ere's my argument, and Schickel backs me up: In the last really rich decade for movies (sorry, 90s), the three great cinematic monuments — Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Singing Detective and this one — were all made for television. Kieslowski's series, which he wrote with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, is the TV-iest of the trio: ten little dramas, each about 55 mins. long, each finding a contemporary metaphor for one of the Commandments. Its characters, all of whom live in a drab Warsaw apartment block, must cope with infidelity, cupidity, murder, abortion, the loss of a child. You needn't adhere to any religious creed (I don't know that the filmmakers had one) to be moved and exalted by these stories, to have your faith in the power of movies reaffirmed or restored. Viewers who haven't 10 hours to devote to Decalogue may get the most pleasure from episodes 1, 5, 6 and 7. But that's like going to Mass just for Communion. —R.C.