I continued my cinematic education this afternoon by watching part two of Kieslowski's trilogy “Three Colours White” on DVD (part one “Blue” is definitely one of my all time favourite films and I’ve yet to see “Red”). The film originally came out in 1993!
Although not quite in the same class as “Blue”, I really enjoyed it. I was struck by the greyness of its setting (by and large) and also surprised by the fact that it was a droll, almost cruel, black comedy (apparently it’s the light relief of the Trilogy). The main character Karol (played by Zbignieu Zamachowski) is a Polish hairdresser; his French wife Dominique (Julie Delpy) divorces him after six months of unconsummated marriage in Paris and the rest of the film is essentially about him plotting to win her back.
I’ve just looked up the Film Four Review and it reckons that the last few seconds of the film - in which the two leads conduct a sign language conversation across a prison yard (if the film wasn’t 16 years old, I’d be really nervous about giving anything away!) - is a “transcendent moment of modern cinema”. Although I think the scene is quite touching, I’m not sure I quite agree with Film Four’s assessment. However, with my somewhat limited experience as a cinema-goer/film-watcher, you will appreciate that I’m no Mark Kermode!
Although not quite in the same class as “Blue”, I really enjoyed it. I was struck by the greyness of its setting (by and large) and also surprised by the fact that it was a droll, almost cruel, black comedy (apparently it’s the light relief of the Trilogy). The main character Karol (played by Zbignieu Zamachowski) is a Polish hairdresser; his French wife Dominique (Julie Delpy) divorces him after six months of unconsummated marriage in Paris and the rest of the film is essentially about him plotting to win her back.
I’ve just looked up the Film Four Review and it reckons that the last few seconds of the film - in which the two leads conduct a sign language conversation across a prison yard (if the film wasn’t 16 years old, I’d be really nervous about giving anything away!) - is a “transcendent moment of modern cinema”. Although I think the scene is quite touching, I’m not sure I quite agree with Film Four’s assessment. However, with my somewhat limited experience as a cinema-goer/film-watcher, you will appreciate that I’m no Mark Kermode!
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