Three Colors trilogy
Three Colors trilogy | |
---|---|
Directed by | Krzysztof Kieślowski |
Produced by |
Marin Karmitz Yvonne Crenn |
Written by |
Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Piesiewicz |
Starring |
Juliette Binoche Zbigniew Zamachowski Julie Delpy Irène Jacob Jean-Louis Trintignant |
Music by | Zbigniew Preisner |
Cinematography |
Edward Kłosiński Piotr Sobociński Slawomir Idziak |
Edited by | Urszula Lesiak |
Production company | |
Distributed by | MK2 Distribution |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 288 minutes |
Country |
France Poland Switzerland |
Language |
Blue: French Romanian Polish White: French Polish English Russian Red: French |
Box office | $6,144,162 (All 3 films) |
The Three Colors trilogy (Polish: Trzy kolory, French: Trois couleurs) is the collective title of three films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, two made in French and one primarily in Polish: Three Colors: Blue (1993), Three Colors: White (1994), and Three Colors: Red (1994). All three were co-written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz (with story consultants Agnieszka Holland and Sławomir Idziak) and have musical scores by Zbigniew Preisner.
Red received nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 67th Academy Awards.
Themes
Blue, white, and red are the colours of the French flag in left-to-right order, and the story of each film is loosely based on one of the three political ideals in the motto of the French Republic: liberty, equality, fraternity. As with the treatment of the Ten Commandments in The Decalogue, the illustration of these principles is often ambiguous and ironic. As Kieślowski noted in an interview with an Oxford University student newspaper, “The words [liberté, egalité, fraternité] are French because the money [to fund the films] is French. If the money had been of a different nationality we would have titled the films differently, or they might have had a different cultural connotation. But the films would probably have been the same.”
The trilogy are also interpreted respectively as an anti-tragedy, an anti-comedy, and an anti-romance.
Films
Principal cast
- Juliette Binoche - Julie
- Benoît Régent - Olivier
- Florence Pernel - Sandrine
- Zbigniew Zamachowski - Karol
- Julie Delpy - Dominique
- Janusz Gajos - Mikolaj
- Irène Jacob - Valentine
- Jean-Louis Trintignant - Joseph
- Jean-Pierre Lorit - Auguste
Soundtrack
Music for all three parts of the trilogy was composed by Zbigniew Preisner and performed by Silesian Philharmonic choir along with Sinfonia Varsovia.
Reception
Blue got 100% on the Rotten Tomatoes website, based on 39 reviews.[1] The second part of the trilogy, White, was ranked with 90% based on 41 reviews,[2] while its final film, Red, was certified "Fresh" on the same website and got 100% based on 47 reviews.[3]
Roger Ebert included the trilogy in its entirety to his "Great Movies" list.[4]
Ranked #11 in Empire magazine's "The 33 Greatest Movie Trilogies" in 2010.[5]
Ranked #14 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.[6]
References
- ↑ Overview and synopsis on www.rottentomatoes.com
- ↑ Overview and synopsis on www.rottentomatoes.com
- ↑ Overview and synopsis on www.rottentomatoes.com
- ↑ "Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red (1993-1994)". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ↑ "The 33 Greatest Movie Trilogies". Empire.
- ↑ "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema". Empire.
External links
- Three Colors: Blue at the Internet Movie Database
- Three Colors: White at the Internet Movie Database
- Three Colors: Red at the Internet Movie Database
- Voted #15 on The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2010)
- Criterion Collection Essay by Colin MacCabe
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