Krzysztof Kieslowski

[Dan Warburton]

Three Colours: Blue (Kieslowski, 1993)

Hard to find fault with this film on a technical level, beautiful cinematography and soundtrack. However, while I empathized with Binoche's character to an extent I also struggled to really connect with the character on as deep an emotional level as I would have liked - I'm not sure why, perhaps the script, it's hard to explain. Still, a very good film.

Saw this last night for the first time and didn't like it much. Binoche is fine, if you like anguished facial close ups, but the rest of the cast is pretty wooden. Pace too slow, too many.. pregnant.. pauses.. - what was the reason for those occasional fade-to-blacks with "dramatic" music? didn't see the point - music awful (alas, if you want to watch Kieslowski, you' re stuck with Preisner as house composer), the whole affair seemed to be desperately trying to be symbolic of.. what? What's the Big Message here? Love thy neighbour? Overall, I found it heavy and lumpy, like late Penderecki. Tarkovsky this is not.

[j-p]

Saw this last night for the first time and didn't like it much. Binoche is fine, if you like anguished facial close ups, but the rest of the cast is pretty wooden. Pace too slow, too many.. pregnant.. pauses.. - what was the reason for those occasional fade-to-blacks with "dramatic" music? didn't see the point - music awful (alas, if you want to watch Kieslowski, you' re stuck with Preisner as house composer), the whole affair seemed to be desperately trying to be symbolic of.. what? What's the Big Message here? Love thy neighbour? Overall, I found it heavy and lumpy, like late Penderecki. Tarkovsky this is not.

Hmm, I thought the score suited the movie, and was used well within the context of the film. Also, I actually liked the blackouts accompanied by the surges and swells of "dramatic" music (again, they just seemed to fit) and the pacing seemed fine. Perhaps it was trying a little hard to be profound, but overall I enjoyed it.

I do agree about the rest of the cast coming off a bit stiff though.

[Dan Warburton]

Hmm, I thought the score suited the movie

Oh, it does, for sure..

and was used well within the context of the film.

Yes, I agree. It's just that I didn't particularly like the music (same thing with the Peter Weir film discussed above).

I actually liked the blackouts accompanied by the surges and swells of "dramatic" music (again, they just seemed to fit)

Well you'll have to sell me that one again. I guess I'll go back and have another look at this at some stage, but I'm not in a hurry to do so.

trying a little hard to be profound

You can say that of Wenders and Haneke (both of whose work I detected elements of here) and a whole host of other directors too. The worst thing about this one was HOW DO I CHANGE THE GODDAMN FONT COLOUR? HERE BE SPOILERS WATCH OUT that closing flashback sequence, with Juliette rolling around in a fishtank or whatever it was, the kid who nicked the chain, mum watching her telly etc.. all accompanied by the "dramatic music" (I'll never forgive that copyist for making an extra copy.. the thing should have been left in the bin where Binoche threw it).

[jon abbey]

do you like any Kieslowski. Dan? FWIW, I highly doubt Haneke influenced KK, just based on the chronology.

[Dan Warburton]

do you like any Kieslowski. Dan?

So far I've seen the Dekalog (a looong time ago) and the Double Life of Veronique, which I didn't mind.

I highly doubt Haneke influenced KK, just based on the chronology.

Oh I'm sure you're right - but he came to mind. I think it was the use of grainy TV images (the funeral, the bunjee jumping scene in the retirement home).
Why do you ask? You a fan? I'm still on the case: White and Red to follow - but waiting to be blown away. Music's awful though.

[jon abbey]

Why do you ask? You a fan?

I haven't seen most of them in a long time, but yeah, they definitely had a very strong influence on me at the time, especially the Decalogue. there's something poetic/lyrical at the core of his best work that I think it's easy to be dismissive of, but I think that's a mistake. if films can be simultaneously ephemeral and deep, that's how I'd classify the Three Colors trilogy and Double Life of Veronique.

[surfer]

Saw this last night for the first time and didn't like it much. Binoche is fine, if you like anguished facial close ups, but the rest of the cast is pretty wooden. Pace too slow, too many.. pregnant.. pauses.. - what was the reason for those occasional fade-to-blacks with "dramatic" music? didn't see the point - music awful (alas, if you want to watch Kieslowski, you' re stuck with Preisner as house composer), the whole affair seemed to be desperately trying to be symbolic of.. what? What's the Big Message here? Love thy neighbour? Overall, I found it heavy and lumpy, like late Penderecki. Tarkovsky this is not.

I dont understand the need to make KK into someone he's not. He's not Tarkovsky, Wenders, certainly not Haneke. If you want Tarkovsky, watch Tarkovsky. Kieslowski's (moreso in his later work) a hopeful artist, a humanist, one who has empathy for his characters (all of them), and sees a redeeming and transformative power in human relationships, and, yes, get out the barf bags, LOVE.
If you want a BIG MESSAGE, Dan, that's it.

But why the desire to boil it down to trite messages? Do we watch other movies like Andrei Rublev or Wings of Desire and wonder "Hmm, I wonder what the big message is here?" The answer to that question Dan for every movie ever made is, "Life's (short and)tough; some people can find something worthwhile in it, and some can't." There you go.

A more apt comparison at least in tone and subject, less so in technique, are the Dardennes Brothers, who at least in my opinion, are more within the lineage of KK. Both are experts at allowing the viewer to enter the protagonist's realm of vision (both literal and philosophical) and thus share his or her I." Compare "L'Enfant" with "Bleu" and you'll see they're "preaching" the same themes. Life's too short, love thy enemy. But that is such a reductionist and frankly insulting way of approaching these complex films.

Why the blackouts? to me they obviously symbolize the excruciating psychic pain Binoche's character is going through. But again i think you're asking the wrong questions. Its a stylistic choice, you either like it or you dont, it either works or it doesnt for you, there isnt a "point".

I'm not going to go through this point by point (but I guess I just did) but I thought the pacing is perfect, and the cinematic partnership of Preisner and Kieslowski (as well as KK with Piesiewicz) is one of the best and most identifiable since Fellini/Rota, imo.

Forgive the snippy tone of this post, KK is possibly my favorite director, and like Jon, I came to him very early in my cinematic education, and his movies have profoundly affected me since. Its hard not to take these criticisms personally, because I am very possessive of his extremely small output, and view them through a personal lens.

Its very easy, too easy, in this age to make cynical and depressing movies about the human condition. The human condition is depressing, there's no doubt. A guy like Haneke can make them in his sleep. Its much harder to make movies that are simultaneously complex, subtle, realistic, probing, painful, difficult, but also hopeful, and it took Haneke almost 15 years to reach that moment where he could do that.

"White" (a very funny, witty, and enjoyable movie) is a palate cleanser between "Blue" and "Red". Not sure what I can tell you about "Red" except it may be may favorite movie ever.

There is also several pre-Dekalog movies that are well worth seeking out, though nothing quite on the scale of what the later movies are: Blind Chance, and Camera Buff in particular. Blind Chance is a transitional work where you can begin to see KK wrestle with the themes he would crystalize in Trois Coleurs.

(I'll never forgive that copyist for making an extra copy.. the thing should have been left in the bin where Binoche threw it).

heh heh god you're a bastard.

[surfer]

Compare "L'Enfant" with "Bleu" and you'll see they're "preaching" the same themes. Life's too short, love thy enemy.

Whoops, not L'Enfant, I meant Le Fils.

[Dan Warburton]

Saw this last night for the first time and didn't like it much. Binoche is fine, if you like anguished facial close ups, but the rest of the cast is pretty wooden. Pace too slow, too many.. pregnant.. pauses.. - what was the reason for those occasional fade-to-blacks with "dramatic" music? didn't see the point - music awful (alas, if you want to watch Kieslowski, you' re stuck with Preisner as house composer), the whole affair seemed to be desperately trying to be symbolic of.. what? What's the Big Message here? Love thy neighbour? Overall, I found it heavy and lumpy, like late Penderecki. Tarkovsky this is not.

I dont understand the need to make KK into someone he's not. He's not Tarkovsky, Wenders, certainly not Haneke. If you want Tarkovsky, watch Tarkovsky. Kieslowski's (moreso in his later work) a hopeful artist, a humanist, one who has empathy for his characters (all of them), and sees a redeeming and transformative power in human relationships, and, yes, get out the barf bags, LOVE.
If you want a BIG MESSAGE, Dan, that's it.

But why the desire to boil it down to trite messages? Do we watch other movies like Andrei Rublev or Wings of Desire and wonder "Hmm, I wonder what the big message is here?" The answer to that question Dan for every movie ever made is, "Life's (short and)tough; some people can find something worthwhile in it, and some can't." There you go.

A more apt comparison at least in tone and subject, less so in technique, are the Dardennes Brothers, who at least in my opinion, are more within the lineage of KK. Both are experts at allowing the viewer to enter the protagonist's realm of vision (both literal and philosophical) and thus share his or her I." Compare "L'Enfant" with "Bleu" and you'll see they're "preaching" the same themes. Life's too short, love thy enemy. But that is such a reductionist and frankly insulting way of approaching these complex films.

Why the blackouts? to me they obviously symbolize the excruciating psychic pain Binoche's character is going through. But again i think you're asking the wrong questions. Its a stylistic choice, you either like it or you dont, it either works or it doesnt for you, there isnt a "point".

I'm not going to go through this point by point (but I guess I just did) but I thought the pacing is perfect, and the cinematic partnership of Preisner and Kieslowski (as well as KK with Piesiewicz) is one of the best and most identifiable since Fellini/Rota, imo.

Forgive the snippy tone of this post, KK is possibly my favorite director, and like Jon, I came to him very early in my cinematic education, and his movies have profoundly affected me since. Its hard not to take these criticisms personally, because I am very possessive of his extremely small output, and view them through a personal lens.

Its very easy, too easy, in this age to make cynical and depressing movies about the human condition. The human condition is depressing, there's no doubt. A guy like Haneke can make them in his sleep. Its much harder to make movies that are simultaneously complex, subtle, realistic, probing, painful, difficult, but also hopeful, and it took Haneke almost 15 years to reach that moment where he could do that.

"White" (a very funny, witty, and enjoyable movie) is a palate cleanser between "Blue" and "Red". Not sure what I can tell you about "Red" except it may be may favorite movie ever.

There is also several pre-Dekalog movies that are well worth seeking out, though nothing quite on the scale of what the later movies are: Blind Chance, and Camera Buff in particular. Blind Chance is a transitional work where you can begin to see KK wrestle with the themes he would crystalize in Trois Coleurs.

(I'll never forgive that copyist for making an extra copy.. the thing should have been left in the bin where Binoche threw it).

heh heh god you're a bastard.

Great post mate, thanks for taking the time to type it in. Thanks for the other suggestions - I look forward to White and Red much more now. Oh, and which of those earlier movies you mentioned would you recommend for starters?

[surfer]

Dan, after you finish the trilogy, it might be worthwhile to then go back and watch Blind Chance which came out in 81 iirc. A final point while we are on the subject, some mistakenly imo assume Kieslowski is a believer in fate or destiny, rather what he is interested in is chance, the role it plays in our lives, and particularly the importance of being open and receptive to the possibilities that chance can offer us in life, in terms of strangers we meet, events that happen, etc (eg the old woman trying to put the bottle in the recycling bin). Obviously La Vie Double de Veronique is an entire "tone-poem" on the subject . . . . . . . .

[Dan Warburton]

Good suggestions, and I'll be sure to follow up your leads & report back! Cheers, and happy surfing to ya

[surfer]

"the ambiguity of the role of chance in Kieslowski's universe: Does it point toward a deeper fate secretly regulating our lives, or is the notion of fate itself a desperate stratagem to cope with the utter contingency of life? (surfer's note: I would strongly suggest it's the later). . . . . . . This dilemma runs through the work and life of Kieslowski and forms a basis for theoretical inquiry into the relationship between intention, action, contingency, and outcome " - Zizek, The Fright of Real Tears, 107

[surfer]

Kenneth Morefield thinks the surges of music symbolize her past (of course being tied inexorably to her husband),

From Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema:

One night she is locked out of her flat. She sits on the stair and closes her eyes. In that state, blue light begins to shine around her. Then the familiar symphony is heard. The insistent music and flickers of light seem to intrude on her mind so disturbingly that she opens her eyes as if waking from the most dreadful nightmare. The moment she opens her eyes, the music stops and the light vanishes. Yet they reappear when she closes her eyes again. Completing the concerto will initiate and complete her mourning and reconcile her with her past.

he goes on to suggest the color blue perhaps represents her daughter Anna. I think that clearly an intended symbol - the sapphire mobile.

Insdorff (I'm paraphrasing the book here in my hand) thinks that music and light in Kieslowski's films are related to the Kierkegaardian notion of an instant of an event that connects to past, merges with the past and future in an atemporal type of opening that conveys faith salvation redemption. The entrance of the music and light in Blue signals the beginning of Binoche's character's reconciling of past and present.

I prefer to initially regard the blue and red and yellow (in Veronique) filters as simply aesthetic choices, but wonder if there isnt something to these theories. Just as Kieslowski and his audience struggle with arbitrary events and coincidences, wondering whether to assign meaning to them, or appreciate them as discrete incidents.

This Morefield might be of interest to people, it has chapters on Bresson, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Rossellini, Dreyer, Dardenne Brothers, Costa, Sembene Ousmane.

[eraritjaritjaka]

i'm a fan of his short films and documentaries ('Urzad', 'Szpital' and 'Klaps' are the ones that immediately come to mind). though oddly enough i have yet to see any of his feature length films, a situation i should really remedy soon.

i also have a copy of his long out-of-print book 'Kieslowski On Kieslowski' in pdf format, pm if interested.

[Dan Warburton]

This looks like a really good read - thanks for upping it earlier - but I see it only goes as far as Veronique. Would have been nice to see what he says about the trilogy. But some v useful info on the earlier films - thanks again for passing it on.

[surfer]

I know Ed Howard has been mentioned here a few times (by you Dan I think) but I've been familiarizing myself with his blog, and he has a really nice appreciation of Blue:

http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2009 ... -blue.html

His tastes seem to overlap pretty well with mine. Definitely going to spend some time over there.

[mudd]

dude should be posting here again, but it never seems to happen.

(sevenarts, if you come across his name in the archives)

m

[Jesse]

I know Ed Howard has been mentioned here a few times (by you Dan I think) but I've been familiarizing myself with his blog...
His tastes seem to overlap pretty well with mine. Definitely going to spend some time over there.

Good stuff. I wrote a short appreciation of his writing with pointers last week on
http://crowwithnomouth-jesse.blogspot.c ... world.html

[Salty Swift]

i'm a fan of his short films and documentaries ('Urzad', 'Szpital' and 'Klaps' are the ones that immediately come to mind). though oddly enough i have yet to see any of his feature length films, a situation i should really remedy soon.

i also have a copy of his long out-of-print book 'Kieslowski On Kieslowski' in pdf format, pm if interested.

Couldn't agree more....it's his short [and lengthier] documentaries that had the greatest effect on me.....I have a two DVD set of his entire listing of documentaries...great stuff, if you can get a hold of it somewhere......
Double Life of Veronique was a film of his that I watched more than any other....loved the cinematography, dialogues, fell in love with Irene Jacob
Then I saw Amator [Camera Buff] and Dekalog and never looked back.....Blind Chance was quite good [there was a cheap Hollywood rip-off with Paltrow made too] as was Bez Konca [Without End].....

I was sadly disappointed in Red but that's only because the build-up to the Three Colours trilogy was so intense [one movie per year - all of which I watched at various film festivals].....White was amazingly light, while retaining his unforgettable style....

Here's a complete list of his documentaries - no English translations provided though....
http://krzysztof.kieslowski.filmweb.pl/

[Dan Warburton]

I know Ed Howard has been mentioned here a few times (by you Dan I think) but I've been familiarizing myself with his blog, and he has a really nice appreciation of Blue:

http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2009 ... -blue.html

His tastes seem to overlap pretty well with mine. Definitely going to spend some time over there.

Well worth it, even if this write-up of Blue is a bit short and sweet. And - sorry to dwell on this - far too nice (in the comments section) about the music, which I think really lets the show down. Yes OK, point taken , Preisner is to Kieslowski what Rota is to Fellini, but that doesn't mean Preisner is on the same level as Rota.