The Politics of Domestic Uncertainty

In the fourth episode of Krzysztof Kieślowski's Polish television series The Decalogue(1989), the relationship between a father and daughter undergoes a sudden and shocking transformation. Anka, a restless young woman who is unsure of her identity and place within the family home, learns that Michal is not her real, biological father. Already troubled by the loss of her mother, who died tragically during childbirth, Anka becomes extremely distraught, as her discovery creates a precarious rift in a home already plagued by fragility. However, while tension over who is Anka's real father creates a volatile family sphere, this is not the episode's most scandalous moment. The most troubling scenes occur a little later, when the pair momentarily transforms their familial relationship into a dangerous game of moral uncertainty. Freed from the laws of the family, technically no longer “father and daughter,” Anka and Michal initiate a radical reversal of social roles, momentarily replacing their familial bonds with the energy of forbidden desire. Michal, in the end, rejects his daughter's incestuous flirtations, restoring order to the family unit by reclaiming his status as the “father-figure.” By the end of the episode, however, no matter how hard we try to imagine them in a “normal” father–daughter relationship, an insurmountable feeling of doubt and uncertainty remains, as the solidity of the family bond – that most important bearer of social order – lays in tatters.