How can there be no discussion about this, one of the greatest miracles on film? I'd just like to know everyone's favourite episodes.
I personally consider 1, 3-6 are my absolute favourites but if I had to pick one it would be #4, honour thy father and mother.
I don't really recall the order of the movies.....but from what I gathered from the views above I find the following the most poignant.
The Doctor movie-> The moment when the 'father' asks the doctor if he knows what its like to have a son and when the doctor replies..."Yes I do". That scene was unexplicably moving. I dunno the reason why....'KK' always puts in little details that untimately reach their cumulative peak at the end of the movie....and your mind subconciously adds all the little pieces together I guess.
The Killing movie-> K stands out in the little things he once again so subtly puts in. The cab driver stops and lets a group of children pass....Then we realise that the killer's sis was killed by some kind of tractor. There are no direct connections here but the mind definitely registers these.
The Father Daughter Movie-> A touchy subject but was extremely well written. I'd give the story a bigger + than the direction in this.
The others are all very good too but these three are EXCEPTIONAL according to me. I woncer why the doctor movie hasn't struck a chord with many ppl....interesting.
The moment when the 'father' asks the doctor if he knows what its like to have a son and when the doctor replies..."Yes I do". That scene was unexplicably moving. I dunno the reason why....
I like 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and best of all 7. Although many people seem to dislike 3, I found it mysterious and touching, especially at the end, when the man realizes the loneliness his wife must have felt all those nights when he was out with his mistress. He is able to realize this because of the night he spends "highjacked" by his lonely ex-mistress. To me, the film was emotional and subtle, without being over-the-top, and completely satisfying as a story.
The same goes for 7, which simply works as a narrative with one central complication-- the agonizing theft of the daughter by the grandmother -- which informs the actions of every character. It doesn't indulge in sentimental gestures that end up blurring, rather than elucidating meaning (much of 9, to me, is "blurry"--filled with emotional moments that nevertheless don't gel into a whole story with the impact of the better films, and something about it rings "false"). Not one note in 7 rings false. It is simply potent, perfect storytelling.
I love each and every episode, so to pick out favourites seems sacrilegious, however...
(Do I have to write SPOILER if I'm going to talk about the plots a bit? If so SPOILER!)
Number 1 definately makes people want to view the other episodes because of its incredible emotional impact; it's so beautiful and sad that it would be a worthy favourite. The characters are so strong and the acting so perfectly weighted (Pawel's distress on discovering the dead dog nearly makes me cry every time) that I became angry at a God who could cause such pain and sufffering.
I also enjoyed Number 2 (more so after a second viewing for some reason?!?!) and loved Number 10, just because Krzysztof wanted to give us something to smile about:D Of 5 and 6, the episodes that were extended, I have to say I prefer 6 on the Dekalog because it seems to possess the viewer more(why do you have to wear a lab coat if you work in a post office?). I feel that Number 5 may well need the extra thirty minutes.
I want to talk about them all now! I'll cut myself short though and say that The Dekalog is, in my opinion, immaculate. I feel that it becomes like a photo album, full of people that you love and so good at stirring your emotions, whatever page you open it at you can be sure of feeling that you've got one step closer to understanding something about humanity.
My ranking of the series:
1.Chapter 5-****/****(Materpiece)
2.Chapter 4-****/****(Masterpiece)
3.Chapter 6-****/****(Masterpiece)
4.Chapter 9-****/****(Masterpiece)
5.Chapter 10-****/****(Excellent)
6.Chapter 3-***1/2/****(Very good)
7.Chapter 1-***1/2/****(Very good)
8.Chapter 8-***1/2/****(Very good)
9.Chapter 2-***/****(Above average)
10.Chapter 7-***/****(Above average)
As a whole, the Dekalog is an outstanding masterpiece.
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I didn't like the first few as much, but I've only seen it once. 6 and 9 I think are masterpieces in and of their own rights, but 5 is very, very good also. 4, 8 and 1 I liked a lot also.
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Modern Plumbing Studios, est. 2004
I am surprised by how few people have talked about #9. All of the scenes where he is in the closet spying on her and the camera is as such where you are in the closet with him. Then there's the moment of revelation where she's staring into the closet and dead into that camera... For me, the ultimate though is when she is coming back on the bus and the lines on the road are solid (symbolizing her renewed commitment to the relationship) and he is riding his bike and the camera focuses on the lines on the road with spaces in between (symbolizing that he's slipping away from her). To me, that is pure brilliance of film-making. The order of my ten go as follows (such a hard task)... 9,1,5,6,3,10,4,2,7,8.
shareEpisode 5 is an absolute masterpiece. One of the best films ever made imo.
Episodes 4 and 6 arent far behind
my movies:http://dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=shadowasu
From best to worst:
1, 4, 5, 7, 6, 10, 2, 9, 8, 3
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I got the Delalog not knowing that it was so highly regarded, and that made the experience of watching them all the better. The order I have them is 2, 4, 7, 3, 1, 6, 5, 9, 10, & 8. The person who watched them with me had them 1, 7, 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 9, 8, & 10. Both of us considered 8 and 10 a good notch below the others.
I have the Korean edition and had to make frequent use of the back button due to the poor quality of the English subtitles. Though I probably understood number 8 okay, I found the subtitles on that one particularly bad.
As a whole, the series is fantastic and it takes you through a huge range of emotions, even though certain individual segments stand out more than others. These are difficult to put in order, but here goes:
1. VI
2. I
3. V
4. IV
5. VII
6. IX
7. II
8. VIII
9. X
10. III