Dug wrote:Jeff wrote:I watched Kieslowski's Red from his Three Colors trilogy last night. Excellent film, to say the very least. On first view, I must say that I prefer Blue, but I'd like to see it again and watch it more closely.
I absolutely
love Kieslowski's
Three Colours trilogy! Red is perhaps my favorite film of all time (followed very closely by Blue; White is excellent, too, but slightly more comedic, and not quite as amazing). They are fantastic films that reward multiple viewings and my wife and I find ourselves revisiting them about once a year.
It's worth watching them in order (Blue, White, Red), if only because of the added punch it adds to the final event depicted in Red. It is masterful the way the stories interrelate with each other in subtle ways (watch to see if you can catch the ways that events central to one film appear in the background of another, notice the way different characters react differently to the "bottle woman," etc.). The characters are compelling and the atmospheres very evocative and mesmerizing. They're quiet films that work on a surface, aesthetic level, but that also will bear a lot of thought and analysis. Kieslowski was an amazing director, and his unexpected death in the mid-90s was a real loss to the cinematic world.
Have you watched his
The Decalogue? It's a series of 10 dramatically diverse, hour-long films he did for Polish TV. They are excellent viewing, also, even if not quite the epic cinematic achievement of
Trois Couleurs. (The one for "Thou Shalt Not Kill," later expanded and released as "A Short Film About Killing," will stay with you for years.)
Kieslowski is certainly a member of my very short list of outstanding directors. I've screened
Blue several times, but last night was my first viewing of
Red.
White is in the hopper and will hopefully find itself in the player sometime next week. His use of foreshadowing and symbolism in the writing, and lighting, brilliant cinematography, and editing on screen create a world that is at once believable while also maintaining a sort of dream-like distance. While I did find
Red to be an excellent film, I found that
Blue's masterful depiction of the isolation of internalized guilt to be incredibly moving. Moreover, the grace experienced at the film's close was beautifully captured, yet remained within the realm of reason where a more melodramatic approach would have likely been adopted by an American director.
I was introduced to Kieslowski through the
Decalogue series. Although I've only seen the first half, I have had the opportunity to study the first film quite closely and consider it to be one of the single-most spiritually and emotionally powerful movies that I've ever seen. Once introduced to Kieslowski's trademark use of the sounds of silence in that film, I became hooked and have since had difficulty watching American films because they create and perpetuate our unrealistic expectations to be incessantly entertained.
In short, I'm happy to know that there's someone else here who appreciates his work!
