Three Colors Trilogy (Blue / White / Red)
by Krzysztof Kieslowski
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Actor: Beno?t R?gent, Charlotte V?ry, Florence Pernel, H?l?ne Vincent, Juliette BinocheDirector: Krzysztof Kieslowski
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 219 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-04
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
DVD Reviews of Three Colors Trilogy (Blue / White / Red)
DVD Review: Engaging, Absorbing, Mesmerizing...and often dreamlike
Summary: 5 Stars
Blue, White, Red were named after the colors of the French flag with the movie themes of liberty, equality and fraternity. The three films are largely unconnected in their story lines but have similar construction:
* Terrific casting
* Each move has a lead or co-lead who is a beauty
* Slow moving
* Characters are deeply introspective and emotional
* Generally few words by and among the major players however facial expressions and the "unsaid" pull you along and visually tell the story
* Colors and cinematography project a dream-like state
* The movie title colors (Blue/White/Red) are beautifully emphasized and subtly set in the each film (blue sky, blue water, blue chandelier).
In Blue, the director's subject is "liberty" which is intended to represent emotional "liberty." The film is set in Paris. Julie's husband (a famous composer) and child are killed in a car accident. In her grief, she tries to distance herself from her former life by cutting all her ties (sells her house and her belongings, gives away much of her money, moves and tells no one) - - but she finds that leaving it all behind is not so simple. In her grief, she is also stunned to learn secrets about her family which further adds to her grief. She eventually turns back to music as her solace and turns to an old friend for companionship and love - and both begin to pull her out of the darkness.
In White, the director's subject is "equality." Karol moves his wife from Poland to Paris where she proceeds to divorce him, humiliate him and abandon him because of his inability to consummate their marriage. He is thrown out on the streets of Paris penniless. Karol schemes to move back to Poland where he becomes a successful businessman and plots his revenge. And revenge he gets at a significant personal cost.
In Red, the director's subject is "fraternity" where he shows unrelated characters with little in common coming together to develop a close relationship. The movie is set in Geneva where a professional model (Valentine) meets a retired judge in a chance meeting after she runs over his dog. Valentine learns that the retired judge is listening in on his neighbors' phone conversations and she despises him for it. She happens to visit him on several other occasions after she returns with the dog from the vet. He begins to see and appreciate the "goodness" in her - so he turns himself in to authorities for the illegal surveillance and begins to open up to her. They eventually form a very close relationship as she learns his life history. And, other characters loosely connect to the storyline. This film was the most difficult of the three to follow as other characters loosely connect to the storyline - but this film like the other two was equally engaging and moving.
DVD Review: 3 masterpieces for a great low price...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a tremendous bargain. All three of these films are terrific on their own, but they are much easier to appreciate all together. It may be worth mentioning that the stories are largely unconnected (although they do intersect at certain times). This isn't really a narrative trilogy (like Star Wars), but a thematic one. Each film is named after a color of the French flag, and is supposed to represent the same ideal (Blue=Liberty, White=Equality, Red=Fraternity). But these concepts take on slightly twisted forms in the films; for example, Blue begins with a woman being "liberated" from an unhappy marriage by means of a car accident which kills her husband and child. Liberty is great, but it can also be violent and emotionally painful. The Three Colors films challenge us to see these kinds of complications in what we otherwise may take for granted.
In case the above paragraph didn't make this clear, these films are not easy viewing. They are slow, they are not in English, and they most likely will demand multiple viewings to fully appreciate. This DVD set makes this challenge a little easier; the special features are extensive, and added greatly to my appreciation of the trilogy. For a mere $30, this is one of the best DVD bargains I've ever found.
DVD Review: A Great DVD Set for a great set of movies.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Three Colors Trilogy is an amazing set of movies, especially when put together. By themselves, I only found Red (Three Colors Trilogy) to be rewarding. I felt Blue (Three Colors Trilogy) was slow moving and bordering on pretentiousness. I could understand what it was trying to say but it never really said anything. I found White (Three Colors Trilogy) to be a nice balanced film but it felt kind of like a middle part. It had a cheapened story feel.
Now, when viewing Red and linking them all together, I really felt that the trilogy succeeded in showing its individual themes and ideas, especially upon completion of Red.
This trilogy I cannot recommend highly enough. At first, Blue or maybe Red might put you off, but watching them in succession really helps you understand and dig deeply within the films and thus, you'll be exceptionally rewarded.
But this is a great set not only for the movies, but the DVDs are stacked to the brim. Each film comes with a commentary from a biographer (I'm not even going to try to spell the director's name) as well as interviews with everyone involved, archival "cinema lessons" footage from the director, interviews with the Jacque Witta (editor on two of the films), some of the director's student films and just about everything you could ask for in a DVD release.
Must Have.
Please also check out his magnum opus The Decalogue (Special Edition Complete Set)
DVD Review: Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy deserves the hype!
Summary: 5 Stars
The late Polish master of cinema passed away far too early, (as did Fassbinder). We are at least privileged, however, to be able to enjoy his brilliant trilogy of the three colors. Although they can each be viewed as an independent story, taken together they present the director's vision of women who have a tale to tell -- and then some. Don't rush these three - sip and savor them slowly and watch the brilliance of Kieslowski's mind.DVD Review: Red is the best by far
Summary: 5 Stars
I just rewatched all three movies again and I must say that Red is by far the best film where magic happend. The other two just are not up to par with Red, but Red is an exceptional film that is so rare to find. Red was so relaxing to watch! It feels like a poem or watching a painting come to life. I believe it is about how compassion, or opening of the heart, splits all notions of time and space and exposes a different reality that is just outside the one we are living in, as in an alternate reality. The powerful force of a compassionate heart changes the destiny of several lives. It is a story about the breaking through to the divine within the human heart that connects us all; the mysterious dimension of the universe that is not available to the senses and is much bigger then the human seen dimension.
The woman in the movie, Valentine, was sad and went through the motions of her life seemingly disconnected from herself and her happiness. Her boyfriend was jealous and was not sure he loved her, and her brother was on the streets from drug use and Valentine seemed to be void of life, even though she was a successful model and ballerina dancer. As they showed her life they also showed the life of her across the street neighbor. He was studying to become a Judge and he too had a life that was not fulfilling or living up to his potential. Valentine and the young man never met, but their stories intertwined as if they were just out of sync with time. Mysterious and spiritual forces worked in the background weaving their lives together.
One day Valentine was driving around sad and she hit a dog. She jumped out of the car and saw the dog was bleeding. She took it to the owner outside of town. He was a dejected and bitter older retired Judge, who spent his time listening in on telephone conversations of his neighbors through a radio he setup. Once Valentine heard the conversations she became agitated and told him it is wrong. She was a sweet innocent young woman pure in beauty and their lives touched. Her loving heart changed him and he later turned himself into the police and they shut down his radio for good. She saw that in the paper and went to see him. It was his birthday and they shared some peach brandy and talked about their lives. She was to go see her boyfriend and he told her to take the Ferry. She bought a ticket.
Meanwhile the young Judge found out his girlfriend was cheating on him and he got dejected and followed her around. He too got a ticket on the same ferry as Valentine. The older Judge came to see Valentine at her modeling show and he told her similar stories of his life that mirrored the life of the young Judge. He then told her the story of his love cheating on him, just like the young Judge's story but having it end there with him lost never finding love again. Then he said that maybe the woman he never met was Valentine, making the story really feel magical like the alternate reality, just out of sync with time, would happen. And when the Ferryboat capsized and we saw the survivors as Valentine and the young Judge, we knew they would have the life they were both meant to have and somehow the older Judge would have that life too.
Excellent movie that just feels so good. The streets of the small European town, the building and their environments were all so beautiful and magical as well. I like those big coffee cups and the warm cozy feel of their lives. No cell phones, no TV's just life pure and simple and how compassion can open the heart and transform lives so profoundly that lost lives can become renewed and the very reality of time as we know it can be changed forever. Love is the healing force of the world that is what is required to transcend stuck sorrowful lives. One of the best films ever made.
Description of Three Colors Trilogy (Blue / White / Red)
Miramax Home Entertainment is proud to present BLUE, WHITE and RED, the acclaimed films by director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Hailed by filmgoers as some of the most absorbing, engaging, well-crafted dramas in recent memory, the box set of BLUE, WHITE and RED Each DVD disc includes lengthy bonus features.BLUE: Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche ("The English Patient," Best Supporting Actress, 1996) stars as a young woman left devastated by the unexpected death of her husband and child. She retreats into the world around her, but is soon reluctantly drawn into an ever-widening web of lies and passion as the dark, secret life of her husband begins to unravel.
WHITE: Sexy Julie Delpy ("Before Sunrise") stars in a mysterious tale of a man whose life disintegrates when his beautiful wife of six months deserts him. Forced to begin anew, he rebuilds his life, only to plan a dangerous scheme of vengeance against her. Winner of the Best Director Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
RED: Irene Jacob ("The Double Life of Veronique") stars as a young model whose chance meeting with an unusual stranger leads her down a path of intrigue and secrecy. As her knowledge of the man deepens, she discovers an astonishing link between his past and her destiny.
Even though one can view each segment of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy on its own, it seems absurd to do so; why buy the slacks instead of the entire suit? Created by Kieslowski and his writing partner Krzysztof Piesiewicz for France's bicentennial, the titles--and the themes of the films--come from the three colors of the French flag representing liberty, equality, and fraternity. Blue examines liberation through the eyes of a woman (Juliette Binoche) who loses her husband and daughter in an auto accident, and solemnly starts anew. White is an ironic comedy about a befuddled Polish husband (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who takes an odd path of revenge against his ex-wife (Julie Delpy). A Swiss model (Ir?ne Jacob) strikes up a friendship with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who eavesdrops on his neighbors in Red. The trilogy is a snapshot of European life at a time of reconstruction after the Cold War, reflected through Kieslowski's moralist view of human nature and illumined by each title's palate color.
The DVD set has numerous extras spread throughout the three discs; the end result is a superior collection. Each disc has a short retrospective, culled together from new interviews with Kieslowski's crew, plus film critic Geoff Andrew, biographer Annette Insdorf (who also does the commentaries), and fellow Polish director Ageniska Holland. Producer Marin Karmitz also reminisces about the experience. There's an exceptional effort to show the magic of Kieslowski (who died two years after the trilogy) through a discussion of his various career phases, interviews with the three lead actresses, four student films, and archival materials including simple--and wonderful--glimpses of the director at work. Excellent insight is also provided by Dominique Rabourdin's filmed "cinema lessons" with Kieslowski. Without viewing any of his other films, this set illustrates the uniqueness of Kieslowski. --Doug Thomas
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