Three Colors Trilogy (Blue / White / Red)

I just rewatched all three movies again and I must say that Red is by far the best film where magic happend. The other two just are not up to par with Red, but Red is an exceptional film that is so rare to find. Red was so relaxing to watch! It feels like a poem or watching a painting come to life. I believe it is about how compassion, or opening of the heart, splits all notions of time and space and exposes a different reality that is just outside the one we are living in, as in an alternate reality. The powerful force of a compassionate heart changes the destiny of several lives. It is a story about the breaking through to the divine within the human heart that connects us all; the mysterious dimension of the universe that is not available to the senses and is much bigger then the human seen dimension. The woman in the movie, Valentine, was sad and went through the motions of her life seemingly disconnected from herself and her happiness. Her boyfriend was jealous and was not sure he loved her, and her brother was on the streets from drug use and Valentine seemed to be void of life, even though she was a successful model and ballerina dancer. As they showed her life they also showed the life of her across the street neighbor. He was studying to become a Judge and he too had a life that was not fulfilling or living up to his potential. Valentine and the young man never met, but their stories intertwined as if they were just out of sync with time. Mysterious and spiritual forces worked in the background weaving their lives together. One day Valentine was driving around sad and she hit a dog. She jumped out of the car and saw the dog was bleeding. She took it to the owner outside of town. He was a dejected and bitter older retired Judge, who spent his time listening in on telephone conversations of his neighbors through a radio he setup. Once Valentine heard the conversations she became agitated and told him it is wrong. She was a sweet innocent young woman pure in beauty and their lives touched. Her loving heart changed him and he later turned himself into the police and they shut down his radio for good. She saw that in the paper and went to see him. It was his birthday and they shared some peach brandy and talked about their lives. She was to go see her boyfriend and he told her to take the Ferry. She bought a ticket. Meanwhile the young Judge found out his girlfriend was cheating on him and he got dejected and followed her around. He too got a ticket on the same ferry as Valentine. The older Judge came to see Valentine at her modeling show and he told her similar stories of his life that mirrored the life of the young Judge. He then told her the story of his love cheating on him, just like the young Judge's story but having it end there with him lost never finding love again. Then he said that maybe the woman he never met was Valentine, making the story really feel magical like the alternate reality, just out of sync with time, would happen. And when the Ferryboat capsized and we saw the survivors as Valentine and the young Judge, we knew they would have the life they were both meant to have and somehow the older Judge would have that life too. Excellent movie that just feels so good. The streets of the small European town, the building and their environments were all so beautiful and magical as well. I like those big coffee cups and the warm cozy feel of their lives. No cell phones, no TV's just life pure and simple and how compassion can open the heart and transform lives so profoundly that lost lives can become renewed and the very reality of time as we know it can be changed forever. Love is the healing force of the world that is what is required to transcend stuck sorrowful lives. One of the best films ever made.

This is just beautiful, beautiful master film making from one of the best director of films of any country (Kieslowski). The movies are rightly understated, smart and well crafted. I highly suggest watching them in order BLUE, WHITE, and RED and watch how things just comes perfectly together in RED. Kieslowski excellent use of music in BLUE is nothing short of amazing and is also acts and an unseen character. Plus Juliette Binoche is amazing to watch. She is extremely convincing as a woman in real grief. White starring another well known French actress, Julie Delpy and polish actor Zbigniew Zamachowski is more comedic and the actor plots his revenge on his French ex-wife and then there is the magnificent of Red starring Irene Jacob, as a young model who discovers an ex-judge has been listening on the conversation of those around him. I don't speak a lick of french and the films are in French with English subtitle, but after awhile, you will forget you are reading and become engrossed in just good story tellling. It is not for those who are looking for the type of drama, we here in America are use to, but this is CLEARLY the best foreign films ever made. I recommend this only for older audiences (over 25) probably over 30. There may be a few younger folks who may get into this, but this film is for people who appreciate a nicely even, perhaps slow paced film. I am not trying to be an elitist, far from it. I wish that everyone would view these films for themselves because they are crafted so well and the filming is so smart. The colors represent the color AND meaning of the colors of the French flag. I was sooooo excited when they FINALLY realeased these films on DVD. For you true film fans out there, this is a must own collection.

Good God people! When first we wade through the effusive praises heaped upon Kieslowski's metaphysical interpretation (so to speak) of le drapeau tricolore by so many star-struck and goggle-eyed foreign film enthusiasts that the reviews become indistinguishable, we are inclined at first to be dismissive in our reading. However it may appear that this review is nothing more than a rant contre les autres (against the others) it is not. I promised some reality didn't I? In reality these reviews, the majority of which though rather over the top, have been just in their critique of the trilogy. Within reason however Kieslowski's masterpiece is NOT as many profess the GREATEST FOREIGN FILMAKING of ALL time. Ah yes, I fully endorse the enthusiastic post coital praises, the rose tinted glasses, the luscious afterglow of film magic, yet shouldn't we also visit Truffaut (the workman filmaker), Bertolucci's 1900 perhaps, lest we forget Felini or Schlorndorf's The Tin Drum, or the daring of German Expressionists like Murnau or Fritz Lang? Now, leaving out but not forgetting many other auteurs like Wertmuller, Visconti, Passolini, and more, we have a veritable Mt. Olympus of film greats among whom Kieslowski rests comfortably. His achievement stands by itself as a work by a storyteller. A director tells a story and does it well, he earns his living. He crafts, imbues, layers and provokes in the same medium as storyteller, and if he leaves us yearning for more then this may be greatness. This director has met these parameters and exceeded them. These three films achieved what he set out to accomplish. They were pieces in a lyric poem told visually, emotionally, and with enough obscurity they left us thinking and questioning. The director succeded and we went home to digest it, his little post cold war morality play on liberté, égalité, et fraternité. In conclusion, another small dose of reality: The only negative review encountered was in the end the most honest and real including this one. Though I disagree, and would council that reviewer to wean his dependence upon naive and simplistic cinema, which so conveniently wraps up all loose ends so we may go home secure in the knowlege that there isn't anything out there we might not comprehend, I neither fault nor denigrate his opinion which is personal. There is much to be thankful for in American cinema and much greatness therein as well. Let us be careful in our use of superlatives and generalizations when judging the work of others, yet still recommend on merit with qualified praise. Finally, if you the viewing public has yet to see these films then do so. Blue, White and Red are well worth your time. Having been a serious student of film for over 25 years now, I give my guarantee that anyone who's an admirer of European film will profit from and be enriched by the experience.

There is no reason you should be debating to buy this set if you found your way here. I actually had not seen the trilogy until I purchased this. The triology tries to take a story on each of the 3 colors of france, and in my opinion, Kieslowski sure was successful! Blue, the first film, tells the story of a woman who loses her husband and tries to isolate herself from society. Blue was a "wowing" film if I ever saw one. After the first viewing it immediately went to my top 10 list. Juliette Binoche's is one of the best I've EVER seen...it made me hurt. The only better performance I've seen is in Dreyer's the Passion of Joan of Arc. This was such a deeply moving movie and I view it as the best of the trilogy. The second film, White, is about a couple who are breaking up, but the man still deeply loves his wife. With all the hurt she has caused him, he seeks vengeance. This film is a semi-black comedy and didn't appeal to me all the much, but it was very, very much better than average and I enjoyed it thoroughly Red, the final film, is about a woman who becomes enthralled by her stalker neighbor. This is my 2nd favorite film of the trilogy. The story brought the 3 (basically) unrelated films together to a nice conclusion. These are 3 wonderful films, with excellent transfers and some nifty features. Kieslowski has really done a fine job of analyzing and examinating humans and our ways. These films sum up what life is about. It's hard for words to describe the genius of these films. I would buy the trilogy again if it cost 3x what it goes for on amazon. Buy it now!

If you love intense, thoughtful love stories you will love these.

. In the Three Colours Trilogy, the late director Krzysztof Kieslowski poses subtle questions about the nature of our individual identities. Like Shakespeare, he draws a map of the human soul. In Blue we meet Julie who has just lost her husband and daughter in a road accident. She seeks liberty from her sadness by attempting reinvent herself and isolate herself from her previous life. But, she is ceaselessly drawn back into the past by the people of her life. No, for Julie there is no escape from who she is or who she was. In White, oddly enough, a black humour pervades. It is a tale of marital revenge and the strange odysseys that love can often send us on. Our hero Karol Karol must discover the hard way that one does not achieve true equality in revenge, even perfect revenge. Red deals with the nature of coincidence, parallel lives and unlikely friendships. In this regard it is not unlike La Double Vie De Veronique. It shares the same lead actress (the highly talented Irene Jacob) and the same levels of innuendo and suggestion. One gets the feeling that there are mysteries within mysteries here as the story of our heroine's friendship with a retired judge unfolds. At the very end of Red, the lead characters from the Trilogy come together for one brief moment. To say more would spoil it - but it's highly satisfying. If you enjoy good film-making and like stories that put the human condition centre stage don't miss this trilogy. See them in order and see them all! FIVE STARS for the Three Colours!

This is a great set of films. Blue tends to drag on a bit, but the other two blew me away. White is really good. The movies don't really correlate between each other, but the end of Red shows a little tie in between all of them. Great movie collection in general.

The three should be watched in the correct order: Blue, White, Red. The last is the best, and honestly, I cannot find a flaw in Red. I don't believe I've ever said this about any film. Kieslowski has created the ultimate (and last) work of a lifetime of observing humans with both a heart and objectivity. 'White', the least of the three, is nevertheless an excellent film that holds our curiosity throughout, and also touches us emotionally without the least hint of sentimentality. The acting is excellent, and the pacing, though slow in the European tradition, is near perfect. Each movie has a very competent and useful feature-length commentary. In addition, each also has several very useful extras that round out our understanding of the films' narratives, the techniques employed in their making, and the director/writer. The quality of the video is good, and the audio is in foreign language with yellow subtitles.

I've been trying to change my movie habits from watching the usual stuff Holywood churns out to trying to watch more highly acclaimed foreign films. I was recently recommend The Three Colours Trilogy. Wow! What an amazing trilogy. The whole trilogy is a masterclass in storytelling by the writer/director. Although it does seem like it first, all three connect with each other, which makes the whole story even more watchable. The first film Three Colours Blue is a hard watch, but I advise you stick with it because the acting and writing is superb. The second film Three Colours White is probably my favourite out of three, it probably more lighter in tone and at first you sympathise with the main character, but as the story goes on, my feelings for him changed, eventually finding him a bit a cruel. The third - Three Colours Red - ties all three films together in such a way it causes you to look at your own life. If you are looking for something different to watch, and don't mind subtitles, then I cannot recommend this trilogy highly enough.

Trois très beaux films

I've watched it several times, and will keep coming back to that brilliant trilogy. Kieslowski is the Master. A must have for those who love insightful European cinema.

Wonderful stories, excellent casting/directing and beautiful cinematography.

Tout simplement un chef d’œuvre et un classique.