The Child in Krysztof Kieszlowski’s 'Dekalog 1' and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s: 'Brothers Karamazov': A Terrible Fate for the Gifted and Kind-Hearted? 

• In Event: Representations of Childhood in Russian and Polish Films

Abstract

This paper analyzes Krsyztof Kieszlowski’s Dekalog 1 in connection with the chapter “The Boys” in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov. It studies these two portraits of gifted children and poses questions about the uniqueness of the childhood experience in the Eastern European context. Why do these children appear aged beyond their years and receive tragic fates? What is it about the nature of Polish film and Russian literature that leads to the portrayal of such distinctly memorable children?

Author

• Nikolay Smirnov, Brown U