THREE COLORS: WHITE
A film review by David Yang
Copyright 1994 David Yang
Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski With Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Stuhr Director of photography: Edward Klosinski Music: Zbigniew Preisner Producer: Marin Karmitz Released by Miramax In French and Polish with English subtitles Rated R
WHITE, or TROIS COULEURS: BLANC, is the second film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy, though it is an independent story which happens to be taking place at the same time. (The first, BLUE, not to be confused with the Derek Jarman film, came out last year, and RED has already been shown at the Cannes Film Festival and is due in the US around December.) Off the top, I should say that WHITE is quite different from BLUE, and liking one may have little to do with liking the other, though I personally enjoyed both. So even if you thought BLUE was pretentious tripe, you shouldn't necessarily dismiss WHITE.
WHITE is ostensibly a black comedy about Karol Karol, a Polish hairdresser (Zamachowski) who has been divorced (because of post-wedding impotence) and left penniless and wanted (by the police) by Dominique (Delpy), his French wife. The plot revolves around his return to Poland and his efforts to revive his fortunes there and win her back. This is not simple, as even the trip back is complicated (and funny), but the new Poland provides opportunities for the entrepreneurial. As the characters note several times, "you can now buy anything"--though the film makes you feel ambivalent about the transition. Along the way, He gets helped by Mikolaj (Gajos), a bridge-playing Pole whom he meets in Paris and helps him return to Poland, and his brother Jurek (Stuhr).
Zamachowski does a good job of contrasting his helpless self in France and his gradually more confident self in Poland. Delpy does not have much screen time, but there's a nice contrast between her blushing bride look in a flashback and her colder current self. I found Gajos quite appealing as the sad-eyed Mikolaj. The script and plot are clever, witty and observant, humor mixed with pathos--the scenes of the return to Poland and the underground tunnel meeting stand out. The pacing tends to the slow side, especially at the beginning. The music is pleasant, light and playful. The cinematography is pretty straightforward, without too much flash.
As BLUE was about liberty, WHITE is about equality, which shows up in both the treatment of Karol's relationship with Dominique and the idea of equality of economic opportunity in Poland. The tone is quite different from BLUE, but I felt that seeing WHITE helped me appreciate BLUE more. In particular, WHITE's depiction of post-Berlin Wall Poland helped me see a political side of BLUE that I hadn't noticed before.
There is some sex (though no nudity) and some violence. WHITE being a black comedy, there's also a nasty touch to some of the humor and plot.
I'd recommend this film for those who enjoy black comedy and political satire--I think people who liked DELICATESSEN would like WHITE, for example, though I'm not sure about those who liked HEATHERS or HAROLD AND MAUDE (I liked all three). For others, it might be worth a video rental--in particular, it seems like it will be nice to see all three films in the trilogy within a couple days of each other.
David Yang d-yang@cs.columbia.edu
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