WONDER 10: Krzysztof Kieślowski's THREE COLOURS TRILOGY (1993-1994)

From the field of dance we move on to cinema…

My wonder today is for a film trilogy directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski

Krzysztof Kieślowski

Blue (1993), White (1994) and Red (1994)

The title of each film is directly connected with the colours of the French flag in left-to-right order, and each plot is loosely based on one of the three ideals in the motto of the French Republic: liberty, equality, fraternity. These principles are treated in the trilogy in an ambiguous and often ironic way. As Kieślowski noted in an interview with an Oxford University student newspaper, “The words [liberté, egalité, fraternité] are French because the money [to fund the films] is French. If the money had been of a different nationality we would have titled the films differently, or they might have had a different cultural connotation. But the films would probably have been the same.” In each film, its respective color visually dominates.

Blue, White and Red have been interpreted respectively as an anti-tragedy, an anti-comedy, and an anti-romance.

BLUE (1993)

According to Kieślowski, the subject of the film is liberty, specifically emotional liberty, rather than its social or political meaning.  Set in Paris, the film is about a woman whose husband and child are killed in a car accident. Suddenly set free from her familial bonds, she attempts to cut herself off from everything and live in isolation from her former ties, but finds that she cannot free herself from human connections.

WHITE (1994)

Starting in Paris, the film depicts Karol, a shy man who, after being left by his wife in humiliating circumstances, loses his money, his residency, and his friends. As a deeply ashamed beggar in Warsaw, Karol begins his effort to restore equality to his life through revenge. Equality, thus, is the subject of this film.

RED (1994)

Red is about fraternity, which is examined by showing characters whose lives gradually become closely interconnected, with bonds forming between two characters who appear to have little in common.

 Together with Kieslowski's genius, the films owe their greatness to an overwhelming soundtrack, composed by Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner and performed by Silesian Philharmonic choir along with Sinfonia Varsovia. Below you can listen to Preisner's "Song for the Reunification of Europe" from Blue:  

Keep an eye on this blog because I'll publish an entry on Preisner soon! ENJOY!!