Friday, March 26, 2010

Part 2: White // Blanc // Biały

OK, so this is a bit overdue, but I've been crazed lately and havent had time to post.

Kieslowski's White is definately my favourite of the trilogy. I don't know why. Perhaps its the nostalgia I feel when I see the Polish setting. The film was made in 1993, and still very little has changed in the country. Perhaps it's the fact that I identify with the Karol, the main character, a immigrant who has trouble making a life in France due to the language barrier. There are many other 'perhaps'es that I could mention. In short, I love this film.

Julie Delpy is my idol
The score is magical (like in the other films)
And, well, just check out the cinematography, the use of light and the repetition of 'white'...


"Mikolaj, wszyscy cierpia."
"Tak, ale ja chcialem mniej"

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Part 1: Blue // Bleu // Niebieski

A friend of mine recently inspired me to re-watch Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours Trilogy.

I haven't seen the films for years.

I always found them fascinating, the way he connects the ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (Blue, White and Red, respectively), always seen as a social and political concept, to a personal human experience.

And it's still such a pleasant shock to hear Polish being spoken in a French film.

In Blue, it is the personal liberation of Julie through the grief of loosing her husband and daughter. But not to say that liberty is always a good thing, she is free, after the accident that kills her family, she lives alone and doesn't keep in touch with anyone from her former life. The film has a constant beautiful melancholy about it. And the re-appearing colour, blue, in the lighting, the cinematography... its just magical. And, the gorgeous score composed by Zbigniew Preisner.

Plus, Juliette Binoche is pretty magical in her own right...