A Review of New York Decalogue

My body physically rejected this movie.


Guest Review by Alyce Steiner:

Retina’s vomited cones and rods. Glass shards burrowed into my fingernails. I could not help this reaction. Midway through the first Decalogue, several people took their leave. Somewhere between the blurry close ups of hair and ten minutes of the woman walking home, I realized this was going to draaag.

The main idea was stretched to emaciation. It seemed the movie couldn’t figure out what statement it was making. It did revolve around a hip looking female suicide bomber. But no interesting discourse was introduced with her character. Rather we watched her eating and walking. We watched them all eating and walking.There were interesting directions her Decalogue could have gone instead of food prep, book reading, and bomb assembly.


The nauseatingly blurry close ups detracted from any main idea or plot. Yes its a slice of their quotidian life. Lets watch them make salad for ten minutes. More blurry corn! I get it, the girls eat. The camera alternated zooming in on food or hair, sometimes throwing in a bit of lip. Also, was the camera guy continuously stumbling into their hair? And why do we have to spend most of the movie watching them reading the same book? Product placement ? Are Helen Keller quotes, sudden male narration, and a book, how this plot is being explained? Art to explain art. Which often means bad art.

The effects were certainly slathered on thick. Sepia! Black and white! Impressionist! Out of focus close ups! Hipstamatic coloring! Bludgeon those eyeballs! Constant loud ill-fitting soundtrack! I’ll stop with the exclamations. If one is noticing the effects and music too much, then it’s detracting from the movie. The sound bit they used for eating an apple, opening a letter or shutting a bag seemed like the same used for emptying the recycle bin on a PC. The film’s overuse of editing, sound, and effects took over for the vacancy in character development and plot continuity. I wish I had been among the first wave to walk towards the door marked “EXIT.”