Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease

In the manner of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue, another Polish director also named Krzysztof (last name: Zanussi) has put together this occasionally somber, often funny and thoroughly transcendent meditation on mortality (it differs from his late colleague's by being considerably less than 10 hours long, however). Dr. Tomasz Berg (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, who played a police inspector in part five of the Decalogue) discovers he has terminal cancer, wryly accepts his fate, then tries to find anything or anyone to help him believe in the existence of an eternal soul, while matter-of-factly getting his affairs in order. The usual points about seizing the day are made, and epitomized here comically by his daughter's finally agreeing to sleep with her boyfriend, but the film's general tone has a resonance that you wouldn't find in any analogous overmilked Hollywood version (in which Robin Williams would undoubtedly be cast as the lead). We can all only hope to someday face death with the dignity of Dr. Berg, and perhaps to find the faith in the eternal soul he finally comes to believe he has. In the meantime, enjoy the film.