The sixth episode of Kieslowski’s
Dekalog series inspired by the Ten Commandments, included in the Vatican’s 1995 list of great films, deals with a characteristically modern form of adultery: voyeurism. The film begins from the perspective of a peeping tom, but gradually we start to see things through the eyes of the promiscuous woman he spies on, as the conscience of each begins to awaken.
Circumspection is required in discussing such a film, and in viewing it—while there is no nudity in the film, it crosses some moral lines. It has been said that it’s impossible to make an anti-war film because the medium can’t help but make war exciting; likewise it could be said that making an anti-voyeurism film presents challenges because certain things simply must not be displayed regardless of whether the intent is to titillate or critique. Notably, intent to titillate is not included in the Catechism’s definition of pornography.