Kieslowski's 'Three Colours' trilogy: Classic Or Dud

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I've never seen any of these films, but I'm told they're quite good and Film Four are showing them back-to-back on Wednesday, so are they worth staying up for?

― DG, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

YES! They are some of the most rewarding and beautiful films i have seen. They also work well with the intimacy of a small screen .

― anthony, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Classic but headache-inducing in one sitting.

― chris, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I will merely cryptically suggest you see Amores Perros first then compare and contrast.

Mind you - you are right about that headache thing in one sitting. I did it in the Curzon Soho a while back. It seems like a bargain for a fiver but.....

Classic mind.

― Pete, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I hate em: but I have admittedly never seen em. My sister liked them in diminishing order: red = good, white = OK, blue = disappointing...

― mark s, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Absolutely classic. They're genuinely moving. But definitely too much to see all in one go, at least because reading subtitles for about six hours is somewhat excessive...

― Paul Strange, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Snore......... can we have a separate ILF forum for you film people?

― Emma, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Blue came out first, Mark. Or are you just going by the 'red, white and blue sounds right' order? I thought 'red' was a bit empty really. It was supposed to wrap up the trilogy (the other two films' characters apperar at the end, I seem to recall), but it didn't mean much to me. I mean Irene Jacob is completely gorgeous, but that's not really enough. Blue was much better than I had been led to believe. White is darkly comic. It's more like the Dekalog/Short Film about love & killing style, maybe. More Polish and less French. I haven't seen any of them for years so I may be talking out of my arse.

― Nick, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

"Blue": Great!
"White": Umm, was that it?
"Red": Good, but not as good as "Blue".

― Dan Perry, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Well, I'd rate 'em in this order - Blue/Red/White (Kieslowski not exactly born to do light comedy, imho.) Might well overrate Blue slightly 'cos of mad pash for J. Binoche, but the opening car crash sequence is up there with the car crash scene from 'Wild at Heart' for bringing home terrifying destructive power of automobile. Love the way that Kieslowski grounds his metaphysical mumbo-jumbo in everyday actions/objects - superb set-dressing and attention-to-detail - while totally preserving ineffable sense of mystery blah blah. 'Double Life of Veronique' prob. his best film, tho'.

― Andrew L, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Classic. Some of my favourites ever. I've also sat through all three in a row, and it does become all a bit too much after a while, and it being the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, the seats were a little hard too. My favourite is 'Red', although the plotting seems to me the most clumsy (especially the end); 'White' is also very good, and I've never been entirely convinced by 'Blue'. Which means I'm in agreement with Mark S's sister. (Too many Ss in that phrase...)

― alex thomson, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Colour order: oh. I'll have to check which Becky thought was the rubbish one. It featured a Chris Evans/Billie Piper type sitch.

― mark s, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I haven't seen them, though my mate frank reckons they're the best movies ever made. I merely contribute here to ask if anyone remembers DIAMOND GEEZER, 'E'S A BIT OF ORLROIGH' MATE. tony parsons when he was on the late review, and IIRC "Red" came up for review. Parsons' response was something along the lines of: Oh, I watched the beginning, but someone came to the door, and I couldn't be bothered to watch the rest. Would that I had been in charge of TLR on that day. "Tony", I wd have said, "get the FCK out of my studio NOW, and NEVER darken our doors again. All we ask is that U watch ONE film, and you give me this shit. I'm supposed to be impressed, hello? You think you're getting paid for this? OUT!!!" etc etc you get thee picture. Anyway, kieslowski's three colours films, I'll probably see next time the tyneside cinema (YES!!!! We DO have KULTUR in "zone 7"!!!) shows them. "3colours red" = one of the shittiest lammo bands that ever existed, and tony geezer = sux0r.

That is all, cheers cheers.

(vast sighs ov relief all round)

xoxo

― Norman Fay, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I like thembut mostly becasue I was a young lad who thought "art movies" and "foreign films" were ALWAYS good by rights. If I saw themagain I would proabbly be a bit bored.

― Mike Hanle y, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Dud dud dud. So dud. They are so boring. So devoid of anything to engage either intellect or emotion.

actually no, I seem to remember White has a few moments in which Julie Delpy is topless, and some of the stuff in Poland is mildly amusing. But the rest of the film is momumentally tiresome. As is Blue. I didn't bother with Red because I knew it would be awful as well.

― The Dirty Vicar, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I saw them mostly back-to-back and thought they were well worth it, but I suggest to you (DG) that you tape them if you can and watch them over two or three days instead, sitting through them back to back makes detracts from it a little I think.

― Josh, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Blue-- very somber; kinda pretty, kinda dull.

White-- lame "comedy".

Red-- actually quite interesting, Dirty Vicar. Much more lively than the preceding two, you should give it a look.

....BUT the better Kieslowski film is The Double Life Of Veronique. Mysterious, more in the vein of Red then Blue/White.

― Chris, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Can I run counter to received wisdom on this one? Blue: boring (Juliette Binoche: crushingly overrated or what?), Red: OK, White: very good. Admittedly, having lived in Poland might have helped, but as a rule I'll take Polish humour over French arthouse philosophising anyday (while I'm here, I'd like to say that Eric Rohmer is the worst director the world has ever known)....

― Mark Morris, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

The Double Life of Veronique is either the best film he ever made or a load of bollocks. Two women called Veronique living parallel lives, played by the same actress. What a bastard to follow! Especially when you're distracted by the Irène Jacob thing again. What is it about it that's good? I need hints for when I watch it again. As well as some kind of Deluxe DVD edition that flashes up 'FRENCH VERONIQUE' or 'POLISH VERONIQUE' depending on who is on screen or being talked about.

― Nick, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

'Double Life of Veronique' is the best because you get TWO Irene Jacobs for the price of one!! That's all ya need to know! (Oh and big raspberries to Mark Morris for slagging of J. Binoche - ignoring for a sec her obv. 'beauty', she gives one of the best performances I've ever seen in Michael Haneke's recent 'Code: Unknown' - Fact! Official!) Most start that 'Foreign Film Actors You Wouldn't Kick Out of Bed' thread - see also Bulle Ogier, Anna Karina, Belmondo etc. etc.

― Andrew L, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Have seen parts of all three, but could never be arsed to sit through any of them all the way. Dull dull dull. If I want pretty girls, I'll go meet them myself, and they don't have much else to offer.

― Sterling Clover, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Norman: Diamond Geezer was on Steve Wright in the Afternoon, wasn't he? Interestingly, Wright once became film critic of the Sun. Francois Truffaut once wrote that one of the downsides of film-making was that your films would be sneered at by "someone who has never seen a film of Murnau's". I wonder why I connect these two facts with each other ...

― Robin Carmody, Thursday, 12 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Betcha Steve Wright *has* seen Nosferatu...

― mark s, Thursday, 12 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Maybe he got sacked from the Sun after letting it slip ...

― Robin Carmody, Thursday, 12 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

The films: not that hot. Red: by far the best, I thought. White: passable, insufficient. Blue: quite bad.

In a way the meta-question is, What is good / bad about 'Art Cinema'?

― the pinefox, Thursday, 12 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

three years pass...

what about dekalog?

― cºzen (Cozen), Sunday, 31 October 2004 10:24 (twenty years ago) link

10 types of depression. that one about the kid drowning makes me sad just thinking about it. brrr.

― zappi (joni), Sunday, 31 October 2004 10:31 (twenty years ago) link

You can get Dekalog 2 for 1 in HMV, if you want. I used to have it on video. I liked some of them very much, well, I liked 'Love' very much, but some of them were quite heavy going. I would like to see them again though.

What about the earlier, less funny films? They are out on DVD now.

I saw 'Red' in the presence of the great man himself, so ner. I think I love him.

I think the trilogy is C.

It is good that they work well on the small screen. I wish more films did.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Sunday, 31 October 2004 10:32 (twenty years ago) link

I highly recommend his earlier stuff, esp. Blind Chance and No End. Be forewarned, however, that they are both quite dark.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 31 October 2004 11:18 (twenty years ago) link

five months pass...

"three colours blue" is much better than I remembered.

includes possibly the (second) funniest thing I have seen this year, as well.

the man who doesn't do light comedy, either.

― cozen (Cozen), Thursday, 7 April 2005 21:55 (nineteen years ago) link

haha mark s reviews kizloffski w.ref to BILLIE PIPER shockah

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 7 April 2005 22:00 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm surprsied to see the pinefox didn't like Bleu.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 7 April 2005 22:11 (nineteen years ago) link

eleven months pass...

mega-retro in NYC:

http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/showing/kieslowski.html

Suggestions what I should see that's not on DVD? I have The Scar pencilled in. Very much liked Decalog but Red more than the other coleurs...

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 20:40 (eighteen years ago) link

anthony lane on the double life of véronique

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:00 (eighteen years ago) link

I've seen two of these Kieslowski films, and think they are both rubbish.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:02 (eighteen years ago) link

You seen Camera Buff? Some beautiful scenes in that, and a whole world of meta that doesn't detract from the story.

― A Van That's Loaded With Mushy Peas (noodle vague), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:03 (eighteen years ago) link

That was an xpost btw. I dunno what to say to somebody who doesn't get Kieslowski.

― A Van That's Loaded With Mushy Peas (noodle vague), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm officially jealous of anyone that can make this retrospective.

― The Equator Lounge (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:12 (eighteen years ago) link

Red was good; there was no villain, no antagonist. Fuck dramatic convention.

― andy --, Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:14 (eighteen years ago) link

my memory of 'three colours' from the time: visually gorgeous, thematically underwhelming, beautiful women.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:17 (eighteen years ago) link

White is sitting on my coffee table right now. I watched Blue and wasn't impressed. Should I even bother?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:22 (eighteen years ago) link

what else you got going on?

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:25 (eighteen years ago) link

White is my least favorite. Red is the most accessible.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:35 (eighteen years ago) link

Why Red is the best: Jean-Louis Trintignant.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 21:42 (eighteen years ago) link

OTM

― The Equator Lounge (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 6 April 2006 01:19 (eighteen years ago) link

This is weird; my film teacher just told me about these films two weeks ago and told me I really should seek them out. According to him, they're classic.

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Thursday, 6 April 2006 01:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Love the way that Kieslowski grounds his metaphysical mumbo-jumbo in everyday actions/objects - superb set-dressing and attention-to-detail - while totally preserving ineffable sense of mystery blah blah

Which is why Red seems the strongest of the three. The trilogy is a perfect example of ideas which seem vaporous upon closer inspection but make all kinds of perverse sense when Kieslowski literalizes them -- just barely, though. Irene Jacob stealing a bit of yogurt after an intense bout of ballet in Red, the janitor interrupting a heated conversation between Jacob and Trintignant in the same film, Juliette Binoche impassively watching an old woman struggle to deposit trash in a dumpster in Blue.

I can still do without each film's particular color scheme though. THAT'S corny.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 6 April 2006 01:55 (eighteen years ago) link

red is the most dependent on the other two films n'es-ce pas? it's been AGES since i saw them. i like 'em a LOT better than the DIRE 'double life of veronique'.

saw 'camera buff' the other week. man it was grim in poland under the russians.

― Real Goths Don't Wear Black (Enrique), Thursday, 6 April 2006 13:12 (eighteen years ago) link

Dire!? I dreamt about 'The Double Life of Veronique' for a month after I saw it. What other film can claim such a thing?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 6 April 2006 13:18 (eighteen years ago) link

'mickey blue eyes'

― Real Goths Don't Wear Black (Enrique), Thursday, 6 April 2006 13:19 (eighteen years ago) link

~~I should have expressly excluded porn, huh?~~

Not nightmares, dreams!

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 6 April 2006 14:01 (eighteen years ago) link

Poland under Russians = obviously grim but as I've said elsewhere that movie also reminded me a lot of early 80s "Thatcher's Britain is grim" dramas like Black Stuff et al.

― A Van That's Loaded With YSI? (noodle vague), Thursday, 6 April 2006 15:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I can still do without each film's particular color scheme though. THAT'S corny.

give me a break!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 6 April 2006 15:12 (eighteen years ago) link

sixteen years pass...

4K restorations making the rounds this summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HeEUjqsI1M

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 23 June 2022 20:01 (two years ago) link

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