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Later on, with night-cap in hand, Janusz and his wife are disturbed by the clamour of their entry-phone. Recognising the voice, Janusz casually remarks that someone is stealing their car so he'd better go out and check. While she phones for the police, Janusz emerges into the chill air to find Ewa. On the brink of hysteria, Ewa hurriedly explains how her husband has gone missing and that she can't find him anywhere. It's not clear why Janusz should put himself out for her but, at the last moment, he agrees to help. However, means that he'll be abandoning his family on this special night to drive around Warsaw with a strange woman (in a car that has been reported stolen). What can it all mean?
In Dekalog 3, Kieslowski expands eloquently on his fascination with affairs of the heart and their consequences. While Janusz surely loves his family, the obvious question is why he should leave them to be with Ewa. It's almost as if there is a connection between them which outweighs familial commitments, though this turns out to be little more than residual feelings of guilt and responsibility. Janusz and Ewa were lovers until about 3 years before this particular evening, broken up when her husband discovered them in the heat of passion. Since she meekly followed her husband away, Janusz had long considered this chapter of his life to be closed. However, there are clues that all is not as it appears, especially when Ewa takes Janusz back to her flat.
Kieslowski's talent for knitting together emotional structures, in this case a love triangle centred upon Janusz, is in full flow here. The dynamics which guide the actions of the characters are subtly explored in their complexity, despite the brief span of time allotted to the film. The principle actors do a fine job of emoting with each other, expressing the ambiguities and uncertainties of love. There is a painful clarity to the divide that separates Ewa and Janusz (he has family while she doesn't, for a start), while the embers of their historical lust still glow faintly between them. In one particular scene they almost fall into an embrace, a chance which Kieslowski cruelly shatters by the intrusion of a doorbell. It's a masterful touch, examples of which turn up in other episodes.
On a technical note, the night-time scenes of snow-blown Warsaw are beautifully transferred onto celluloid. The neon lights glisten on the empty streets, a perfect arena for Janusz when he wishes to drive scarily. This all leads on to some highly exciting sequences, involving a confused tram driver (Artur Barcis) and a potentially nasty encounter with a Christmas tree. After this Dekalog 3 declines somewhat, though the feelings it uncovers linger on.
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