251 - Dekalog: Seven, 1990, Poland. Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Friday, September 8, 2017

251 - Dekalog: Seven, 1990, Poland.  Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Exodus 20:15 - Thou shalt not steal.

Deuteronomy 5:19 - Neither shalt thou steal.

She's my sister.  She's my daughter.  She's my sister.  She's my daughter.

Wait.

Is this Chinatown?

No.  This is Dekalog: Seven.  But we do have a little family drama going on.

Ewa is the mother of Majka and Ania.  Majka and Ania are sisters.

Ewa is the mother of Majka and the grandmother of Ania.  Majka and Ania are mother and daughter.

We have two generations:  Ewa, and Majka & Ania.

We have three generations:  Ewa and Majka and Ania.

Which of these statements is true?

All of them.

Ewa treats Majka poorly.  Ania cries.  Majka goes to comfort her.  She struggles.  Ewa steps in and takes over.  Condescendingly.  But frankly, she struggles too.  She seems to be trying to give Ania shaken baby syndrome.

Majka has one simple desire.  She just wants her daughter back.  She is tired of being the sister.  She wants to be the mother.

So she does what any clearheaded blood mother would do.

She kidnaps her.

Then she explains to Ania that they are not sisters but mother and daughter.

And tries a little too hard to get Ania to love her.  To meet her emotional needs.

Majka might not be ready to be a mother.

She had Ania at age 16 and is now age 22.  Ania is six.  Which makes her seem a little old to be handled like a baby.

This family could use some healing.

We will follow Majka and Ania as they go on the lam, and we will follow Ewa and her husband Stefan as they go on the search.

And we will discover that Ania might not be as clueless as they think she is.

No matter what happens, a mother is going to lose her daughter today.

If only they had discovered love . . .