda eventually decides to turn the tables on Tomek and please his voyuerism, eventually even going on a date with him and thoroughly humiliating the boy in the process.
** MyGodWhatHaveIDone: She has this reaction after Tomek ends up DrivenToSuicide.
* {{Typecasting}}: Invoked and openly exploited by Kieślowski. Grażyna Szapołowska had a rather... special reputation: ''every single movie she starred'' had a nude scene with her. So naturally, she plays Magda, the woman Tomek is oogling after in ''Six'', just like the vast majority of male movie-goers of that era.

* VisualPun: In both cuts of ''VI'', Magda ends up crying over spilled milk. Just not due to spilling it.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Exploited. During his bar exam, Piotr quotes Marks for a good measure. This being [[CommieLand Poeple Republic of Poland]], the bar now ''can't'' fail him, even if they wanted to.

* BitchSlap: When in ''Four'' Anka finishes reading the letter, Michał, without a single word, slaps her across the face and leaves the room.

* AuthorTract: Every movie deals with moral imperatives. ''Decalogue Five'' in particular has been interpreted by many as a film arguing decidedly against the death penalty, although Kieslowski himself clarified he wanted to depict the topic impartially.

** In ''Decalogue Four'', Michal and Anka briefly share a lift with the doctor from ''Decalogue Two'', and we catch a brief glimpse of Waldemar from ''Decalogue Five'' in his taxi.

** In ''Decalogue Four'', Anka is very close to her father Michal, her mother having died when she was a newborn; however, this has reached the point that they have become jealous of each other's romantic partners, and when Anka finds a letter from her mother revealing that [[spoiler:Michal isn't her real father, she considers acting on the romantic tension between them. Then she admits to Michal that she forged the letter, so they go back to living as father and daughter, but when they burn the real letter, just enough of it remains to suggest that Michal might ''not'' be Anka's father after all]].

** Averted in ''Decalogue Four''. Anka tells Michal that one of her previous boyfriends got her pregnant, but she had the pregnancy terminated.

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: In ''Decalogue Four'', when Anka confronts Michal with the supposed contents of her deceased mother's letter claiming that Michal is not her real father, he shows her a picture of her mother with two men and another woman, explaining that her father is one of the two men in the picture, but he has no idea which.

** The mysterious man in white. He features in almost all of the films, usually in scenes in which the characters are going against one of the commandments (such as Krzysztof testing the thickness of the ice in ''Decalogue One'', or Anka contemplating opening her mother's letter in ''Decalogue Four''), and, as reported by his actor Artur Barciś, has been described as an angel by Kieslowski.
* MissingMom: Paweł mom in ''One'' is alive and well, just abroad. And, because it's still the commie era, that means almost no contact.

* NerdGlasses: In ''Decalogue Four'', drama student Anka visits the optometrist over concerns about a sudden decline in her eyesight, and when Michal returns from his trip, she greets him at the airport while wearing an unflattering pair of glasses with bright pink frames.

* NotSoStoic: Krzysztof from ''One'' is always calm and collected, but eventually cracks under pressure when Paweł doesn't come home on time and is apparently missing. It goes only downhill from there.

* WaterWakeup: Anka and Michal in ''Decalogue Four'' seem to wake each other up this way frequently.
* WifeHusbandry: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Decalogue Four.'' [[spoiler:Anka not only has some feelings for Michal, the man who raised her, but the feelings might be mutual. However, when she starts undressing in front of him, he refuses to go through with it.]]
* YoureNotMyFather: Anka confronts Michal in ''Decalogue Four'' after finding a letter from her deceased mother claiming that he isn't really her father. [[spoiler:Then at the end, it turns out she forged the letter and it was all a lie. Or was it?]]

* JizzedInMyPants: Tomek from ''Six'' barely even ''touches'' Magda and is done, all while she teases him. Humiliated, he runs away and tries to kill himself.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: She has this reaction after Tomek ends up DrivenToSuicide.

* AssholeVictim: Waldemar, the murder victim in ''Decalogue Five'', ogles little girls, scares a man's dogs, and runs from any client he doesn't want to take in his cab (including Dorota and Andrzej, crossing over from ''Decalogue Two''). When Jacek tries to strangle him with a length of rope and then settles for bashing his brains in with a rock, it's hard to feel sorry for him.

* {{Jerkass}}: Jacek spends the first half of ''Decalogue Five'' engaging in all manner of petty acts of sociopathy, such as shooing away a flock of pigeons that an old woman wants to feed simply because she told him to leave and stop scaring them, shoving a man into the troughs at the bottom of a row of urinals, dropping a stone from an overpass onto a passing car, flicking the dregs from a cup of coffee at the café window and then spitting in his dirty cup before leaving... all of which is merely a setup for his biggest crime: murdering Waldemar to steal his car.

* ThePeepingTom: Tomek in ''Decalogue Six'' spends his evenings spying on Magda, who lives in the building opposite his, through a telescope, watching her undress and occasionally entertain boyfriends. When she catches him, she turns the tables on him by telling her boyfriend, who knocks Tomek to the ground with a single punch.

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: In ''Decalogue Eight'', having listened to Zofia present several ethical dilemmas to her students, Elżbieta asks if she can present her own ethical dilemma, which she says is based on a true story. In 1943, a Catholic woman promised to hide a 6-year-old Jewish girl whose parents had been sent to the Warsaw ghetto with another Catholic foster family, but the transfer required producing a forged baptism certificate for the girl in case the Nazis became suspicious. The Catholic woman balked at this, ostensibly because it constituted bearing false witness, and sent the girl away to an uncertain fate just before curfew. Zofia gradually realises that she is the Catholic woman in the story, and Elżbieta is the Jewish girl.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Tomek in ''Decalogue Six'' tries slitting his wrists after being humiliated by Magda, while Roman in ''Decalogue Nine'' rides his bike off a bridge when he thinks Hanka has resumed her affair with Mariusz. Fortunately for them, they both fail.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Jacek spends the first half of ''Decalogue Five'' engaging in all manner of petty acts of sociopathy, such as shooing away a flock of pigeons that an old woman wants to feed simply because he told him to leave and stop scaring them, shoving a man into the troughs at the bottom of a row of urinals, dropping a stone from an overpass onto a passing car, flicking the dregs from a cup of coffee at the café window and then spitting in his dirty cup before leaving... all of which is merely a setup for his biggest crime: murdering Waldemar to steal his car.

* YoureNotMyFather: Anka confirms this to Michal in ''Decalogue Four''. [[spoiler: Then at the end, turns out it was a lie. Or was it?]]

** In ''Decalogue Four'', Anka has been very close to her father Michal since her mother's death many years earlier; however, this has reached the point that they have become jealous of each other's romantic partners, and when Anka finds a letter from her mother revealing that [[spoiler:Michal isn't her real father, she considers acting on the romantic tension between them. Then she admits to Michal that she forged the letter, so they go back to living as father and daughter, but when they burn the real letter, just enough of it remains to suggest that Michal might ''not'' be Anka's father after all]].

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* BlackComedy: ''Decalogue Ten'' tells of two brothers trying to complete their deceased father's stamp collection for money's worth. [[spoiler: All goes miserably, yet they end up laughing together about the absurdity of their situation in the last scene.]]
%%* ChildProdigy: Paweł.

** The gang of thieves in ''Decalogue Ten'' goes from coveting the Janicki brothers' stamp collection to stealing it.

* CrapsackWorld: ''Decalogue Five'' starts with the murder of a cat, continues with two of the three main characters being rude to others non-stop until one of them kills the other for his car.

* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: The message of ''Decalogue Five''. Piotr grapples with the ethics of the death penalty and passionately argues against sentencing Jacek to death for murder, but despite the (offscreen) eloquence of his plea, the judge tells him that Jacek was condemned to death before the trial even began.

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: At the beginning of ''Decalogue Nine'', Roman is diagnosed with impotence. The film as a whole is a rare case of this trope being PlayedForDrama instead of comedy.

%%* NerdGlasses: Anka uses a pair of huge pink-framed glasses just for one scene.

%%* SexyStewardess: Hanka, the wife in ''Decalogue Nine''.

* TheCommandments: Each of the ten films is loosely inspired by the respective commandment, though usually with nods to some of the other commandments. For example, rather than spending Christmas Eve with his family, Janusz spends most of ''Decalogue Three'' with Ewa, with whom he once committed mutual adultery; the fact that the object of the "theft" in ''Decalogue Seven'' is Majka's daughter Ania makes honouring one's mother and father a relevant idea; in ''Decalogue Nine'', Mariusz doesn't just covet Roman's wife, he commits adultery with her; and the gang of thieves in ''Decalogue Ten'' goes from coveting the Janicki brothers' stamp collection to stealing it.

** In ''Decalogue Four'', Michal and Anka briefly share a lift with the doctor from ''Decalogue Two''.

* DrJerk: In ''Decalogue Nine'', Roman's doctor friend who informs him of his impotence in the most unsympathetic way possible. Then when Roman asks what he should do about his wife, the doctor replies with one word: "Divorce."

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Roman on his bike in ''Decalogue Nine''. [[spoiler: Especially when he tries to kill himself by driving into the lake]].

** Played with in ''Decalogue Two''. Dorota tells the doctor treating her husband Andrzej that she is three months pregnant with another man's child, so she is nearing the end of the time frame for a legal abortion under Polish law. If Andrzej is expected to survive, she will go through with it, but if he is expected to die, she will keep the baby. The doctor says Andrzej's cancer is metastasising at an accelerated rate, so she keeps the baby. [[spoiler:And then Andrzej's cancer starts responding to treatment...]]

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''Decalogue One''. Krzysztof doesn’t believe in God, but he has no problem with the fact that his sister does.
* RetiredBadass: According to Elżbieta in ''Decalogue Eight'', Zofia made a name for herself in the Polish resistance against the Nazis.

* ThemeTune: The ten episodes begin and end with a nice little piano melody. In ''Decalogue Ten,'' however, the tune immediately transforms into a rock song, which appears again in the end.

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: At the beginning of ''Decalogue Nine'', Roman is diagnosed with impotence. The film as a whole is a rare case of this trope being [[PlayedForDrama played for drama]] instead of comedy.

* TheCommandments: As noted above, each of the ten films is loosely inspired by the respective commandment.
* ContinuityNod: Characters from each story occasionally appear into another, usually for a second or two.

* DeadManWriting: Anka’s mother’s letter that she left for her husband and daughter to open at a given time. [[spoiler: They fear it might reveal that she's not actually his child, and eventually burn it because of how much they fear the consequences of that]].
%%* DeusEstMachina: In ''Decalogue One''. [[MindScrew Probably]].
* DrJerk: Roman's doctor friend who informs him of his impotence in the most unsympathetic way possible. Then when Roman asks what he should do about his wife, the doctor replies with one word: "Divorce."
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Tomek in ''Decalogue Six'', Roman in ''Decalogue Nine''. Fortunately for them, they both fail.]]

* FamilyOfChoice: Discussed in ''Decalogue Four'', since it's dubious whether or not Anka is actually her father's biological daughter. [[spoiler: In the end, they burn her mother's letter that could have revealed the truth, and instead agree to live on as father and daughter]].
* GenreShift. ''Decalogue Five'' is notoriously different than the rest of the episodes, being DarkerAndEdgier and more political in his message. ''Decalogue Ten'' is outright BlackComedy.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Ania is a little girl and likes her biological father's teddy bears a lot.
%%* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Played with in ''Decalogue Two'', averted in ''Decalogue Four''.
* IdiotBall: Jerzy and Artur in ''Decalogue Ten''. Why not just sell all the stamps right away and split the money? Why give a kidney to a total stranger? Why not put the stamps in a safety deposit box somewhere?
%%* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: The message of ''Decalogue Five''.
%%* Jerkass: Jacek.
%% This explains how he is a jerkass, but not how he is a victim.* JerkassVictim: Waldemar, the murder victim in ''Decalogue Five'', ogles little girls, scares a man’s dogs, and runs from any client he doesn’t want to take in his cab.

** The mysterious man in white. He features in almost all of the films and, as reported by his actor Artur Barciś, has been described as an angel by Kieslowski.

* RetiredBadass: According to Elzbieta, Zofia made a name for herself in the Polish resistance against the Nazis.
* TheRockStar: Artur in ''Decalouge Ten'' is the singer of a punk band called "City Death".

* ScienceIsWrong: Krzysztof uses his computer to calculate if the frozen lake will be able to hold Paweł. [[spoiler:The ice breaks anyway.]]

* TeacherStudentRomance: Majka, the teenage mother and Wojtek’s background in ''Decalogue Seven''.

* TheWatcher: There’s a man that appears in almost all the episodes, under different appearances, watching the events. The only episode he doesn’t appear in is in ''Decalogue Ten'' (his appearance in ''Decalogue Seven'' is in the background, so you might as well not notice him).
* WaterWakeup: Anka and Michal seem to wake each other up this way frequently.

* YoureNotMyFather: Anka confirms this to Michal. [[spoiler: Then at the end, turns out it was a lie. Or was it?]]

* '''Decalogue One''' ''(I am the Lord thy God... thou shalt not have other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.)'' - An atheist university professor trains his young son in the use of reason and the scientific method using a computer he bought. One day, the computer miscalculates the thickness of the ice on a lake the boy usually goes skating.

* NotSoDifferent: Just compare Waldermar’s murder by Jacek with [[spoiler:the latter’s execution]].

* AuthorTract: Every movie deals with moral imperatives. ''Decalogue Five'' in particular has been interpreted by many as a film arguing decidely against death sentence, although Kieslowski himself clarified he wanted to depict the topic impartially.

* JerkassVictim: Waldemar, the murder victim in ''Decalogue Five'', ogles little girls, scares a man’s dogs, and runs from any client he doesn’t want to take in his cab. %% This explains how he is a jerkass, but not how he is a victim.

* YourCheatingHeart: A frequent theme in several of the films:
** Dorota in ''Decalogue Two'' is pregnant with a child that's not from her critically ill husband.
** Janusz in ''Decalogue Three'' had an affair with Ewa in the past. He doesn't repeat it in spite of spending a whole night out with her, searching for her husband, although his wife suspects he would.
** A central conflict of ''Decalogue Four'' is Anek and her father being unsure whether or not she was the daughter of another man.
** Hanka in cheats at Roman in ''Decalogue Nine''. In the second half, [[spoiler: she regrets it, but her lover follows her around, making it seem to Roman as if they were still cheating on him. In reaction to that, he attempts suicide but survives]].

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: At the beginning of ''Decalogue Nine'', Roman is diagnosed with impotence.

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Roman on his bike in ''Decalogue Ten''. [[spoiler: Especially when he tries to kill himself by driving into the lake]].

* AuthorTract: Every movie deals with moral imperatives. ''Decalogue Five'' in particular has been interpreted by many as a film arguing decidely against death sentence, although Kieslowski himself clarified he wanted to depict the the topic impartially.

* SantaClaus: Janusz disguises as such at the beginning of ''Decalogue Three''.

* WifeHusbandry: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Decalogue Four.'' [[spoiler:Anka not only has some feelings for her (possible) father Michal, but the feelings might be mutual. However, when she starts undressing in front of him, he refuses to go through with it.]]

* AuthorTract: Every movie deals with moral imperatives. In particular, Kieślowski was against the death penalty, something that you can see in ''Decalogue Five''.
%%* BlackComedy: ''Decalogue Ten''.

%%* TheCommandments

%%* CrapsackWorld: ''Decalogue Five''.
%%* DeadManWriting: Anka’s mother’s letter.

%%* DrivesLikeCrazy: Roman.

%%* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Piotr, the murderer's lawyer in ''Decalogue Five''.
%%* FamilyOfChoice: Discussed in ''Decalogue Four''. [[spoiler: In the end, it doesn't really matter whether he is her biological father or not]].

%%* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Ania and teddy bears.

%%* HangingJudge: ''Decalogue Five''

%%* JerkassVictim: Waldemar, the taxi cab driver in ''Decalogue Five'', ogles little girls, scares a man’s dogs, and runs from any client he doesn’t want to take in his cab. %% This explains how he is a jerkass, but not how he is a victim.

%%* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: According to your interpretation, a lot of stuff.

%%* TheRockStar: Artur.
* SantaClaus: Janusz disguises as such.

%%* SeriousBusiness: Stamp collection.

%%* SiblingTeam: Artur and Jerzy in ''Decalogue Ten''.
%%* StalkerWithACrush: The entire plot of ''Decalogue Six'' revolves around this.
* StalkingIsLove: The premise of ''Decalogue Six''. Magda initially is annoyed at Tomek, but she gets over it pretty quick.

%%* VillainProtagonist: Jacek in ''Decalogue Five''.

%%* YourCheatingHeart: Dorota in ''Decalogue Two'' and Hanka in ''Decalogue Nine.''

* FamilyOfChoice: Discussed in ''Decalogue Four''. [[spoiler: In the end, it doesn't really matter whether he is her biological father or not]].

* NerdGlasses: Anka uses a pair of huge pink-framed glasses just for one scene.

* JerkassVictim: Waldemar, the taxi cab driver in ''Decalogue Five''. He ogles little girls, scares a man’s dogs, and runs from any client he doesn’t want to take in his cab.