253 - Dekalog: Nine, 1990, Poland. Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

253 - Dekalog: Nine, 1990, Poland.  Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Exodus 20:14 - Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:17 - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

Deuteronomy 5:18 - Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
Deuteronomy 5:21 - Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife.

Matthew 5:27 - You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Roman is a surgeon.  His wife Hanka is a flight attendant.  They love one another.  They want children.

Roman is impotent.  His colleague, who delivers the diagnosis, recommends he leave his wife.

Roman delivers the news to Hanka.  She takes it bravely.  She says she loves him, that love is in the heart and not between the legs, and that they will be all right.

He offers for her to take a lover.  She declines.

What he does not know is that she already has one.

He has the opportunity, but he declines.  He has a patient, a singer, who needs an operation and who might be available to him if he were to make a move.  But he does not make a move.

He sees another man snooping around.

When his wife loans him the key to her mother's house in order to retrieve some items, he makes a copy.

He visits clandestinely.

He observes her tryst.

He goes again and hides in the closet.  He witnesses her breaking up with the other man.  She tells him she does not want to see him again, that she loves her husband, and that she wants him never to find out.  The man leaves.  Then she sees Roman hiding in the closet.  The man returns and offers marriage.  She shuts the door on the other man.

She discovers how much she has hurt her husband.  She apologizes.  Sincerely.  Profusely.

She offers to follow through with adoption.

He suggests they take some time apart.  She agrees to go on a ski trip.  The other man tries to follow her.  Roman mistakenly believes the affair is not offer.  He leaves a note.  He drives his bicycle off a bridge.

She rushes home.

She does this before finding out about his attempt.  She does it the moment she runs into the other man on the slopes.  She wants to be with her husband.

They will reconcile.

This episode deals straightforwardly and honestly with a painful part of many people's lives.

The longing for love.  The desire to be faithful.  The need for another to be faithful to you.  The fear of betrayal.  The pain of discovery.  The hope of healing.

The power of forgiveness.

The reward of perseverance.

The ministry of grace.