587 Three Colors Trilogy

[MichaelB]

My big advantage was that when I saw White for the first time (on its original release), I'd already seen Kieślowski's feature output from Camera Buff onwards, so I was reasonably well informed about his Polish work (although I wouldn't get to see the rest of the 1970s films until much later) - so it was White that felt reassuringly familiar to me rather than Blue or Red.

One of these days I'm going to attempt a deep dive into 1990s Polish cinema, as it's easily the postwar decade I know the least well, and is very poorly documented (certainly in English), mainly because it's very hard to get hold of many titles - and even when I have managed it, they're usually unsubtitled (Andrzej Wajda's The Crowned-Eagle Ring, for instance). The decade still managed to produce some terrific films against extremely adverse financial and distribution circumstances - I'm thinking of White, Wojciech Marczewski's Escape from the Liberty Cinema (1990), Dorota Kędziersawska's Crows (1994) and Krzysztof Krauze's The Debt (1999) - but the strong impression I get is that they were very much the outliers.

[therewillbeblus]

While I'm not sure I can definitively say this is my favorite now, it was when I first watched the trilogy in a college film class. Whereas the other films appeared to be translating emotions through a pool of physical inanimate manifestations of moods in mise-en-scene, White seemed more grounded in an alienation from more palpable, human signifiers, only to take us to a similar enigmatic place as the others in the end. The emasculation of one's bearings from literal impotence certainly resembles a lack of reciprocity in relationships, but that uncontrollable failure to satisfy a romantic partner causing catastrophic consequences is something relatable that doesn't succumb to moral magnetism. We can pity Karol for being a victim, but his defects existing on their own can still victimize his wife, and without intentional harm doesn't negate a perspective of harm. His meekness may be a quality of compassion but not the aggressive partner she needs in a relationship that functions through shifting power dynamics. In a sense this is an antithesis of those erotic films like Eaux profondes or Bitter Moon that see romantic partners playing extreme, toxic mindgames with/on the other to up the ante of sexual gratification via these power dynamics, with White accruing a similar outcome through natural consequences without malicious intent or consciousness to the process. The final moment of this film is so devastating and beautiful because it pierces the safer emotions like anger and byproducts in resentment and revenge that pathologize the triggering individual into a secure black-and-white category, and pares back to reveal that there's something deeply human and nebulous about these dynamics and our needs as people that are spiritually-intangible rather than psychologically-attainable. It's an offering that disallows such blinding positions and thus Karol and Dominique both have spiritual experiences, with Kieslowski here to show that these transcendent moments aren't always purified in positive emotion either.

[Sloper]

I'm pretty sure that being a teenager when watching the trilogy first made me unable to understand much of this one, I felt closer to the experiences of the characters in Blue and Red, and also they're "prettier" films, with more obvious color staging than White ever does. I was way more into formalism as a teenager (as most do?) and I'm sure this bothered me that there was no blue plastic jewels or big bright red posters to color the scenes.

White was my favourite film in the trilogy when I first saw it, I think because it’s the only one with a compelling narrative. Since then I’ve come to feel more of a connection to Blue, I think because I find Julie more interesting than Karol. So that probably says something about what gets me interested, and then what keeps me interested… I’ve never managed to like Red, although it’s grown on me (a little) with repeat viewings.

For me, the problem with Red is more fundamental than just those last few minutes, and thinking about this actually helps me to articulate what I like so much about Kieślowski’s films. I get a real kick out of the idea of using fiction as a way to explore abstract qualities or principles, but doing so in a complex, fluid way, so that something you might expect to be preachy and moralistic ends up being genuinely profound. This is most starkly exemplified by Dekalog One, which (rightly or wrongly) I’ve always read as saying that

SpoilerShow

just because everything can be measured doesn’t mean there isn’t a god; and just because some things can’t be measured doesn’t mean there is a god. As a lifelong atheist, I find this story genuinely challenging, and it’s not just an intellectual or philosophical exercise – it makes me feel deeply sad. But I love that it’s a story about an unbeliever being punished…and the punishment makes the universe feel more godless than ever.

Similarly, I love how the Three Colours films play with the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity in unexpected ways, and ways that are hard to pin down. The problem with Red, though, is that it’s about a movement from alienation to connectedness, and I think it’s hard to tell that story without slipping into mawkish platitudes. Stories on this theme often end up turning the characters into ciphers: like rom-com cut-outs you can feel them being pushed towards each other. It’s potentially interesting that Valentine serves as a centre-point around which everyone gathers and finally connects, but that’s an almost inevitably passive, anodyne role for the protagonist to be trapped in. Irène Jacob is still good, but she’s so much better in Véronique where the story focuses on her for her own sake. I guess what I’m saying is that I just don’t want to see another film about fraternity. For all that there are moments of real tension and ambiguity in Red (and Preisner’s music heightens these very effectively), it does kind of end up being about how we’re all connected and love and friendship are nice. I’d like to be told I'm being reductive, though.

In the previous two films of the trilogy, the concepts of liberty and equality are just so much more conducive to the kind of provocative philosophical/moral/emotional discourse Kieślowski specialises in. There’s something so inspired about tackling the theme of liberty via the story of a bereaved, betrayed, repressed woman, groping her way towards an acceptance of emotions that we, as the audience, are never quite allowed to understand. Even this feels like a trite description of what happens in Blue.

TWBB’s post does a better job than I can of digging into the treatment of equality in White. To go back to my first point, equality is a good theme for a compelling story because it implies inequality (and therefore conflict) as a starting point, and in dramatic terms it implies a quest for vengeance; something is unbalanced and needs re-balancing. But this would be an obnoxious film if it were a simple revenge story. As TWBB says, it’s also not quite the same as something like Bitter Moon (and I think is a much better, more sympathetic, but also more disturbing, take on sado-masochism). Dominique feels betrayed, on some primal level, by Karol’s impotence; his revenge plot is an attempt to restore balance and undo that betrayal; but the ending leaves us unsure of whether the relationship has become balanced, or whether things are (or are about to be) as they were at the start of the film. Again – what a brilliant, and unexpected, way to ask questions about the nature of equality.

[ryannichols7]

Janus trailer for the new 4K restorations, likely preceding a UHD upgrade

here come the color timing arguments...

[zedz]

Janus trailer for the new 4K restorations, likely preceding a UHD upgrade

here come the color timing arguments...

Red is too blue!
Blue is too red!
White is all blown out!

Done. Now you can all shut up about it!

[therewillbeblus]

It all looks yellow to me

[knives]

It all looks yellow to me

I am curious why you think so.

[therewillbeblus]

It all looks yellow to me

I am curious why you think so.

If you're looking to be curious, I remember Blue being better

[zedz]

Alternative colour timing joke:

The titles have been restored by Immagine Ritrovata and will be re-issued as Three Colours: Turquoise, Three Colours: Cream and Three Colours: Blood Orange.

[yoloswegmaster]

That is how 'Blue' is supposed to look.

[Blutarsky]

I’ll be one to say that, from the trailers, Bleu and Rouge look rather great. Blanc looks slightly creamed colored, but that is my only issue. I don’t know genuinely how to phrase this, but considering Veronique is a movie that relies heavily on its filtered cinematography, I wonder if this is more true to Kieslowski’s vision?

[Computer Raheem]

That is how 'Blue' is supposed to look.

I'm willing to give Blue the benefit of the doubt, given the previous work that Sławomir Idziak had done with Kieślowski. However, the films altogether still look off with this yellow-orange push. While I'm not an expert as to how these films look (I didn't see them theatrically, and I'm basing this mainly off of screencaps and video), I fail to see how a series of films shot with three different cinematographers can end up with such a blanket look to them. Maybe this is what Kieślowski intended (I am also keeping in mind what I've seen of Veronique and Dekalog Five), but he's no longer around to give his input. Either way, I'm not sure if any of these "changes" (if they can be considered that) are entirely accurate.

Then again, I still haven't watched my copies of these films in full yet, so what do I know?

[therewillbeblus]

The real question is whether it'll be as noticeable in motion as knives' Sjöman reference

[knives]

It all looks yellow to me

I am curious why you think so.

If you're looking to be curious, I remember Blue being better

Jarman is a genius.

[therewillbeblus]

I am curious why you think so.

If you're looking to be curious, I remember Blue being better

Jarman is a genius.

*Was a genius, as the third Blue reference we're on now documents in two senses

[knives]

Now that leads into a whole other discussion of the permanence of traits following the impermanence of the holders of those traits.

[therewillbeblus]

Can't it be both? That's what I meant by two senses: the film is about Jarman at the end of life, but even as he dies the genius lives on and continues to have the power to affect us. If your sentence meant Jarman the man is a genius, then he was once because he is deceased. But if you meant that Jarman as an artist lives on as a genius, then I agree it's actionable in real time, impermanent and ubiquitous. Kinda like how color timing shifts, but the subjectively correct version of the color exists in everyone's minds forever and ever, causing endless conversations about right and wrong

[EddieLarkin]

I watched the UHD of Gattaca recently and the strong yellow look seems to be Idziak's thing. I'm quite sure Blue is indeed supposed to share this look with Veronique, and not to have the more naturalised palette it's had so far on home video.

[tenia]

Retrospectively, the MK2 masters used by Criterion clearly were neutralised in a video way that used to be the norm. I'm not surprised this isn't the case now, and while Hiventy does have a signature that can be perceived here, this isn't, say, what Ritrovata did with the Leone movies.

[DarkImbecile]

4K UHD edition coming February 7

[tenia]

They reaaaaalllly need to clarify their wordings about whether these upgrades are also getting remastered BDs.
For this set for instance, you have a 6-discs UHD+BD combo set getting released. The details say : "4K UHD and Blu-ray: New 4K digital restorations, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks; Blu-ray-only edition: High-definition digital restorations, with 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks; DVD: High-definition digital restorations" So it looks like the BD-only set, which is the older one as it says "Now available", won't be upgraded, but the new UHD/BD set will have remastered BDs.
But then, the next line says : "In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of each film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray of each film with special features", so it's actually NOT a DF set, but just 1UHD per movie + 3 extra-features BDs.

[dwk]

No, "one Blu-ray of each film" = 1 blu-ray of Blue, 1 Blu-ray of White, and 1 Blu-ray of Red. But it does sound like the set will use the new masters for the Blu-rays. (Unlike Dazed and Confused, which appears to have the old Blu-ray.)

[Boosmahn]

But it does sound like the set will use the new masters for the Blu-rays.

Keep in mind Blow Out's listing is (still) incorrect with similar wording.

[dwk]

Oh, you are correct. So, I guess odds are the Blu-rays in the UHD will be the old ones.

tenia is correct, they really need to be clearer about the included Blu-rays.

[tenia]

No, "one Blu-ray of each film" = 1 blu-ray of Blue, 1 Blu-ray of White, and 1 Blu-ray of Red. But it does sound like the set will use the new masters for the Blu-rays. (Unlike Dazed and Confused, which appears to have the old Blu-ray.)

Whoops, my brain stopped functioning after "1 BD with special features".
I'm under the impression though, in this case, that there won't be a remastered BD set but that the DF set will have remastered BDs as it states : "4K UHD and Blu-ray: New 4K digital restorations, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks", but Blow Out is indeed worded exactly like this but doesn't have a remastered BD...

I still don't understand why their products' pages are bundling together the specs of these formats/releases since they're allowing for product-related displays when selecting a format (for instance, when clicking on DVD, you see the sound specs are switching to lossy). Here instead, you're having specs for the UHDs, specs for maybe the DF BDs AND specs for the older BDs.