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| Director: Krzysztof KieÅ> lowski |
| Screenplay: Krzysztof Piesiewicz and Krzysztof KieÅ> lowski |
| Stars: Irène Jacob (Valentine), Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Judge), Frederic Feder (Karin), Jean-Pierre Lorit (Auguste), Samuel Le Bihan (Photographer), Marion Stalens (Veterinarian), Teco Celio (Barman), Bernard Escalon (Record dealer), Jean Schlegel (Neighbor), Elzbieta Jasinska (Woman), Paul Vermeulen (Karin's friend), Jean-Marie Daunas (Theater Manager), Roland Carey (Drug dealer) |
| MPAA Rating: R |
| Year of Release: 1994 |
| Country: France / Poland / Switzerland |
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Three Colors: Red, the last film in Krzysztof KieÅ> lowski's trilogy based on the three ideals of the French national motto – liberty, equality, fraternity (liberty, equality, fraternity) – also turned out to be the final film of the great filmmaker's career. The film festival was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was a premonition that his life was drawing to a close (he died two years later at the age of 54). Red KieÅ> lowski's career, a summative capstone of not just Three Colors trilogy, but also of the director 's recurring themes of doubling, interconnectedness, and finding order in the context of a random occurrence.
Thus, it is only fitting that we begin Red at the end of the film, which features a simultaneous tragedy and miracle that features the characters in the trilogy. From one perspective, this is an act of extreme narrative contrivance, arguably bringing the film (and the trilogy) to an end on a note of absolute absurdity. Still, one can only see this ending Red as KieÅ> lowski and co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz bringing the characters together. But, what if we work backward, starting with the seven characters at the end of Red and think of them as an unlikely random assortment of human lives which lives in a tragic moment, and each of the films is KieÅ> lowski and Piesiewicz's exploration of their lives before they intersected? From that perspective, the ending of Red is not a contrivance, but rather one of an infinitesimal number of human interactions that takes place every second of every minute of every day of human history. That is where KieÅ> lowski's ambitions lie.
The nominal ideal behind Red is "fraternity," which suggests the coming together of people who have something in common. For KieÅ> lowski, our commonality is our humanity, which is why all the films in the trilogy feature characters are at some point alienated and alone before finding connection with others. in Red, we first meet Valentine (Irène Jacob, who also starred in The Double Life of Veronique), a fashion model living and studying in Geneva. She has a conversation that betray her incessant jealousy. Valentine's life intersects with that of Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a reclusive retired judge who spends his time spying on his neighbors via their cordless phones, when she accidentally hits her dog with her car. Valentine and Kern would seem to have nothing in common, yet they are drawn together into a strangely affecting friendship that changes both of them immensely and for the better.
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Auguste (Jean-Pierre Lorit), is a young student who lives in the city of London. relationship with a woman named Karin (Frederic Feder). All of these characters – Valentine, Kern, Auguste, and Karin – live in intersecting orbits that none of them ever fully realize. Valentine and Auguste, often sharing the frame together, are each unaware of the other's existence. Karin, meanwhile, is one of Kern's neighbors and is unaware that he is listening to Auguste.
Kern is different, not only because of his voyeurism, but also because he seems to be possessed of some kind of second sight or premonition. This is revealed in moments both of the past and the future of the past and the future of the past. . Although he is first introduced to the epitome of the "creepy old man," Kern is eventually revealed to a man of great sadness who is lifted from his own self-imposed prison by nothing greater than Valentine's simple empathy. She feels as if she is disgusted by his behavior, and he is moved by her humanity and begins to reclaim her own.
Red is thus a beautiful film both emotionally and philosophically, not to mention aesthetically. Cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski (who was nominated for an Oscar and, like KieÅ> lowski, died far too young) emboldens the film's themes on interconnection and shared humanity with fluid tracking kind of omnipotence that provides a compelling sense of order. The color of the title is infused throughout the movie in ways both huge and small (the yogurt) Valentine image at at the the,,,,,,,,,,,,, and and and and and and ). We are, of course, invited to read in the color of multiple, sometimes contradictory ways, which is only one of the most emotionally intense colors on the spectrum and the most varied of symbolic meanings. Whatever we read in the color itself, it is inescapable that KieÅ> lowski 's use of it signals that it is completely unique to the human condition, which is, in and of itself, the perfect final statement of his impressive cinematic career.
| Three Colors: Red Criterion Blu-Ray Collection | |
 Three Colors: Red is also available as part of the three-disc "Blue White Red: Three Colors by Krzysztof KieÅ> lowski" box set (SRP $ 79.95), which also includes Three Colors: Blue (1993) and Three Colors: White (1994). The box set is also available on DVD. |
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| Aspect Ratio | 1.78: 1 |
| audio |
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| subtitles | English |
| Supplements |
Three Colors: Blue
Three Colors: White Three Colors: Red |
| Distributor | The Criterion Collection |
| SRP | $ 79.95 (box set) |
| Release Date | November 15, 2011 |
| VIDEO & AUDIO | |
| All three movies in the Three Colors Trilogy looks absolutely gorgeous. Criterion has delivered a trio of top-notch transfers that have had their last release 17 years ago. Blue and White were transferred from 35mm interpositives, while Red was negative from the original 35mm negative camera, and all were given digital restoration to remove all signs of dirt and age. All three movies are simply amazing, with great contrast and detail, good depth, a fine veneer of grain to give them a pleasantly filmlike appearance, and absolutely gorgeous colors that are much more naturalistic and less manipulated than the previous DVD releases. The blues, whites, and reds that dominate the respective films are appropriately cool, clean, and sensual. I can not imagine the movies looking much better on video. The two-channel surround soundtracks were digitally transmitted at 24-bit from the original 35mm magnetic tracks and all sound fantastic. Sound is a crucial element of KieÅ> lowskiâ € ™ s films, whether it is the orchestral scores or the diegetic sounds that, if not more, narrative and thematic information than the visuals. The soundtracks, which have been digitally restored, are well developed and have an impressive robustness and sense of depth for two-channel mixes. | |
| SPECIAL FEATURES | |
| As befits a box set dedicated to the thematically and narratively interlocking movies of the Three Colors trilogy, there are a series of repeating rhymes and patterns in the supplements for each of the three movies.
In place of an audio commentary, each film is given a new 20-minute visual essay in which an esteemed film scholar examines its themes and aesthetics: Blue is covered by film studies professor Annette Insdorf, White Tony Rayns, while Red Dennis Lim. Each of the three films also contains a "Cinema Lesson With Director" Krzysztof KieÅ> lowski, "Which are short video pieces that seemingly ran on French television around 1994." In each piece KieÅ> lowski sits at an editing table and discusses in detail how he conceived and shot a particular scene from the respective film (the sugar cube sequence Blue, the opening credits sequence in White, and Rita running away from Valentine in Red). Each film features original theatrical trailer, as well as video interviews (running an average of 19 to 20 minutes in length) with KieÅ> lowskiâ € ™ s collaborators that shed light on the production of each film and what it was like to work with the masterful director. We Blue we got an interview with composer Zbigniew Preisner, who has collaborated with KieÅ> lowski on numerous projects since the mid-1980s, including The Decalogue and all three Colors movies. Tea White The interview with co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz (who co-wrote all three films) and interviews with actors Zbigniew Zamachowski and Julie Delpy. And the Red features features interviews interviews Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Ir Blue). Criterion has also emerged from the archives, giving an impressive array of older material to help contextualize the movies and shed some light on the KieÅ> lowski's career. Tea Blue disc features two student films from 1966, The Tram, which KieÅ> lowski directed, and The Face, in which he starred, from what I gather, have never been available in Region 1. These include a selected-scene commentary by Juliette Binoche and two featurettes: "Reflections on Blue, "which runs about 18 minutes, and" KieÅ> lowski: The Early Years, "which runs about 15 minutes Both featurettes include interviews with actor Juliette Binoche, film scholar Annette Insdorf, movie critic Geoff Andrew, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer SÅ , Idziak awomir, actor Irène Jacob, and editor Jacques Witta. White we have two of KieÅ> lowski's short documentaries, Seven Women of Different Ages (1978) and Talking Heads (1980), a brief making-of featurette from 1994 that features behind-the-scenes footage during the production of White. And, on the Red We also have a short behind-the-scenes featurette from 1994, a short documentary about the film's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and Krzysztof KieÅ> lowski: I'm so-so … (1995), a 55-minute documentary that is essentially a lengthy interview with Kieślowski at his home in Poland. It was aired on Danish television and was completed less than a year before the director's death. And, finally, the handsomely designed box set also includes a thick insert booklet that features essays by film critics Colin MacCabe, Nick James, Stuart Klawans, and Georgina Evans; an excerpt from KieÅ> lowski on KieÅ> lowski; and reprinted interviews with cinematographers SÅawomir Idziak, Edward Klosinski, and Piotr Sobocinski. |
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Copyright © 2011 James Kendrick
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All images copyright © The Criterion Collection
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