The seventh installment in the Decalogue centers on the commandment of “Thou shall not steal,” but as in all the rest of Kieslowski’s works in this series, he presents a devastating situation with no clear answers to the moral dilemma presented. In this film, the commandment takes shape in the life of a young woman, Majka, who had a daughter too young at the age of 16. Because of this, Majka’s daughter was raised by her mother, the child’s grandmother. Years later, Majka kidnaps her own child with the mentality, “Can you steal what’s really yours?” This sets off the course of this bitter episode as mother and grandmother fight over the right for the right to mother this child. Feeling betrayed and unworthy, Majka goes to desperate measures to steal what belongs to her, and in one particular instance, desperately tries to bring out the words “mommy” from her little girl. But to her own daughter, she will always be Majka, and never her mother. It’s a devastating moment within an episode of equally unsettling scenes. Although it seems at first as if Majka’s mother is the thief in this story, we learn that the daughter’s adoption was a mutual agreement and completely legal. Perhaps the story is suggesting that the true sin in all of this is the bitterness that grows out of being robbed. Ouch.
Kieslowski’s work here, like so much of his other stuff, seems to take its time, observing the world at a pace that feels deliberately slowed down, yet somehow more indicative of real life. When you watch closely though, you see a world under the surface and get to experience characters at their most private and vulnerable. What I think is the biggest achievement of this episode is how much we really get from those quiet moments. With a runtime of about 1 hour, we see and know Majka’s entire childhood history, not through flashbacks, but through small lines, close up shots, and the conflict we witness with her and her mother. And because of this understanding, we mourn with her the loss of her childhood and the potential of her motherhood as well. It’s a sad one.