Dazzling Decalogue

Krzysztof Kieslowski's 10-part masterpiece finally comes to the U.S. Thou shalt not miss it

You can see some movies on 5,000 screens, and they look just like all the other behemoths clogging your local 'plex. But every once in a while a unique film work appears on one screen as a lonely reminder of what cinema can summon in intelligence, scope and power. That would be Decalogue, the 10-part cycle of short films that Krzysztof Kieslowski made for Polish TV in 1988-89. Long withheld from U.S. distribution, the series will be shown this week at Manhattan's Walter Reade Theater. A cinephile's fondest hope is that the series will soon travel to other venues or be...

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