Valentine is a young model living in Geneva.
Because of a dog she ran over, she meets a retired judge
who spies his neighbours' phone calls, not for money but
to feed his cynicism. The film is the story of relationships
between some human beings, Valentine and the judge, but
also other people who may not be aware of the relationship
they have with Valentine or/and the old judge. Redemption,
forgiveness and compassion...
As in the previous two films, a single
color dominates: numerous objects in the film are bright
red, including the huge advertising banner featuring Valentine's
facial profile. Several images recur throughout the film.
Telephone communication is important throughout, and so
is broken glass (when Kern reveals his eavesdropping, his
neighbors throw rocks through his windows, and the end of
the film Kern watches Valentine and Auguste on the news
while watching the outside world through broken glass).
Also, when Valentine is bowling, the camera moves down the
line to where there sits a broken glass next to a packet
of Marlboro cigarettes, which is the brand that Auguste
smokes.
A symbol common to the three films is
that of an underlying link or thing that keeps the protagonist
linked to his/her past, in the case of Red the judge never
closes his doors or gates, despite the fact that he wants
to be cut off from everything; also relevant are fountain
pens, in a seemingly unconnected scene August gets a fountain
pen as a gift and he wonders how many destinies he will
change with the pen, later in the film Judge Kern is about
to write letters to his neighbours denouncing himself as
a spy and his pen stops working and he is forced to write
his letters with a pencil. In the case of Three Colors:
White the items that link Karol to his past are a 2 Fr.
coin and a plaster bust that he stole from an antique store
in Paris. In the case of Blue it is a lamp of blue beads
and a recurring image of people falling.
Another recurring image related to the
spirit of the film is that of elderly people recycling bottles;
in the case of Red an old woman cannot reach the hole of
the container and Valentine helps her (in the spirit of
solidarity underlying the film). In Three Colors: Blue,
an old woman in Paris is recycling bottles and Julie does
not notice her (in the spirit of freedom); in Three Colors:
White, an old man also in Paris is trying to recycle a bottle
but cannot reach the container and Karol looks at him with
a sinister grin on his face (in the spirit of equality).
This film also depicts topics of Law Philosophy
and the manner in which man acts in society, the relationship
between the law, ethics and socially acceptable behaviour
and how not all of them coincide, particularly in the reflections
by Judge Kern and some symbols related to Auguste.
The film has been interpreted as an anti-romance, in parallel
with Blue being an anti-tragedy and White being an anti-comedy.[2]
Three Colors: Red (French: Trois Couleurs:
Rouge, Polish: Trzy kolory. Czerwony) is a 1994 French-Polish-Swiss
co-production, co-written, produced, and directed by Polish
filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski. It is the final film of
the Three Colors trilogy, which examines the French Revolutionary
ideals; it is preceded by Blue and White. Kieslowski had
announced that this would be his final film[1], 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
The Three Colors Trilogy (Polish: Trzy
kolory) is the collective title of three films a
trilogy directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, two made
in French and one primarily in Polish: Trois couleurs: Bleu
(Three Colors: Blue) (1993), Trzy kolory: Bialy (Three Colors:
White) (in French: Blanc) (1994), and Trois couleurs: Rouge
(Three Colors: Red) (1994). All three were co-written by
Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz (with story consultants
Agnieszka Holland and Slawomir Idziak) and have musical
scores by Zbigniew Preisner.
The films were Kieslowski's first major
successes outside of Poland, and are his most acclaimed
works after The Decalogue.
Awards
National Board of Review, Best Foreign
Language Film
New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Best Foreign Language
Film
National Society of Film Critics Awards, Best Foreign Language
Film
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Best Foreign
Film
Zbigniew Preisner won the Cesar Award for Best Music.
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Genre: Drama
Year: 1993
Runtime: 99 min
Country: France
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Writing credits:
Krzysztof Kieslowski (scenario)
Krzysztof Piesiewicz (scenario)
Executive producer Yvon Crenn
Producer Marin Karmitz
Original Music: Zbigniew Preisner
Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski
Film Editing Jacques Witta
Colour: Colour (Eastmancolor)
Sound Mix: Dolby SR
Cast
Irène Jacob ... Valentine Dussaut
Jean-Louis Trintignant ... Le juge
Frédérique Feder ... Karin
Jean-Pierre Lorit ... Auguste Bruner
Samuel Le Bihan ... Le photographe
Marion Stalens ... Le Vétérinaire
Teco Celio ... Le barman
Bernard Escalon ... Le disquaire
Jean Schlegel ... Le voisin
Elzbieta Jasinska ... La femme
Paul Vermeulen ... (Karen's friend)
Jean-Marie Daunas (Theatre manager)
Roland Carey ... Drug dealer)
Brigitte Raul
Leo Ramseyer
Nader Farman
Cécile Tanner
Anne Theurillat
Neige Dolsky
Jessica Korinek
Marc Autheman (voice)
Juliette Binoche Julie Vignon (de Courcy)
Julie Delpy ... Dominique
Benoît Régent ... Olivier
Zbigniew Zamachowski ... Karol Karol
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