Meeting artists from the ING Collection: Wojciech Bąkowski
In his apartment in Warsaw, Polish video artist Wojciech Bąkowski reveals his working methods and the meaning of his work Problems with Getting Up.
This video is linked to RE: SOCIETY, 40 years of ING engaging with the arts, the new ING Collection catalogue.
My Ohio: Sokolowski's University Inn Restaurant in Cleveland celebrates 91 years of family ownership
If the owners of Sokolowski's University Inn Restaurant in Cleveland have tears in their eyes, it's only because of the 1,000 pounds of onions they peel each week.
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Note on Dekalog, episode 8 by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the former is the director
Dekalog, episode 8 by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, and the former is the director of the series
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- and
- Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
This is a fabulous series that has been included by TIME Magazine on its list of best films –All-TIME 100 movies.
Available here:
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I have written two notes on episodes 9 and 10.
This one is about false witness, as expressed in the eighth commandment.
All the ten episodes are based on the rules given by god to Moses.
Which reminds me of one of the multitude of hilarious scenes in The History of the World according to Mel Brooks:
All this superb comedy is about “alternative facts „as they are called today at the White House, or just absurd propositions.
Only Mel Brooks intention was to make the public laugh, whereas the clique of The Donald is just about spreading lies.
In The History of the World, in one scene, an African American walks near the Roman senate, with a powerful stereo in his arms.
That is blasting out the disco hit of decades ago:
- Won’t you take me to Funky Town
In the scene with the “alternative, jocular Dekalog”, Moses is climbing the mountain and he is somewhat upset:
- Announcer: Moses went to the mountain and God spoketh to him.
- God: Moses, this is the Lord, thy God, commanding you to obey my law. Do you hear me?
- Moses: Yes, I hear you, I hear you... a deaf man could hear you!
- God: What?!
- Moses: Nothing, forget about it, Oh Lord! Why have you chosen me? What would you have me do for you?
- God: I shall give you my laws, and you shall take them unto the people.
- Moses: Yes, Lord!
- Moses: The lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen... (drops stone tablet) Oy. Ten! Ten Commandments for all to obey!
The themes of this Dekalogue are not about humor.
They are as Serious As It Gets and worthwhile.
Zofia is a University Professor that is visited by Elzbieta, who has arrived from America, where she has translated works by the teacher, who is also a respected author.
Elzbieta would like to attend to the lectures of Zofia, wherein she wants to record the material and even speaks out.
She mentions a tragic story from the Second World War.
In the first place, there are no names, but the professor quickly identifies those involved.
A Jewish girl was supposed to escape the Holocaust by being taken and sheltered by a family that had agreed to this act.
Only they change their mind and refuse.
We are given details and all those present are described so that Zofia can say that it was her family that did this terrible thing…
- How could they do that?
- And then how can the professor talk about ethics, moral, under the circumstances?
The two women continue the conversation outside the University and the visiting woman is asking the professor:
- How do you teach ethics?
- I don’t tell the students what to think
- …..
- I just encourage them to make up their own minds
There are no spoiler alerts, so I think I should not divulge any secrets.
Perhaps suffice it to say that it was not as simple as it looked.
It was not a question of a family promising to save a poor child and then changing their mind and abandoning her.
In class, a student suggested as a possible explanation an imminent threat from the Nazis who could be outside the door.
And the little girl has grown up to be…Elzbieta!
Note on Dekalog, Episode 2, written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Dekalog, Episode 2, written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, directed by the former
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- and
Dekalog is a fabulous series.
It has been included on the list of best films, including the one compiled by TIME Magazine, The All-TIME 100 movies:
-
All the ten episodes of Dekalog are based on the Ten Commandments and the story lines refer to the Bible, at least as pretext for the plot
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
This is the second commandment and the place to start in this narrative, which has at the center a woman called Dorota Geller.
She is a musician with the Philharmonic.
Her husband is very ill and she tried to find more about his condition from the elderly doctor who is also their neighbor.
The doctor is rather morose, unfriendly and detached.
We would later find there is a reason for this attitude and it has to do with a tragedy that has affected the life of the poor man.
Dorota Geller calls at the door of the apartment:
- Do you know me?
- Yes, you ran over my dog two years ago…
After this inauspicious debut to their (mis)communication, the two neighbors would gradually become friendlier, but in the second half of this episode.
The distressed woman wants to know how serious is the condition of her husband, only the doctor gives this information…
- On Wednesday, between 3 and 5 in the afternoon, this is when I see the relatives of my patients
- But it is Monday
- Yes, the day after tomorrow
- I wish I ran over you instead of your dog…
Notwithstanding this death wish, Dorota Geller comes to the hospital to see her spouse and then tries again to engage with the doctor.
She is offering him a ride home in her VW Beetle, but he refuses because he says he always walks home.
The musician is clearly haunted and finally gets invited to the apartment of the doctor where she explains her ordeal.
Dorota says that she must know if her husband will die because she loves him but is also involved with a good friend.
- I am pregnant and the child is not my husband’s
- I see
- So I need to know if he will live to determine if I will have an abortion
- It is impossible for me to say…I really do not know
And then he elaborates on the situation which is probably where we get as close as possible to the second commandment, for the doctor explains that he has seen cases where the patient recovered miraculously and others where someone died without warning so to say…
There is another stage where the doctor may seem to be playing God, for he is more assured now and he thinks he knows.
I will not say what to avoid spoilers.
But whereas earlier on he refused a definite prognosis, saying that although the situation is critical things could change, at a later moment he has made up his mind.
There are powerful and thought provoking scenes.
One patient talks about coming from “the other side „and how
- The world was disintegrating
He now seems to be taking life as a miracle that does not stop.
It reminds me of the final three minutes in the life of Fyodor Dostoyevsky …The last minutes in the life of the Russian titan were regularly mentioned, for the effect they had had on me and the emphasis which could be placed afterwards on enjoying life, seeing as it is short, what we see before death:
- Dostoyevsky was condemned to death.
- As he was facing the firing squad, he thought he will divide the last three minutes into…well, three:
- The first minute will be used to place the whole life in front of his eyes, from early childhood to death
- For the second minute, the intention was to pass it saying goodbye to members of his family and friends
- The last minute – he will admire a ray of sunshine that was looking wonderfully on a steep church tower nearby
That is the amazing epiphany of the last moments before dying- you can see only then, alas, how extremely beautiful life is and how you wish you lived on a bare rock in the middle of the ocean, which would still be a billion times better than ending it and dying.