Three Colours: Blue

Last updated
Three Colours: Blue
Bluevidcov.jpg
French theatrical release poster
French Trois couleurs: Bleu
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski
Written by
Produced by Marin Karmitz
Starring
Cinematography Sławomir Idziak
Edited by Jacques Witta
Music by Zbigniew Preisner
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • MK2 Diffusion (France)
  • Rialto Film (Switzerland)
Release dates
  • 8 September 1993 (1993-09-08)(France/Switzerland)
  • 10 October 1993 (1993-10-10)(Warsaw)
Running time
94 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Poland
  • Switzerland
LanguageFrench
Box office$1.3 million [1]
(United States)

Three Colours: Blue (French : Trois couleurs: Bleu, Polish : Trzy kolory: Niebieski) is a 1993 drama film directed and co-written by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. It is the first of three films that make up the Three Colours trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, followed by White and Red . According to Kieślowski, the subject of the film is liberty, specifically emotional liberty, rather than its social or political meaning. [2]

Contents

Set in Paris, the film follows a woman whose husband and child are killed in a car accident. Suddenly freed from her familial bonds, she tries to isolate herself and live in seclusion from her former ties. However, she discovers that she cannot escape human connections. [3]

Upon its release, Blue received critical acclaim and won several accolades, including the Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. It remains one of Kieślowski's most celebrated works. [4] [5]

Plot

Julie, the wife of the famous French composer Patrice de Courcy, loses her husband and daughter in an automobile accident but survives herself. While recovering in the hospital, Julie tries to commit suicide by taking an overdose of pills but is unable to swallow them. After being released from the hospital, Julie, who is thought to have helped write much of her husband's famous pieces, destroys what remains of his work. She contacts Olivier, a collaborator of her husband's who has always admired her, and sleeps with him before bidding him farewell. She empties the family home and puts it up for sale, taking an apartment in Paris near Rue Mouffetard without informing anyone. Her only memento is a mobile of blue beads that is hinted to have belonged to her daughter.

Julie dissociates herself from her past life and distances herself from former friendships. She is no longer recognized by her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's. She reclaims and destroys the unfinished score for her late husband's last commissioned work, a piece celebrating European unity following the end of the Cold War. Excerpts of its music, however, haunt her throughout the film.

Despite her desire to live anonymously and alone, Julie is soon confronted by her past. A boy who witnessed the accident gives her a cross necklace found at the scene and asks her about her husband's last words, the punchline of an indelicate joke. Julie allows the boy to keep the necklace. Julie also reluctantly befriends Lucille, an exotic dancer who is having an affair with one of her neighbors and is despised by most people in the apartment building. The two women provide emotional support for each other. While comforting Lucille at the club where she works, Julie sees Olivier being interviewed on TV, revealing that he kept a copy of the European piece and plans to finish it himself. Julie then sees a picture of Patrice with another woman.

Julie confronts Olivier about the European piece and asks him about the woman seen with Patrice. She tracks down Sandrine, a lawyer and Patrice's lover, and finds out that she is pregnant with his child. Julie arranges for Sandrine to have the family home, not yet sold, and eventual recognition of his paternity for the child. Julie then returns to working on the piece with Olivier and finishes the final part. She calls Olivier, who refuses to take the piece as his own unless Julie is credited as well, to which Julie agrees. Julie then calls Olivier again and asks him if he still loves her; he says yes, and Julie proceeds to meet him.

In the final sequence, part of the completed Unity of Europe piece is played, which features a chorus and a solo soprano singing in Greek; the lyrics praise the divine love in Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Images are seen of all the people Julie has affected by her actions. The film ends with a shot of Julie crying before she begins to smile gradually.

Cast

Production

Blue was an international co-production between the French companies CED Productions, Eurimages, France 3 Cinéma, and MK2 Productions, the Swiss company CAB Productions and the Polish company Studio Filmowe TOR.

Like the other films in the trilogy, Blue makes frequent visual allusions to its title: numerous scenes are shot with blue filters or blue lighting, and many objects are blue. When Julie thinks about the musical score that she has tried to destroy, blue light overwhelms the screen. The film also includes several references to the colours of the tricolor that inspired Kieślowski's trilogy: several scenes are dominated by red light, and in one scene, children dressed in white bathing suits with red floaters jump into the blue swimming pool. Another scene features a link with the next film in the trilogy: while spotting the lawyer Sandrine, her husband's mistress, Julie is seen entering a courtroom where Karol, the Polish main character of White, is being divorced by Dominique, his estranged French wife.

Analysis

The occasional fade-outs and fade-ins to Julie's character are used to represent an extremely subjective point of view. According to Kieślowski, "at a certain moment, time really does pass for Julie while at the same time, it stands still. Not only does her music come back to haunt her at a certain point, but time stands still for a moment".[ verification needed ]

Reception

Three Colours: Blue received widespread acclaim from film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. [6] The website's critical consensus reads, "Three Colors: Blue contains some of director/co-writer Krzysztof Kieslowski's most visually arresting, emotionally resonant work—and boasts an outstanding performance from Juliette Binoche in the bargain". [6] On Metacritic, another review aggregator, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". [7] Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle wrote:

Blue is a film that engages the mind, challenges the senses, implores a resolution, and tells, with aesthetic grace and formal elegance, a good story and a political allegory. [8]

Derek Malcolm of The Guardian wrote:

Blue remains an intense and moving tribute to the woman at its centre who, in coming back from tragedy, almost refuses, but ultimately accepts the only real love that's on offer. [9]

Year-end lists

Soundtrack

Awards and recognition

In 2007, the film was ranked at No. 29 by The Guardian's readers poll on the list of "40 greatest foreign films of all time". [17] The film ranked 64th in BBC's 2018 list of The 100 greatest foreign language films. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliette Binoche</span> French actress(born 1964)

Juliette Binoche is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 films, particularly in French and English languages, and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and a César Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krzysztof Kieślowski</span> Polish film director and screenwriter

Krzysztof Kieślowski was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for Dekalog (1989), The Double Life of Veronique (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy (1993 –1994). Kieślowski received numerous awards during his career, including the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (1988), FIPRESCI Prize, and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (1991); the Venice Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize (1989), Golden Lion (1993), and OCIC Award (1993); and the Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear (1994). In 1995, he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

<i>Three Colours: White</i> 1994 French film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Three Colours: White is a 1994 comedy-drama film co-written, produced and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. White is the second in the Three Colours trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals, following Blue and preceding Red. The film was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zbigniew Preisner</span> Polish film score composer

Zbigniew Preisner is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis as well as the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He is a member of the French Film Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irène Jacob</span> French-born Swiss actress

Irène Marie Jacob is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film The Double Life of Veronique, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her 1994 film Three Colours: Red. Her other film appearances include The Secret Garden (1993), Beyond the Clouds (1995), U.S. Marshals (1998), and Eternity (2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Delpy</span> French-American actress, director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter (born 1969)

Julie Delpy is a French-American actress, filmmaker, composer, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa (1990), Voyager (1991), Three Colours: White (1993), the Before trilogy, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), and 2 Days in Paris (2007).

<i>Three Colours</i> trilogy 1993 French psychological drama films

The Three Colours trilogy is the collective title of three psychological drama films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski: Three Colours: Blue (1993), Three Colours: White (1994), and Three Colours: Red (1994), represented by the Flag of France. An international co-production between France, Poland, and Switzerland in the French language, with the exception of White in Polish and French, all three installments were co-written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, produced by Marin Karmitz and composed by Zbigniew Preisner.

<i>The Double Life of Veronique</i> 1991 film

The Double Life of Veronique is a 1991 drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and starring Irène Jacob. Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film explores the themes of identity, love, and human intuition through the characters of Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a French music teacher. Despite not knowing each other, the two women share a mysterious and emotional bond that transcends language and geography.

<i>A Short Film About Love</i> 1988 Polish film

A Short Film About Love is a 1988 Polish romantic drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, starring Grażyna Szapołowska and Olaf Lubaszenko. Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film is about a young post office worker deeply in love with a promiscuous older woman who lives in an adjacent apartment building. The film is set in Warsaw.

Jacques Witta is a French film editor who began working in motion picture editing in the late 1950s. During his career, he has edited more than 60 feature films and has worked with noted French film directors such as Claude Berri and Jean Becker but is best known for his collaboration with Krzysztof Kieślowski which began with The Double Life of Véronique, and continued on Three Colors: Blue and Three Colors: Red. He was also the editor of Harrison's Flowers, which was released by Universal Pictures in the US theatrically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Pernel</span> French actress (born 1962)

Florence Pernel is a French actress.

<i>Three Colors: Blue</i> (soundtrack) 1993 film score by Zbigniew Preisner

Three Colors: Blue is the soundtrack album to the award-winning film Three Colors: Blue, with music composed by Zbigniew Preisner. The music is performed by the Sinfonia Varsovia.

The 19th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1993 and took place on 26 February 1994 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Gérard Depardieu and hosted by Fabrice Luchini and Clémentine Célarié. Smoking / No Smoking won the award for Best Film.

The 20th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1994 and took place on 25 February 1995 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Alain Delon and hosted by Jean-Claude Brialy and Pierre Tchernia. Wild Reeds won the award for Best Film.

The French Syndicate of Cinema Critics has, each year since 1946, awarded a prize, the Prix Méliès, to the best French film of the preceding year. More awards have been added over time: the Prix Léon Moussinac for the best foreign film, added in 1967; the Prix Novaïs-Texeira for the best short film, added in 1999; prizes for the best first French and best first foreign films, added in 2001 and 2014, respectively; etc.

<i>Three Colours: Red</i> 1994 French film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Three Colours: Red is a 1994 romantic mystery film co-written, produced and directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. It is the final installment of the Three Colours trilogy, which examines the French Revolutionary ideals; it is preceded by Blue and White. Kieślowski had announced that this would be his final film, which proved true with the director's sudden death in 1996. Red is about fraternity, which it examines by showing characters whose lives gradually become closely interconnected, with bonds forming between two characters who appear to have little in common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">50th Venice International Film Festival</span> 1993 film festival

The 50th annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 31 August to 11 September 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Bertuccelli</span> French film director

Julie Mathilde Charlotte Claire Bertuccelli is a French director born February 12, 1968, in Boulogne-Billancourt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elżbieta Towarnicka</span> Polish soprano

Elżbieta Towarnicka is a Polish operatic soprano who made an international career based at the Opera Krakowska. She is also known for singing for films, especially with music by Zbigniew Preisner including the theme song of Avalon.

References

  1. ↑ "Trois couleurs: Bleu (1993)". JPBox Office. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  2. ↑ Insdorf, Anne, et al. "A Look at Blue". (Featurette) DVD. The Criterion Collection. Three Colors: Blue. November 15, 2011.
  3. ↑ Kieślowski, Krzysztof. Kieślowski on Kieślowski. Edited by Danusia Stok. London: Faber and Faber, 1998, p. 212.
  4. ↑ "Krzysztof Kieslowski's Acclaimed Films". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Votes for Three Colours Blue (1993)". British Film Institute. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  7. ↑ "Three Colors: Blue Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  8. ↑ Baumgarten, Marjorie (March 18, 1994). "Movie Review: Blue". Austin Chronicle . Retrieved May 21, 2007.
  9. ↑ Malcolm, Derek (14 October 1993). "Three Colours: Blue review". The Guardian . Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ Berardinelli, James (January 2, 1995). "Rewinding 1994 -- The Year in Film". ReelViews. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Three Colors: Blue". NW Film Center. 2019-03-18. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  12. ↑ "19th César Awards". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  13. 1 2 "Winners & Nominees 1994". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  14. ↑ "Three Colors Blue (1993)". Swedish Film Institute. 23 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "Chicago Film Festival 1995". Mubi.
  16. ↑ "'Schindler', 'Piano' top L.A. critics' awards". Los Angeles Daily News . December 13, 1993. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  17. ↑ "As chosen by you...the greatest foreign films of all time". The Guardian . 11 May 2007.
  18. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films". BBC . 29 October 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.