Film as Midrash

Film as Midrash

February 19, 2016

Class Film

Krzysztof Kieslowski’s use of film as Midrash is an artistic attempt to convey meaning and create unity. The paradox of film as midrash is that it seeks to reveal what is ultimate in context of the common. The two are not as far apart as we often imagine. After all, if something is to be objectively applicable to human experience, it must be universally common to all. Kieslowski’s films are highly relatable because they depict very fundamental aspects of human existence. In the Decalogue, life is shown in a very real, mundane manner. Such plainness naturally provoked me to project myself onto each circumstance in the film without consciously realizing I had done so. The curiosity of Pavel resonated with me. He asked the very questions one would expect a bright child to ask. His death at the end was shocking. I felt as if I had been thrown into the grief and tragedy of the situation myself. I have always found visual portrayals of death and grief to have an incredibly sobering effect on me. Such an experience calls us to account before the ultimate questions of life. In the face of death, we long for an answer. Midrash is the hermeneutic that explores the contemplates the depth of meaning for a certain situation. Each of the ten commandments deals with a core issue of life. These are things that everyone, in all cultures encounter. The universally shared nature of such experiences undergirds the strength and power of the visual.