Krzysztof Kieślowski initially thought the ideas of the French Revolution were linked to the colors of their flag, but what he's really working on are ideals that are at the heart of any "free" country. The blue of liberty or freedom, the white of equality or fairness and the red of fraternity or interconnectedness. Each of the color trilogies takes on the mood of the color in the title.
Blue is the first part of Kieslowski's trilogy on France's national motto: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Blue is the story of Julie who loses her husband, an acclaimed European composer and her young daughter in a car accident. The film's theme of liberty is manifested in Julie's attempt to start life anew free of personal commitments, belongings grief and love. She intends to spiritually commit suicide by withdrawing from the world and live completely independently, anonymously and in solitude in the Parisian metropolis. Despite her intentions, people from her former and present life intrude with their own needs. However, the reality created by the people who need and care about her, a surprising discovery and the music around which the film revolves heals Julie and irresistably draws her back to the land of the living.
Of the three films, Blue is probably the "artiest." Probably because of the limited dialogue, Kieslowski spends a lot of time creating images that mirror Julie's mental state. Some of the more memorable ones include the image of a doctor reflected in Julie's eye after the car wreck, a sugar cube absorbing coffee, and Julie's reflection in a spoon balanced in the mouth of a bottle.
Kieslowski attaches an almost subconscious significance to the color blue, but primarily he focuses on Binoche's luminous face, and the way her subtle shifts in emotion flicker and disappear.
Kieslowski and his cinematographer do a lot with the lighting, particularly in the scenes in the swimming pool. Those shots are awash in soft, evocative blue hues that give the scenes an exquisite, dream-like feel. Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak has said in interviews that Julie was originally scripted as a runner, but Idziak suggested to Kieslowski that she swim instead because a swimming pool was more visually interesting for him to film. For Julie who is trying to disconnect from her emotions and human connections, swimming is the perfect form of exercise. Inside a pool Julie is effectively cushioned from the outside world, her senses dulled by the water.
Most of the blue seems to be items that prevent Julie from achieving liberty, since that is the ultimate message of the film: the blue folder that contains photos of Patrice's mistress, the mobile that Julie takes from her daughter's room (which is also blue), the pen that Julie uses to compose music, the lollipop and wrapper that Julie finds in her purse. Kieslowski also fades to blue when Julie begins to hear the music in her head and when she has sex with Olivier.
Blue is a great film because of the simplicity of its story and its singular purpose in portraying a raw, compelling portrait of grief. Blue is about liberty, but how far are we able to go to really achieve it? The character played by Juliette Binoche tries everything to rid herself of the memory of the great tragedy she suffered, but can't still reach the point where she's free, even after she rid herself of all material possessions. The memory of everything we do is present, and even if faded, it continues to mark our days. What this film is trying to teach us is that we can't reach that liberty we might envision because one isn't living if they are free from all ties to life.
It is the middle film of the "Trois Couleurs" (Three Colors) trilogy. It is a black comedy and it is generally considered the weakest of the three films. White was written by Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, and it lacks much of the visual poesy of the other two films. Simply put, the cinematography by Edward Klosinski is pedestrian compared to Slavomir Idziak‘s in Blue. But this is forgivable since White is plot driven, not character and mood based.
Dissimilar from Bleu, Bialy (“White,” in Polish) begins with a different kind of crash, one that is erratic and frustrating. The main character, Karol the champion hairdresser suffers through divorce proceedings with his beautiful, blonde, French wife Dominique after which he loses his home, his assets, and the woman he loves. After his tragic loss, he maneuvers through a series of comedic and peculiar tactics, all for the purpose of getting even with his ex-wife. As white symbolizes equality in the three colors of the French flag, Karol spends the bulk of the film plotting revenge upon his ex-wife Dominique Vidal. In short, equality to him means ‘getting even.’
The over-arching presence of the color of white is highly understandable in this film, whose plot not only deals with legality from start to finish, but also takes place in the snowy Christmastime of Warsaw, Poland and the sky is almost always white. Purity and sterility are also a part of the symbolism of whiteness, but it is the build-up of an unexpected plan that makes it possible for a homeless hairdresser like Karol, to become a wealthy businessman in what seems to be a few short weeks. Kieslowski shows that anything is possible in an environment of equality.
Death and rebirth play manifest symbolic roles in the film, but not too heavily. Yet, White does feature other symbolic moments, such as another old lady trying to stuff a bottle into a recycling bin, just as in Blue. Karol smiles at her struggles whereas Julie was oblivious to them. Whereas Blue makes use of literal blackouts at moments of Julie’s confronting her past, White has some whiteouts.
White is about equality, or again what we think represents such thing. Karol goes beyond that; his selfishness doesn't make him realize what pain he's causing to his wife. His will for equality, or rather REVENGE, totally blinds him and almost erases the love for his wife. This topic might be something useful to compare to every group in this society, looking to be "equal", but in actuality wanting something more than that.
Red
Red concludes the Three Colors trilogy in Switzerland with Valentine, a student and part-time model living in Geneva whose sole contact with her family and her boyfriend is by phone. One night she hits a dog with her car and, not knowing what to do, she takes the wounded animal to its owner, a detached and seemingly uncaring retired judge. Valentine and the judge make a somewhat unwilling acquaintance when Valentine realizes that the judge, whose legal career has made him jaded and disillusioned about justice, spends his days listening to his neighbors' telephone calls with surveillance equipment. Valentine's censure of his activities reawakens the judge's humanity and he composes letters to his neighbors confessing what he has been doing. Intertwined with the development of Valentine and the judge's friendship, a young lawyer named Auguste is betrayed by his lover Karin in events eerily similar to what happened to the judge many years ago.
In Red, the audience watches Valentine and Auguste through a series of peeps into their apartments and onto the street that separates them. They do not even suspect how their lives will eventually intersect. But the viewer, or rather the voyeur, knows that somehow they will come together. It takes the involvement of books dropped in the middle of the street, a collision with a German Shepherd, a spying judge, an unfaithful girlfriend, and a ferry in the English Channel to finally link the two main characters who are already neighbors living in Geneva. Red is about fraternity, and how fate can totally change the life of a person. Our neighbor could be the biggest love in our life, but we are so concerned with our own routine we might never meet them. We also might meet a person 40 years older that represents everything we've been looking for, but then refuse to more forward in the relationship because of barriers.
Red is very much about connections, both obvious and invisible. Indeed, the film begins with the camera "going inside" of phone lines to follow the transmission of a phone call, connecting one person to another via wires. Kieslowski also explores unseen connections, such as music that both Valentine and Auguste listen to and the parallels between the judge and Auguste's lives. Perhaps Kieslowski suggests that this conceptualization of fraternity connects people, whether they see it or not, and Valentine represents the ideal of fraternity, acknowledging that connection through her actions.
While Polish cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski's beautiful photography is peppered with rich, beautiful reds, the color imagery of Red seems less specific than that of White or Blue. I do not intend to insinuate that Kieslowski's choices of red objects were not deliberate, however his use of the color seems less reserved. Red saturates the palette of this film in a way not seen in the trilogy's previous entries, but the color does retain its association with fraternity. For example, Valentine wears an item of red clothing when she visits the judge and the dog's collar is also red. But the color is more pervasive and less obvious in its representation of fraternity, which perhaps underscores the idea that Kieslowski suggests fraternity connects people in ways both seen and unseen.
Red is the culmination of the trilogy, both in message and literally in the conclusion. From the beginning, the film emphasizes chance, transportation, and communication through a series of images of telephone wires, repeated locations, and cars on the street. In this piece, Kieslowski uses so many red objects and so much symbolism that it is impossible to miss the meaning of the emblematic, even fetishistic, imagery.
In its entirety, Trois Couleurs employs the use of at least 190 blue, white, and red objects. In number, the red and white objects are more prevalent—one wonders if this was the intention of Kieslowski. Overall, Kieslowski employs all three films to draw attention to the importance of interconnectedness and equality. Additionally, it is important to consider the colors of the Polish and Swiss flags.Poland’s flag consists of two equal stripes of white and red while the Swiss flag is red with a white cross at the center. Counting each color equally in each the French, Polish, and Swiss Flag.
Red
A recurring image related to the spirit of the film is that of elderly people recycling bottles; in Three Colors: White, an old man in Paris is trying to recycle a bottle but cannot reach the container and Karol looks at him with a sinister grin on his face (in the spirit of equality). In Three Colors: Blue, an old woman in Paris is recycling bottles and Julie does not notice her (in the spirit of freedom); in Three Colors: Red an old woman cannot reach the hole of the container and Valentine helps her (in the spirit of solidarity). White has been interpreted as an anti-comedy, in parallel with Blue being an anti-tragedy and Red being an anti-romance.
In its entirety, Trois Couleurs employs the use of at least 190 blue, white, and red objects. In number, the red and white objects are more prevalent—one wonders if this was the intention of Kieslowski. Overall, Kieslowski employs all three films to draw attention to the importance of interconnectedness and equality. Additionally, it is important to consider the colors of the Polish and Swiss flags.Poland’s flag consists of two equal stripes of white and red while the Swiss flag is red with a white cross at the center. Counting each color equally in each the French, Polish, and Swiss Flag.
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