Chopin Airport

Decalogue Four
Though the airport is shown only briefly in this episode, it is the location of two important encounters between the girl and her father. In the first scene, as Ania (Adrianna Bierzyńska) says goodbye to Michał (Janusz Gajos) and watches his plane take off, she notices that her eyesight has deteriorated. In the next, she greets her father as he arrives at the airport, and reveals that she has read the letter that was supposed to remain sealed until after his death, and has learned that Michał is not her biological father. In one of the rough early drafts of the screenplay, the airport played an even more important role. Ania enters the arrivals hall to pick up her father, only to learn, to her horror, that his flight has crashed. In this version of the story, Ania responds to the tragic event by opening the envelope bearing her name along with the warning that its contents are only to be read after Michał’s death. The girl reads the letter inside and discovers that she is not the biological daughter of the man whom she had believed to be her father. Grief-stricken and in tears, Ania looks up to see Michał entering the apartment. He reveals that he had changed his travel plans and was not on board the tragic flight.

Mikołaj Jazdon