Aug. 13, 2002 - 1:35 am

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Trois Couleurs: Bleu (1993)

a.k.a. Three Colors: Blue. this film won quite a few foreign awards, but none in the U.S. isn't that always how the good foreign films go? well i guess not always. it was nominated for a few Golden Globes though. so that's good at least. i had been wanting to see this one for a while ever since i heard earlier this year about the existence of this trilogy of films by Krzysztof Kieslowski. he's a Polish director who didn't do many narrative films like this. but just before he died in 1996 he had finished work on three films which were devoted to contemporary French life, situations, and emotions. if you didn't know, the French flag has 3 horizontal stripes which are blue, white, and red going from top to bottom. this film is the first of the trilogy and deals with a tragedy.

at the beginning of the film there is a car accident. the wife in the family is the only survivor. she's played by Juliette Binoche. her daughter and husband are killed in the crash. the rest of the film shows how she goes through her period of mourning. her husband was a famous composer, so there is a lot of beautiful and sad classical music in the film. and the color blue is almost a tangible aspect of the film. it's constantly present, as is the emotion that it represents.

this film's really nearly flawless. i have to admit that the fact that Juliette Binoche is in the film is what first drew me in. how can you not love her? she's just perfect in every conceivable way. but visually the movie is breathtaking. the sudden spurts of glorious music help you to feel the emotions that she's going through. wonderful cinematography. and i love how when you think back on this film you just have a picture of Juliette Binoche in your mind. it's a story about her character and what she's going through. and that's all you get. along with all of the complexity that that entails. and i love the open ending. it's really perfect because there's nowhere else to go when you survive a tragedy. things don't get tied up. they just move on and change.

if you like this film, you need to watch one of my favorites. Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas (1984).

i'm not sure if i will see the other two films of the trilogy or not. i guess i really should since i loved this one so much. i doubt that i will enjoy them as much because i know they won't be exactly the same for me. we'll see though.

update: well after glancing over the IMDb's top 250 it looks like Red (1994) is on the list at number 156. hmmm...maybe i should go for it.