Three Colours: Red (1994)

Three Colours: Red

Grade: A+

Red, the final film directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski — and the final film in his acclaimed Three Colours trilogy — is a masterpiece that culminates his entire body of work. It’s one of the most thought-provoking movies of the 1990s and, despite its bleakness, one of the most life-affirming films in cinematic history. A few more notes on Red:

Directing:

The film is bathed in warm, deep colors (obviously “red” plays a large role in the visuals). As with all Kieślowski’s mature works, Red is an immensely beautiful film, with a naturalistic style that moves with the pace and grace of everyday life. And that’s exactly what the film is about: the choices we make, the chance encounters that we can either embrace or reject, the interconnected events that shape the course of our lives. Even though the film tackles difficult themes such as fate and freewill, Kieślowski’s organic imagery and patient camera movement makes Red easily relatable. He captures everything with an omnipotent yet non-judgmental eye, allowing us to empathize with everyone and everything that happens, whether good or bad.

Acting:

There are essentially only two characters in Red: Valentine, a lonely model with a controlling long-distance boyfriend, and Joseph Kern, a solitary retired judge who eavesdrops on his neighbors’ phone calls. They meet when Valentine accidentally hits the judge’s dog while driving (a beautiful German shepherd named Rita, who is also a fantastic actress).

Irène Jacob (who starred in Kieślowski’s The Double Life of Veronique) is the perfect actress for Valentine, playing her with a sad yet understated grace. The same is true of Jean-Louis Trintignant as Judge Kern, who brings a sympathetic restraint to the character’s immorality. Through their remarkable chemistry — which never hints at romance, though they might’ve been together in a past (or future) life — Red reaches sublime transcendence.

Writing:

Red contains a few narrative references to Blue and White, along with a couple visual motifs shared by all three; nevertheless, each movie in the trilogy is a complete standalone film, concerned with similar yet vastly different themes (the French motto of “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” serving as the basis for each respective entry). Written with frequent Kieślowski collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Red is a philosophical movie that asks us to consider the world around us and our place in it. Yet the storyline is never pretentious.

The film doesn’t hold our hand, instead asking us to think for ourselves. We observe the coincidences that occur between Valentine and the Judge, ponder the recurring symbolism, and consider what it all means, even if a proper interpretation is hard to articulate. It’s a tragic storyline about love yet also a joyous one, and it concludes the conceptual Three Colours trilogy on a sublime note.

Music:

Characters in Kieślowski films adore the fictitious 17^th-century Dutch composer Van den Budenmayer, whose dramatic classical music perfectly colors the existential themes of each movie. Of course, Van den Budenmayer is just a pseudonym for modern film conductor Zbigniew Preisner, who deserves to be ranked alongside John Williams, Bernard Herrmann and Howard Shore as one of the great soundtrack composers in cinematic history. His music is so moving and sophisticated that we’re convinced that Van den Budenmayer really existed.

Ending (SPOILERS):

The ending of Red emphasizes the chaotic yet coincidental nature of the universe, bringing all the characters from the Three Colours trilogy together by way of a tragic boating accident. Even though the trilogy is a conceptual one rather than a serialized one, it’s breathtaking to witness such an all-encompassing conclusion. As always, Kieślowski’s quiet imagery gives us plenty to think about. What does it all mean?

The universe works in mysterious ways, and fate and freewill and magic and metaphysics can all be true simultaneously. It’s honestly one of the best and most impactful endings to any film I’ve ever seen, able to encapsulate the entirety of human existence into one delicate sequence.

“I feel something important is happening around me. And it scares me.” – Valentine

Why Three Colours: Red gets an A+:

Red raises questions of quantum mechanics and chaos theory but does so in such an abstract yet empathetic way that these big questions never seem too hard to grasp. Kieślowski’s greatest film is a brilliant study in contrasts; one of the most thought-provoking films about human nature and the nature of the universe ever made.

Accolades:

Colin’s Review Best Films of the 1990s

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