Krzysztof Kieślowski

Trois couleurs: rouge [Three colours: Red] (1994)

Trois couleurs: rouge [Three colours: Red] (1994)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On DVD, September 2019) Third entry in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three colours” trilogy, Rouge is almost certainly the most complex and least describable of them. It’s about a woman, yes, and an eavesdropping judge, sure, and yet so much more that you can’t really slot it into one of the archetypical movie plots. It’s almost easier to talk about its themes than its plot elements: it’s about coincidence and philosophy and interconnectedness and privacy and happenstance and many other things as well. As red-tinged as its title, it eventually pulls together characters from previous films in the trilogy in short appearances. Carefully crafted, it’s enigmatic and sustains scrutiny, although you may be forgiven for not thinking that it’s all that much fun—this isn’t about entertainment at much as cinema-as-art, yet not quite so inaccessible as many other movies with similar objectives. Rouge is a good cap to a highly rated trilogy, and absorbing viewing as long as you’re willing to give it enough time and undivided attention.

Trois couleurs: Blanc [Three Colours: White] (1994)

Trois couleurs: Blanc [Three Colours: White] (1994)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On DVD, September 2019) Second entry writer-director Krzysztof Kieślowski’s intriguingly titled Trois couleurs trilogy, Trois couleurs: Blanc once against takes an off-beat approach to what could have been a stock premise, by blending a post-love story with a revenge fantasy taken to the hilt. Zbigniew Zamachowski headlines as a protagonist who loses everything once his wife (Julie Delpy, suitably repulsive) divorces him for impotence, but soon lands back on his feet with an ambitious plan to get back on top … and ruin her forever. The plot takes twists and turns that are at once funny and sad, with neither of the main two characters feeling like someone we can cheer for. There’s a clever use of uplifting plot devices in service of a downbeat moral trajectory (clearly, our protagonist has never heard of “the best revenge is living well”) and while the result is interesting, I can’t imagine revisiting this film for fun anytime soon.

Trois couleurs: Bleu [Three Colours: Blue] (1993)

Trois couleurs: Bleu [Three Colours: Blue] (1993)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On DVD, September 2019) I’ve been fascinated by the Trois couleurs trilogy (on titling alone) for a quarter of a decade, so now was the time to see what the fuss was about. The trilogy apparently sends familiar premises spinning in new directions and I can certainly see it at play in Trois couleurs: Bleu, a film in which a familiar dramatic situation—a woman devastated by grief after having her husband and son die in a car crash that she survived—is given an unusual turn. Here our grieving protagonist decides to retreat from the world, leaving no address even to friends and family. Juliette Binoche anchors the film in a complex performance, portraying a character freed by her grief, yet not entirely able to give in to self-destruction. Trois couleurs: Bleu may be heavy at times, but there’s an off-beat quality to its story that makes it compelling. It’s not the kind of film that I’d readily re-watch again, but there’s a careful balance of cinematography (focusing on, yes, the colour blue) and music that adds a lot to the purely narrative drive of the film. This is, clearly, a film with clear artistic intentions and writer-director Krzysztof Kieślowski has the skills to execute the result to his satisfaction.