- It is the first film in Kieslowski’s Colours trilogy but also makes for a fine companion piece with The Double Life of Véronique which is Kieslowski’s film that precedes it. The story is a little easier to pin down here- it is about a tragedy, loss, and the freedom (or liberty) moving on from that
- A meditation on grief. A cinematic tone poem.
The blue color choice is brilliantly deployed. It matches the tenor – this is a somber film, a requiem in many ways.
- Juliette Binoche plays Julie- and like Véronique it is a one-woman show as far as acting. This is Binoche’s finest performance and that is high praise. The film opens on a horrific accident. Kieslowski starts the film with a close-up of the tire of the car (which he basically makes blue). He then uses a series of close-ups of her in absolute agony in the hospital recovering from her injuries and going through hell suffering.
- The blue color choice is brilliantly deployed. It matches the tenor – this is a somber film, a requiem in many ways. The color choice is carried out throughout the believable production design and décor—blue drapes this entire film. There is a child’s mobile with these jewel-like prism ornaments that Kieslowski uses time and time again- shooting through (at the 89 minute mark), around and off of. Kieslowski and DP Slawomir Idziak (in their final collaboration) even use a wrap or gel over the lens. So it isn’t just the objects in the film, the décor, the clothes, the ornaments—but there is a filter used that along with the lighting help transform everything to the melancholic hue
This is Binoche’s finest performance
here is a child’s mobile with these jewel-like prism ornaments that Kieslowski uses time and time again
Kieslowski and DP Slawomir Idziak (in their final collaboration) even use a wrap or gel over the lens. So it isn’t just the objects in the film, the décor, the clothes, the ornaments—but there is a filter used that along with the lighting help transform everything to the melancholic hue
- It is fascinating what they do with the color black actually- many films- from Nicholas Ray to Melville, to Heat have used dark blue as a stand-in for black/night. Here, Kieslowski does the opposite, he makes Binoche’s black hair look blue
- The pool she swims in alone—gorgeous– it isn’t as varied- but Argento’s Suspiria or Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg have nothing on Kieslowski’s work
The pool she swims in alone—gorgeous– it isn’t as varied- but Argento’s Suspiria or Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg have nothing on Kieslowski’s work
- Like Véronique it is about a musician. Julie’s husband was a world-famous composer working on an important piece of music at the time of his death
- a great showcase of Kieslowski’s visual acuity would be the landscape shot at the opening in this film- the sky is blue- but not in the way it sounds-this is like a lighter indigo compare this with the church landscape in Véronique
a great showcase of Kieslowski’s visual acuity would be the landscape shot near the opening in after the accident- the sky is blue- but not in the way it sounds-this is like a lighter indigo compare this with the church landscape in Véronique
- Many silent sequences with just Kieslowski’s jaw-dropping visuals and Binoche’s understated genius—the scene of her devouring her late child’s blue candy—gut-wrenching
- I think Steve McQueen’s Shame would make for a fine companion piece along with Antonioni’s Red Desert. Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin for sure. Ramsay’s films have these post-traumatic zombies (similar to Binoche’s Julie) and We Need To Talk About Kevin is even painted in a consistent color palette like Kieslowski’s work
- If I’m not mistaken they do borrow from Mozart’s “Requiem” and, if not, the piece that is part of the story of the film echoes it. Kieslowski also uses the music to tell us about character. When she suffers, Kieslowski will drop the screen to black, and emphasize the echoing score. It is playing in her head. She drifts from reality and the music paralyzes her- paired with the elliptical editing. This is strong stylistic cinema putting the viewer in Julie’s headspace.
- The film ends with an elliptically edited montage of close-ups of the characters in the film—and then finally with a prolonged close-up on Binoche’s canvas of a face and blue lighting reflected off it.
- A masterpiece
My constant struggle with these films was wether I preferred Blue or Red (though I believe White is vastly underrated – nonetheless, still not on the same level as those). I like both and I don’t even have to choose, so that’s great, but I do think that Blue is a more immersive cinematic experience. In fact it is one of the most immersive films I’ve seen and on that front it really reminded me of Under the Skin and Kubrick’s work (there is obviously considerable difference in tone, but immersion they do have in common). I will completely agree with the Shame, Red Desert and We Need to Talk About Kevin comparisons.
Blue is a film that pleasantly surprised me because it’s one of those movies that you just hear a lot about – some people adore it, others scoff a bit at all the pretentiousness that is sometimes characteristic to the former, a lot of people dismiss it as being too slow or too artsy or whatever. So I didn’t really know what to expect and it was the first Kieslowski film I saw. Well, I thought it was brilliant.
It’s a beautiful cinematic masterpiece and it’s incredibly musical for a non-musical film. Utterly atmospheric and immersive, it takes you on Julie’s journey from grief and trauma to freedom. As you said it puts us in her headscape and it works masterfully. I read somewhere that the three feature films stand for each of the words in the national motto of the French Revolution. So Blue would stand for Freedom, which would make perfect sense meaning that she is constantly battling against her demons and tries to overcome the tragedy of her husband’s and child’s death, and trying to be set free.
It all boils down to Kieslowski’s visual genius. The shots are all beautiful and the presence of blue is incredibly prominent -what a surprise -, without it acquiring a cold tone, as is the case with Fincher’s palette choices for example. Every frame is pure art and it all blends together beautifully into tonal, visual and cinematic unity.
Binoche is amazing here and our vehicle to this character’s world. Her performance is understated throughout the film, with sorrow and restraint painted all over her face until the final shot – she cries. We are reminded of the help’s remark that she never did cry for her loss and once she does here, she is finally free. There is this insinuation throughout the film that she was the one who in fact wrote her husband’s music, which I think makes the loss even greater, as with her partner she also loses a part of herself, a sort of different “child” other than her real one – her music. It also helps us perceive her feelings toward her husband, who he really was to her. When she is unable to kill the mice in her closet and has the neighbour’s cat do it, I believe her situation mirrors her emotional state – an inability to rid of her fears and grief, in the case that the mice represent the “ghosts” of her loved ones. A certain numbness.
The scene when she visits her mother and the television showing a person skiing – I feel like this scene is the key to the entire film. The problem is that I haven’t watched the film in a while and and I need to revisit it and try to decipher that part.
That said, I always thought the key to perceiving the trilogy’s existential and philosophical dimensions is the old lady trying to throw her trash but not being tall enough to reach the can. One ignores her, absorbed in her troubles, one is inspired by her and one finally helps her. Despite each film’s own message, I think they all make for a beautiful hymn to humanity, creating the sense that everything is connected and every little thing is worth much more than what it may seem. A gigantic cinematic achievement.
@Georg– that a great addition to the page Georg. Thank you! “Every frame is pure art and it all blends together beautifully into tonal, visual and cinematic unity.”– well done!
@Drake- don’t even mention it. Your site is literally an oasis for cinephiles – objective, creative, all encompassing and on top of it all, very friendly and open to discussions. I really appreciate your work here, and I’m sure many will agree.
I sure do.
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