Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing is a work of visionary irony.

Devoid of sentimentality, self-satisfaction and subconscious sexiness, A Short Film about Killing has the coolness and rigor of a mathematical proof. Yet few films have cried more passionately and articulately against the cycle of human violence.

While it is almost impossible to conceive of Kieslowski making a bad film, in the Decalogue, and particularly in Killing, style and content were perfectly matched.

We should all admire the impact of this film. Kieslowski’s graphic depiction of the effects of violence so deeply affected the Polish authorities that they declared a five-year moratorium on capital punishment.