Episode 7 of 'Dekalog' is substantially less intense than most of those that preceded it, and seems rather less complex, as well. Young Majka (Maja Barelkowska) has surrendered her daughter Ania, the product of a teenager pregnancy, to the care of her mother, Ewa (Anna Polony). Here, Kieslowski condemns the sins of both parties: Ewa for taking possession of Ania as a substitute daughter (following her own inability to conceive a second child), and Majka for "stealing" back the child, despite being an inexperienced and arguably unfit mother. There's a bit of Tarkovskian flair in the cinematography by Dariusz Kuc. In one scene, Majka and Ania pause at the riverside beneath a bridge, and watch the current swirl debris downstream. It's such a lonely moment, incredibly peaceful and yet hauntingly so.
Review of Dekalog, siedem
