Film Review
The first instalment in Polish film director Krzysztof Kieslowski's acclaimed trilogy
Bleu, Blanc, Rouge (taken from the three colours of the French flag) uses the subject
of
Liberté (Freedom) to provide the basis for a visually entrancing psychological
drama.
The film stars Juliette Binoche, who is currently rated by many as the best living actress
in France. Certainly, her performance in this film is something quite remarkable.
Although she is barely off screen for a moment, her appearance is constantly captivating,
making any amount of dialogue superfluous (which is just as well since the film is pretty
bereft of dialogue). Aided by Slawomir Idziak's sensuous photography, Binoche appears
every bit the liberated woman who quickly realises that the freedom she thinks she has
following the death of her husband is a mere illusion. The coldness of the blue-tinted
photography impinges on her physical beauty with heart-rending, tragic effect.
Kieslowski is renowned for the visual style of his films, and this is a prime example
(although perhaps not his best). The film is by any standard a work of art, the
mesmerising photographic imagery emphasised by the heady, almost religious character of
Zbigniew Preisner's ever-present music.
The only noticeable fault that the film seems to have is its ending which feels needlessly
forced and heavy. After an effective resolution to the drama, the film suddenly
appears to become overwhelmed by its pretensions to artistic brilliance, and this mars
an otherwise memorable cinematographic experience.
© James Travers 2001
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Next Krzysztof Kieslowski film:
Trois couleurs Rouge (1994)
Film Synopsis
After the death of her husband, a famous composer, and her daughter in a car accident,
a young woman, Julie, decides to start a new life for herself. Having instructed
her lawyers to sell her home, she quits her boyfriend and moves into an apartment in an
unfamiliar area of Paris. But, however she may try to rid herself of her past,
she is unable to break free of it...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.