Overview
A woman's heart-wrenching choice between love and duty unfolds in a gripping narrative of moral conflict.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- austere
- intimate
- tense
- quiet evening
- focused arthouse viewing
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Dorota must weigh her gravely ill husband's survival against her pregnancy and relationship with her lover.
The central dilemma turns on whether Dorota will continue the pregnancy or undergo an abortion depending on her husband's prognosis.
Kieślowski and Piesiewicz use a hospital-centered personal crisis within the Polish Decalogue project to explore ethical responsibility.
The husband's expected survival determines Dorota's intended decision about the pregnancy.
Films like Decalogue II, and why
Decalogue I
shared austere moral drama, intimate domestic stakes, and ethically unresolved personal decisions
A Short Film About Killing
shared Polish art-cinema tradition, spiritual questioning, and emotionally restrained ethical conflict
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
shared pregnancy-related moral dilemma, intimate realism, and pressure imposed by institutions and social judgment
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
shared relationship crisis, reproductive decision-making, and psychologically intense domestic drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Release Date
- 1989-05-16
- Runtime
- 57 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (201)
Cast
- Krystyna Janda
- Aleksander Bardini
- Olgierd Łukaszewicz
- Artur Barciś
- Stanisław Gawlik
- Krzysztof Kumor
- Maciej Szary
- Krystyna Bigelmajer
- Jerzy Fedorowicz
- Karol Dillenius
Common questions
- What is Decalogue II about?
- A pregnant woman stakes her future on the uncertain prognosis of her dying husband, forcing love, loyalty, and reproductive choice into an agonizing moral deadlock.
- What is Decalogue II like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Decalogue II as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Decalogue II violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Decalogue II.
- Which films are like Decalogue II?
- Films with a similar feel include Decalogue I, A Short Film About Killing, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
- How long is Decalogue II?
- Decalogue II runs 57 minutes.
