Krzysztof Kiešlowski was born in Warsaw, Poland on June 27, 1941. After two attempts and two rejections, he was finally admitted to the Łódź Film School on his third try. His first major success came in 1989, when he made the stunningly brilliant Dekalog, a series of ten films made for Polish television – each film a cinematic comment on the Ten Commandments.
The next year, he formed a partnership with the Romanian producer Marin Karmitz, with whom he made his last four magnificent films.
The Double Life of Véronique (1990) was a success, and Kiešlowski immediately began planning his final three films -- the trilogy, Three Colors. All three films are scored by Zbigniew Preisner, but Kiešlowski used a different cinematographer for each film.
It is important to watch these three films in the correct order (as in the French flag) -- otherwise one will miss important segues and sequences (and spoilers!) which will lessen the impact of these three films – perhaps the most brilliant trilogy of 20th-century filmmaking.
Blue (1993)
The first shot in Blue is a rush of high-speed traffic, filmed from the bottom of a car, at wheel level. One immediately notices how the color blue is reflecting off every surface, and indeed the color will permeate the film, obsessively built into its fabric, as a matter of design. (On my Criterion Blog review, I detail all the spots throughout the film where blue is prominent.)
We are in Paris. Juliette Binoche is Julie Vignon, her husband is Patrice de Courcy (Hugues Quester), a well-respected composer tasked with writing a grand cantata to celebrate the unification of Europe, aka the newly-founded European Union.
Other important characters are Olivier (Benoit Régent), Sandrine (Florence Pernel), and Lucille – a prostitute – played by Charlotte Véry.
The music composed by de Courcy (Preisner) is tonal, with a chorus singing the text of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (“Love is patient”) in Greek. (Greek chorus?) Kiešlowski uses many close-ups of the actual manuscript paper, panning the written notes as the score plays.
Look for an extreme-close-up (ECU) of a sugar cube turning brown as it’s dipped into some coffee!
White (1994)
A new cinematographer is on board to capture the frozen white tundra of post-Soviet Poland – Edward Klosinski -- in this anti-comedy or anti-love story ...
A suitcase clunks along an airport conveyor belt, under the opening credits: Cut to Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski)’s feet. He slows down and stops next to two pairs of feet. The camera pans up and we see his face, confused. He starts to walk again – the attentive viewer will notice that the other feet belong to a couple, kissing. We are still in Paris.
We meet Karol’s French wife, Dominique (Julie Delpy), and later, when Karol is in the Metro playing an old Polish song on comb-and-paper, he meets a fellow Pole, Mikołaj (Janusz Gajos).
The film then moves to Warsaw, as Karol finds himself in a bleak, desolate landscape – a garbage dump. His first words speak volumes:
“Jesus, home at last”
The filmmaker drags us along on a strange, but exciting adventure which can only end one way. He leaves the viewer hanging a bit, as it is necessary to see Red to find out how things ultimately resolve …
Red (1994)
A third cinematographer – Piotr Sobocinski …
The opening scene completes Kiešlowski’s subterranean triplet (in Blue, under a car, in White, underground conveyor belt, and here, underground telephone lines). In a tour-de-force montage, the filmmaker takes us on a breathtaking voyage from telephone to telephone. (Pre-cell phone) …
We are in Geneva now, and Irène Jacob is Valentine, a model. She accidentally hits a dog with her car, and tracks down the owner – a retired judge, Joseph Kern (a magnificent Jean-Louis Trintignant).
Valentine: “Excuse me … the door was open. I’m sorry, I think I ran over your dog. Rita. A German Shepherd.
Judge Kern: [displaying little interest]: “It’s possible. She disappeared yesterday.”
Valentine: “She’s in my car. Alive. I don’t know what to do.” [no response from the Judge] … “Would you like me to take her to a vet?”
Judge [still displaying no interest]: “As you wish.”
Valentine: “If I ran over your daughter, would you react the same way?”
Judge [displaying no emotion]: “I don’t have a daughter, miss.”
A deeply thought-out cinematic reverie on life, love, relationships, emotions, consequences, Kiešlowski pulls out all the stops, using his polished technique to film scenes taking place in physically distinct spaces by using crane shots, and thrilling pans and push-ins. The technique never shows, however, as the director always keeps the story – particularly the interior aspects of the characters’ lives and actions – at the forefront.
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