Telling Secrets

I have always wanted to host a discussion on the Dekalog and now my chance has come! We're going to start, rather aptly, on September 11 and show a film each Monday night through November 20. I can't think of a better series to go through as we as a country heal enough to re-examine the tragedy that happened five years ago. On the societal and world stage, we are faced with moral situations that require a depth we haven't fostered. The Dekalog examines dilemmas that are at once particular and universal and asks how an ancient moral code, the Ten Commandments, informs the choices that must be made.

Here's the spiel I wrote for YourHub.com:


The Dekalog has been often hailed as Krzysztof Kieslowski's (director of Blue, White, Red and The Double Life of Veronique) masterpiece. Dekalog is a series of 10 one-hour films based loosely on the Ten Commandments. It was made for Polish television in 1988, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet Union.

Stanley Kubrick wrote in his introduction to the published script that Kieslowski and [co-writer] Piesiewicz "have the very rare ability to dramatize their ideas rather than just talk about them. By making their points through the dramatic action of the story they gain the added power of allowing the audience to discover what's really going on rather than being told....You never see the ideas coming."

Andrew Sarris from the New Yorker said, "Ostensibly based on the Ten Commandments, the 10 only slightly interlocking stories are neither religious nor political parables, but rather, slow-starting but ultimately absorbing character studies, often climaxed by ironic twists of fate and choice, filmed in a style that emphasizes the randomness and complexity of existence."

Variety.com hails the Dekalog as "one of the most sublime mega-films of the late 20th century."

Kieslowski describes his own effort as "an attempt to return to elementary values destroyed by communism...The relationship between the films and the individual Commandments is a tentative one. The films should be influenced by the individual Commandments to the same degree that the Commandments influence our daily lives."

Join us in the historic building of the L2 Church (formerly known as The Master's Church) next door to the Tattered Cover on East Colfax. Each night will be hosted by Lighthouse Writer's Workshop faculty member Scotty Sawyer (local author, music critic, and film buff) who will introduce each film and facilitate the post-film conversations. Organic, fair-trade coffee will be served. For an outline of the plot and more information on Kieslowski, visit the Facets website.

Where:
L2 Church (formerly known as The Master's Church) located next to the Tattered Cover on East Colfax and Columbine

When:
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Event Dates:
This event takes place every Monday from 9/11/2006 through 11/20/2006.