THREE COLORS: BLUE
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1994 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Regent, Charlotte Very. Screenplay: Krzysztof Kieslowski & Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski.
I can't claim that my experience with French films has been all that extensive, but the limited experience I have had has lent itself to the following stereotypical image: two characters sitting in a dimly lit cafe, smoking cigarettes and speaking cryptically to one another in extremely muted tones. These films tended to deal with emotionally stunted people in an emotionally stunted manner, potentially intriguing but inert, if not downright soporific. It caused me no end of amusement to find a scene exactly like the one I just described in Krzysztof Kieslowski's THREE COLORS: BLUE. It caused me more pleasure to discover that scene only one part of a complex and fascinating character study of grief, directed with a mesmerizing grace. So now I wonder...is it French cinema that has changed, or is it me?
THREE COLORS: BLUE opens with a car crash which claims the life of renowned composer Patrice de Courcy and his five-year-old daughter, leaving wife Julie (Juliette Binoche) as the only survivor. Julie first considers suicide, but eventually decides to sever all ties with her previous life and move into a small flat in Paris. There she wishes nothing more than to spend the rest of her days doing nothing, free of the loves and friendships she describes as "traps." However, she finds that freedom difficult, as she develops a friendship with neighbor Lucille (Charlotte Very). When her husband's former partner Olivier (Benoit Regent) goes public with his intention to complete Patrice's unfinished final concerto, Julie is forced to confront facts which might finally shake her from her reverie.
From a narrative standpoint, BLUE is not the most easily accessible of films. There is very little dialogure, in fact very little sound of any kind; even the car crash is notable for its understatement. Only the occasional explosions of Zbigniew Preisner's score tend to break the silence, loading the music with significance. Kieslowski chooses to allow us into Julie's world almost entirely through images, but how arresting those images are. In one scene, Julie sits in a cafe and listens to a street musician playing one of Patrice's compostions; Kieslowski indicates how long she stays simply through the changing shadows cast by Julie's coffee cup. Another scene shows Julie standing in her flat as a man runs down the hall banging on doors, seeking help while being chased, apparently by muggers. It's a confident but rarely showy directing job by Kieslowski, allowing Julie's story to unfold slowly and clearly.
The centerpiece of BLUE is the performance of Juliette Binoche as Julie, and it's a winner. While not the type of performance American film audiences are used to seeing, it is nonetheless extremely effective. Like many characters we saw in 1993, Julie tries to make herself safe by placing herself in an emotional vacuum, but she betrays her natural inclinations to reach out in scenes with her elderly mother and with Lucille. At times the role might appear one-note, yet there are deeper shadings. The early scene in which Julie sleeps with Olivier simply to provide him with closure to his previously unrequited love is strangely emotional. and her physical response to a group of young girls coming into the pool where she is swimming packs a punch. Binoche proves herself as deserving as any actor this year of Oscar consideration.
Where BLUE is likely to irritate many is in the deliberate opaquity of some of its images. Julie's reaction to the discovery of a nest of mice in her apartment never really connects, nor do the images of bungee jumping. A scene between Julie and the young man who witnessed the car crash seems repetitive, relevant only for the introduction of an object which will later prove significant. BLUE proves to be very slow going at times, and requires immense patience. However, as details concerning the relationship between Julie and Patrice unfold, such patience will be proved worthwhile. THREE COLORS: BLUE is an intensely focused examination of one woman's attempt at self-deception for her own perceived good, and will likely stick with me for some time.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 shades of blue: 8.
-- Scott Renshaw Stanford University Office of the General Counsel
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