Three Colors: Red (1994)

Its my favourite film because there's so much going on that you don't see at first and so many things that make you wonder "Did Kieslowski mean that or is it in my head?" For instance - is the judge meant to be God or some supreme being ?

Also Irene Jacob as in The Double Life Of Veronique is outstanding, there may be a few superficially prettier actresses but none who manage to convey beauty of spirit with physical beauty the way she does.

Tritingnant also is magnificent without really saying much and the things he does say are excellent such as his answer to Valentine . . . "Be".

Fmovies: It is not only difficult to comment separately on the three parts of Kieslowski's trilogy, it seems obvious that the filmmaker wants us to do just the opposite: view them in order, Blue, White, and Red, and consider them together as one complete work. It is true they are distinct stories with distinct themes: liberty, equality, fraternity, and each them is developed with unique applications of intrigue and artistry. They are each well worth seeing independently, but I believe they are best seen as one work. Collectively, I would rate the trilogy as a 9; separately, I place each in my top ten for the years 1993 and 1994.

The color red is most memorable in the third movie as a backdrop in a billboard ad, the profiled model of which is the central of the movie's three main characters. The other two characters do a double-take of a varying degree of recognition when they first come upon the ad, posted larger than life alongside a busy city intersection. This ad is not a major part of the plot of this movie, yet its image becomes striking and is one of the reasons I have called Red a `mind-bending' film. This is the third of Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy, based on the Blue-White-Red of the French flag and the three parts of its motto, `Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.' The films stay primarily focused on these themes, keeping with the basic levels of one, two, or three main characters, yet with each film the complexity of plot escalates as the three principles move from fundamentally personal (Liberty, Blue) to relational (Equality, White) to social (Fraternity, Red). Red is my favorite of these films, and I give it a 9. It stands by itself as a great film, but one should see Blue and White first for the fullest effect.

The final part of Kieslowski's trilogy based on the colors of the French flag finds the director at peace with the metaphysical and transcendent nature of the cinematic image. In Red, imagery is paramount, as well as the obvious but clever color coding. However, rather than adhering to empty aesthetic contrivances based on the 'cinema du look', Kieslowski's Red is a multi-layered, densely plotted meditation on the nature of fate and love. In Red, love and fate are intertwined but complex notions, dictated as much by the whims of human beings as the invisible parallel associations that seems to pass us by. You sense Red is really an allegory, a reenactment of Prospero's omnipresent gestures in The Tempest, yet it is more than its story appears. Red demands countless viewings, and in each viewing something new is discovered that weaves itself into the already immaculately plotted structure.

Although Red stands alone as a masterwork from Kieslowski, it's best viewed as part of the trilogy. Elements of Blue and White are referenced in Red, which knowing viewers will enjoy.

Three Colors: Red fmovies. I feel at a loss, so brilliant is this film. Kieslowski is a writer, a philosopher; and while an excellent filmmaker, his greatness lies in his writing; and "Red" is his paradigm. This film is a metafictional study of the artist's judgement in the creation of his fictional world; of how an artist can attempt to remake life -- even his own -- thru his art, even as he cannot escape the knowledge that, no matter how he involves himself in his story, it is still fiction and he is still outside of his remade world, still burdened with its unreality and the reality of the life he has tried to artistically remake. And magically, all of this is not to the smallest degree at the expense of a wonderful story about the mysteries of love and fate and the characters who live out this story, this pre-judged destiny. If I had to choose, I might nominate this the greatest film ever made.

The final and most haunting of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's (Oscar-nominated) "Three Colors" Trilogy. "Red" completed a trilogy which paid homage to France and also sent a gift of philosophy and originality to the world cinema. It is once again modern-day France and a beautiful young model (the illuminating Irene Jacob) accidentally runs over a dog in her car. She discovers the dog belongs to an old retired court judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant). Trintignant is an elderly man who is a natural cynic and proves that the world is not what it seems by spying on all those around him in the neighborhood (even going so far as tapping into others' phone conversations). Jacob and Trintignant then go on an emotional journey together to learn that we are all connected in this topsy-turvy world. Thus the film ends up representing the French flag's red which shows the nation's fraternity. In the end the series is wrapped up with the strangest of twists that admittedly feels a little a forced. All three films in the trilogy are neatly tied together and that is really the only problem I had with this otherwise fine motion picture. Kieslowski and long-time co-writer Krzysztof Piesecwicz (Best Original Screenplay Oscar nominees in 1994) put a yellow ribbon on a strong professional partnership that always toed the line of greatness and went over the top here. When the "Three Colors" Trilogy was completed, Kieslowski (who had dominated the French and Polish cinema for nearly 25 years) vowed that he would never work again in movies. Sadly that would become a reality as the famed director would die in 1996, still in his mid-50s. Krzysztof Kieslowski's works are highly deep and very philosophical in all major respects. His trilogy was a fitting conclusion to a wonderful career and "Red" is a crowning achievement to one the finest film-makers who ever lived. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This is the last film of Krzysztof Kieslowski - one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. He intended to retire after this film, so in a way it is his artistic testament. He died a couple of years after making the film, and though it is said that he intended to return to directing, Destiny decided that this was indeed his last. And what a film!

'Rouge' the last film in the three colors French trilogy is actually a very Swiss film. Set in Geneva, one of the two main characters is a Swiss retired judge, and Durenmatt immediately comes to mind. But there is more Switzerland in the cool atmosphere, in the lack of communication of the characters, in the politeness that envelops cruelty of life. Several characters who start with little relationship will come together at the end in a moving and human final, which only a great artist could have staged.

Little else can be said that was not said and written hundred of times. Yes, the film starts slowly, and the fans of the American style of action movies or melodramas will get discouraged first and will get lost as viewers. They deserve it. The film gets quality as it advances, and one of the not so hidden messages is that real life and real humans are more interesting than the Hollywood cartoon and plastic action and characters. Cinema quality is very original, the image being a 'Study in Red', as the title shows. Acting is fabulous, with Irene Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant - the later in what will remain probable the best role of his old age.

A great film. Seeing it again probably adds, and I am happy to have it recorded on tape. 9/10 on my personal scale.