← Back to Reviews
 

Decalogue VII


Seven: Thou shalt not steal

The players? Majka, a 22 year old student. Ewa, her mother. Ania her six year old daughter. And Wojtek, Ania's father.

The set up? Although she had once a promising future, Majka has just been expelled from School but gets an opportunity to immigrate. She wants to take her little sister Ania with her, even if she has to kidnap her.

With a title like that, one could except a fair amount of thievery going on, and there is. The first act of theft was that of Majka's youth. Her mother was the principal. Wojtek was a teacher in her employ. And she was his student. Ania is six years old, so working backwards, that would have made Majka 15 when she was conceived. It's kind of creepy that Wojtek now lives in an isolated Hansel and Gretel house in the woods, making stuffed toys for children.

Although setting the story in a remote village far away from the Warsaw apartment block draws out the underlying fairy tale elements of the story, it also unfortunately removes all the interconnection. Assuming that Wojtek switched up his production models ever so often, the only connection I can find is that the stuffed elephant that Pawel slept with in Episode one, may have been made by him.

Majka learns that all that altruism and great sacrifice was done not for her---but to her---in order for her mother to acquire her child. It's a bit of a misstep that the story focuses on Majka, the most compelling character is obviously her mother. She's a nasty piece of work; unrelenting and manipulative. The way she quickly neutralizes any threats, or the way surrounds herself with weak people she can bully at will. Her husband seems to be have permanently retired to his workroom. Even the final scene, when Ania runs back into her arms, Ewa can't help but take care of Majka with just a look that is like the final stab in her heart. Majka immediately gives up and runs away from home.

In this fairy tale, the evil step mother never gets her comeuppance. Ania is and always was the most important thing, but she's lost Majka forever in the process. Does Ania cry out symbolically in her sleep, foretelling that moment of Greek tragedy when she discovers the truth, a lifetime away?