Dekalog and Other Television Works Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Dekalog and Other Television Works Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 14, 2016

Note: The scores above are averages for both the "main" Dekalog offering as well as the "other television works" (some of which are in less than great condition and some of which are upscaled). Please see the video and audio sections below for more information.

Can you recite the Ten Commandments without cheating? Sure, the “big” ones like “Thou shalt not kill” or even “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me” are pretty ingrained in almost everyone’s consciousness, even those who don’t consider themselves even slightly religious, but some of those other ones—well, ignorance is bliss, at least to those cautious about committing a cardinal sin. Polish master Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog may or may not come in handy in identifying some of those pesky “lesser” commandments, since while the series of short films is ostensibly tied to the proscriptions relayed by Moses to his flock, the connections are sometimes tangential, or at least not that overt. Dekalog has long been admired as one of Kieślowski’s crowning achievements, and in a boon for home video aficionados (at least those with region free players), it’s been released domestically by Criterion and in this new set by Arrow UK. I’ll add just a few thoughts about Dekalog’s content to those offered by Svet Atanasov in his Dekalog Blu-ray review, while concentrating a bit more, albeit in generalities, on the other works included in the Arrow set, since my hunch is that (for collectors at least) it will be these lesser known offerings which may provide the most interest if not “tip the scale” toward the Arrow release.

As Michael Brooke mentions in KKTV, an excellent overview of the "small screen" output of Kieślowski’s career (and a documentary I recommend starting this set with if you’re not already familiar with the director’s work), what’s kind of interesting about a lot of Kieślowski’s offerings, notably Dekalog itself, is how philosophical or moral issues are not presented as absolutes, but instead as experiential events happening to individuals. That gives virtually all of Kieślowski’s outings an intimate flavor that keeps them from feeling like screeds. This is rather amazing considering the “framing” device that Dekalog is supposedly utilizing, but it also makes the ten episodes exercises in personal dramas rather than more “general” depictions of ideas or even overtly religious themes.

What’s also fascinating about Kieślowski's output is how it manages to elide political statements (for the most part, anyway) while simultaneously documenting an epochal era in the history of Poland. Just think what was going on in Poland in the 1970s and (especially) the 1980s, and then turn to Kieślowski's “other television works” and prepare to be surprised. Aside from the overtly political Short Working Day, the “movements” that were afoot in the nation are usually only alluded to if addressed at all. It’s perhaps instructive to contrast this approach with that of, say, Bernardo Bertolucci, who made Italy’s roiling political atmosphere a prime focus in many (if not most) of his films, including everything from The Conformist to 1900. If Bertolucci therefore tends to see huge political events through the prism of individuals, Kieślowski takes a different if not exactly opposite approach, concentrating on the individual stories and letting any political or socioeconomic import play out in the background.

This tendency is obvious in both Kieślowski’s non-fiction work, as in First Love, but also in his fictional accounts, as in Personnel. The first film, about a young couple dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, manages to touch on some of the economic challenges of living in Poland, as well as some of the social morés of the nation, but it remains resolutely centered on the couple rather than any huge sweeping generalities. Personnel actually is kind of political in a way, though it’s the politics of a group of artists, not exactly a representative microcosm of what one would think of as “being” Poland.

What’s also interesting about Kieślowski’s work is the dialectic between an almost neorealist ethos in terms of content, but some rather “arty” stylistic flourishes at times. Framings are often skewed and “unnatural” looking, something that plays subliminally as a kind of counterpoint to the gritty ambience of the actual stories (whether true life or fiction). This excellent new set from Arrow is a masterful combination of offerings that can hopefully serve to deepen cineastes’ appreciation for one of the titans of the global film community of the past half century.

Dekalog and Other Television Works Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dekalog and Other Television Works are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC transfers in a variety of aspect ratios and resolutions. For the record, Arrow sent check discs for this review which I am assuming are identical to the final retail versions, and after a request they also provided a PDF version of the book included in this set, which includes the following verbiage on the transfers:

Dekalog was extensively restored by Telewizja Polska at 4K resolution.

Pedestrian Subway and Short Working Day have been restored to high definition by Telewizja Polska, and are presented in 1080p on these discs. First Love, Personnel, The Calm and the documentary Still Alive were provided as standard definition masters, and have been upscaled on the Blu-ray discs to facilitate sharper subtitles.

Dekalog and the five other television works by Krzysztof Kieślowski are mostly framed in their original 4:3 aspect ratios, a then-universal standard for television worldwide. Parts 5 and 6 of Dekalog were originally broadcast slightly letterboxed at 1.66:1, reflecting the aspect ratio of the cinema versions, and this has also been respected here. Everything on these discs is also presented at what was then the European broadcasting framerate of 25 frames per second. Although parts 5 and 6 also exist in longer cinema versions that were screened at 24fps, a comparison of the pitch of the music in the television version with the recording on the soundtrack CD reveals that 25fps is the optimum framerate for the television version of those episodes as well. Because of the requirements of the Blu-ray technical specifications, the encodes have been carried out at 1080i, although this is merely a carrier for a fully progressive image.

While this decision may raise the hackles of some readers (what else is new?), and with an understanding that our reviews have a limit of 40 screenshots (and we typically offer far fewer), I felt it was best to provide as many screenshots of the lesser known properties in this set, rather than the Dekalog itself, since aside from the slightly wider aspect ratio of the "Academy ratio" segments of Dekalog on the Arrow release (1.40 as opposed to the Criterion's 1.33), the image quality is similar if not identical, and so those wanting to get at least a general idea of what Dekalog looks like can refer to Svet's Dekalog Blu-ray review of the Criterion version. With that said, the first five screenshots in this review come from the first five episodes of Dekalog. The other screenshots are from the following "other television works":

Screenshots 6 — 9 are from Pedestrian Subway

Screenshots 10 — 13 are from Still Alive

Screenshots 14 — 17 are from First Love

Screenshots 18 — 21 are from KKTV

Screenshots 22 — 25 are from Personnel

Screenshots 26 — 27 are from Tony Rayns on 'Dekalog' (Only two screenshots are included since aside from talking head segments and a few interstitial stills, the bulk of the documentary simply features clips from Dekalog )

Screenshots 28 — 31 are from Calm

Screenshots 32 — 35 are from Short Working Day

Screenshots 36 — 40 provide main menu shots of all five discs in the set, so that those interested can see what's on each disc, as well as read the summaries Arrow has provided for the offerings.

Note: No screenshots from NFT Interview with Kieślowski are included since this is in essence an audio interview which plays out under scenes from Kieślowski's work.

Without getting into the perhaps picayune (and potentially arcane) debate about the framerate of some Dekalog segments which took over our forum when the Criterion set was released, I'll state for the record that I frankly found nothing overly disconcerting when comparing the speeds of the Arrow and Criterion versions, though I can in fact put my musical background to good use (finally!) and confirm that the music on the Criterion release is approximately a half step lower than on the Arrow (probably the easiest way for most to detect a difference in speeds), with (to cite just one example) the haunting piano sixths that open Dekalog Five playing over an A minor pedal in the Criterion version and a Bb minor pedal in the Arrow version. There is obviously additional information on the sides of the frame on the Arrow release of Dekalog (with regard to the "Academy ratio" episodes), though how "important" that information is will probably be debatable. The color temperatures of both releases are very similar if not outright identical, though the Arrow release looked just slightly darker to me at times. The Arrow release also boasts excellent sharpness and clarity, within the variances that Svet addresses in his review of the Criterion release. Grain is nicely resolved throughout the Dekalog presentation and elements were either in excellent condition or have been restored to appear so.

As should probably be evident from the verbiage included in Arrow's book accompanying this release, the appearance of the "other televison works" is pretty widely variable, with many of the offerings showing considerable age related wear and tear. The upscaled offerings aren't horrible looking by any stretch (at least compared to other lackluster upscales I've personally reviewed), but they certainly show deficits in things like fine detail and (for the color offerings) palette reproduction, as well as that artificial look that comes from sharpening (look at the shirt line at the shoulder in screenshot 12 for just one example). Pedestrian Subway and Short Working Day obviously benefit from being "true" HD, and the first offers decent gray scale and a nice (if thick) grain structure, while Short Working Day features good detail levels, if a slightly purplish looking palette.

The more contemporary offerings like KKTV and Tony Rayns on 'Dekalog' feature sharp and well detailed interview segments, though I was a little surprised at how relatively bland the palette looked in the Michael Brooke interview segments in the former documentary (see screenshot 18).

Dekalog and Other Television Works Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dekalog and Other Television Works has a variety of audio codecs, with Dekalog featuring a nicely clear and well balanced LPCM Mono track that (aside from the speed issue) sounds basically identical to the one on the Criterion release. The Polish television outings have lossy Dolby Mono tracks, while the two newer documentaries feature Dolby 2.0 tracks (in English, at least for the interview segments). The lossy tracks aren't especially forceful sounding, and occasionally have minor age related issues, but there's nothing that I would term overly problematic. I'd rate Dekalog's track in the 4.0 - 4.5 range, and the television outings down toward the 3.0 range, with the two contemporary documentaries coming in at around 4.0.

Dekalog and Other Television Works Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The complete contents of this package are listed in screenshots 36-40. One man's supplement is another man's main feature, so talk amongst yourselves. As is typical with Arrow releases, there is also an exhaustive booklet with good essays and excellent information on the contents.

Dekalog and Other Television Works Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dekalog and Other Television Works is a standout release by any measure and will certainly be appreciated by any and all Kieślowski fans. I'll hazard a guess that even those who have already sprung for the Criterion version and who have region free capability may want to indulge in this set as well, since it offers so many lesser known Kieślowski television offerings. While some of those "other" television offerings sport video that can't overcome source limitations, the set's "main feature" looks stunning. Highly recommended.