Forum Home Forum Home > Topics not related to music > General Polls
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Kieslowski's Trilogy: Bleu- Blanc- Rouge
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedKieslowski's Trilogy: Bleu- Blanc- Rouge

 Post Reply Post Reply
Poll Question: Pick your favorite
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
5 [62.50%]
0 [0.00%]
3 [37.50%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted

Author
Message
Morningrise View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: March 18 2009
Location: Buenos Aires
Status: Offline
Points: 2766
Direct Link To This Post Topic: Kieslowski's Trilogy: Bleu- Blanc- Rouge
    Posted: May 16 2012 at 13:33
Yesterday I bought Krzysztof Kieślowski's famous trilogy. Before that I had only watched The Double Life Of Veronique and I wanted to see what was all the hype about. A few hours ago I finished watching Bleu and I must say I was stunned by this wonderful piece of cinematography.
 
I still have to watch the other two. So, to those who have seen the 3 of them, which one is your favorite?
Back to Top
Logan View Drop Down
Forum & Site Admin Group
Forum & Site Admin Group
Avatar
Site Admin

Joined: April 05 2006
Location: the Beach House
Status: Offline
Points: 32250
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2012 at 13:49
Love the whole trilogy -- wrote a college paper on it.  Went with Rouge.
Back to Top
Sean Trane View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator

Prog Folk

Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 19532
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2012 at 18:08
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Love the whole trilogy -- wrote a college paper on it.  Went with Rouge.
 
I'd love to read it if possible
 
 
My early fave was Bleu (there was a contemplative quality to that film, that I loved).... and Blanc didn't manage to reverse it, but I think Rouge definitely equalled it.
 
I'll go with Blue
 
 
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
Back to Top
Finnforest View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: February 03 2007
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2012 at 18:44
Wow, so nice to find some fellow KK fans out there!  I love his work, La Double Vie being my very favorite and in my top 10 probably. 

Of the trilogy I will have to go with Blue.  But they are best watched all together, in a row.  There are elements in each that intermingle with the others. 

Back to Top
Kotro View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: August 16 2004
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
Points: 2809
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2012 at 03:23
I love the trilogy almost equally, but I might be inclined to choose Bleu, if only because I love the soundtrack so much.
Bigger on the inside.
Back to Top
Vompatti View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar
VIP Member

Joined: October 22 2005
Location: elsewhere
Status: Offline
Points: 67376
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2012 at 06:33
Bleu. To be honest I don't remember much of the other two.
Back to Top
Logan View Drop Down
Forum & Site Admin Group
Forum & Site Admin Group
Avatar
Site Admin

Joined: April 05 2006
Location: the Beach House
Status: Offline
Points: 32250
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2012 at 20:38
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Love the whole trilogy -- wrote a college paper on it.  Went with Rouge.
 
I'd love to read it if possible
 
 
My early fave was Bleu (there was a contemplative quality to that film, that I loved).... and Blanc didn't manage to reverse it, but I think Rouge definitely equalled it.
 
I'll go with Blue
 
 


I probably still have it on 3 1/2" disk somewhere, but no working computer with that kind of disk drive currently -- I wrote it in the 90s.  It was very long and very dry, about themes of redemption/ reconciliation, and the notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity


Edited by Logan - May 17 2012 at 20:40
Back to Top
memowakeman View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: May 19 2005
Location: Mexico City
Status: Offline
Points: 13031
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 10:56
Azul

Follow me on twitter @memowakeman
Back to Top
Finnforest View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: February 03 2007
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 10:59
Originally posted by Kotro Kotro wrote:

I love the trilogy almost equally, but I might be inclined to choose Bleu, if only because I love the soundtrack so much.


Oh yes, Preisner is amazing.  His soundtrack for Double Life is one of the most incredible CDs in my collection.  It's like passing through a 40 minute dream.

Back to Top
Sean Trane View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator

Prog Folk

Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 19532
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2012 at 02:39
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Love the whole trilogy -- wrote a college paper on it.  Went with Rouge.
 
I'd love to read it if possible
 
 
My early fave was Bleu (there was a contemplative quality to that film, that I loved).... and Blanc didn't manage to reverse it, but I think Rouge definitely equalled it.
 
I'll go with Blue
 
 


I probably still have it on 3 1/2" disk somewhere, but no working computer with that kind of disk drive currently -- I wrote it in the 90s.  It was very long and very dry, about themes of redemption/ reconciliation, and the notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity

Yeah, I know what you mean
I still have some reltively important documents (my two thesis ) , the first on floppy disc, the second on disquette, but no technology to read them or the software to open them
 
sometimes technology scks
 
 
 
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
Back to Top
Morningrise View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: March 18 2009
Location: Buenos Aires
Status: Offline
Points: 2766
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2012 at 14:26
I watched Blanc yesterday, and while it's better than almost everything out there nowadays, I found it not as half as great as Bleu. Still have to watch Rouge.
Back to Top
Man With Hat View Drop Down
Collaborator
Collaborator
Avatar
Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team

Joined: March 12 2005
Location: Neurotica
Status: Offline
Points: 166178
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 23 2012 at 15:32
Dont know.
Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
Back to Top
jude111 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 20 2009
Location: Not Here
Status: Offline
Points: 1717
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2013 at 22:47

I always found Blue really good, but a little too pretentious and definitely a downer. Red, on the other hand, is one of my all time favorite films, and one of the greatest films of the 90s. There's so much going on, so much symbolism and layers of meaning, it's simply levels beyond Blue and the amusing but often-neglected White. It seems audiences love Blue, while critics and film scholars love Red. Irene Jacob is a legend and treated like royalty, all because of Red. Personally, I could watch that film over and over, it's one of the most life-affirming films I've ever seen.

To be honest, I didn't think much of Red the first time I saw it. It's something that gets better and better with repeated viewings. I think the reason why many don't get Red is because they're missing the symbolism of Trintignant's character. They think he's a creepy older guy, spying on his neighbor's phone calls, and shamelessly flirting with the much younger Jacob. That's how I saw him too at first. Sorry, but that's not what's going on at all. 

Trintignant is God. He is the Judge who hears all - he even at one point seems to make the sun set, - but he's retired and passing the baton to his Son (the younger up and coming Judge). The Son is the same as the Father - their experiences are *identical*: the pen given as a gift, the books falling and opening to a key passage, the betrayal by the blond woman, following her across the ocean. This happens to *both* Judges. The retired judge knows the heart of Jacob - there's a deep mystery to their relationship. (Many scenes in the film have a mysterious, dreamlike quality. And what of that photograph of Irene that ends up being repeated when she survives at the end? Wow...) Trintignant's dog (which is the Spirit or messenger that draws them together) gives birth to 7 puppies; later, there are 7 survivors after the ship sinks. Red is the culmination of all three movies: the 7 survivors include the main characters from Blue and White. Irene Jacob and the others are literally baptized - submerged into the ocean, raised up and re-born. "Maybe you were the person I never met," the retired judge tells Jacob. Later she meets the young Judge, and we know all along that their paths have been crossing and that they're destined for each other.

Oh man, what an awesome film. I'm sorry, but Blue can't get near it, IMO. Many of those who truly get Red swear that the film is one of the best ever made, and with good reason.

The plot of Red was inspired partly by a couple of beautiful poems by Polish Nobel Laureate Wislawa Szymborska, including this one:

Love at First Sight
Wislawa Szymborska 
Both are convinced
that a sudden surge of emotion bound them together.
Beautiful is such a certainty,
but uncertainty is more beautiful.

Because they didn't know each other earlier, they suppose that
nothing was happening between them.
What of the streets, stairways and corridors
where they could have passed each other long ago?

I'd like to ask them
whether they remember-- perhaps in a revolving door
ever being face to face?
an "excuse me" in a crowd
or a voice "wrong number" in the receiver.
But I know their answer:
no, they don't remember.

They'd be greatly astonished
to learn that for a long time
chance had been playing with them.

Not yet wholly ready
to transform into fate for them
it approached them, then backed off,
stood in their way
and, suppressing a giggle,
jumped to the side.
There were signs, signals:
but what of it if they were illegible.
Perhaps three years ago,
or last Tuesday
did a certain leaflet fly
from shoulder to shoulder?
There was something lost and picked up.
Who knows but what it was a ball
in the bushes of childhood.

There were doorknobs and bells
on which earlier
touch piled on touch.
Bags beside each other in the luggage room.
Perhaps they had the same dream on a certain night,
suddenly erased after waking.

Every beginning
is but a continuation,
and the book of events
is never more than half open.




Edited by jude111 - June 08 2013 at 23:38
Back to Top
Finnforest View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: February 03 2007
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2013 at 23:32
I watched these films many times in my 20s but haven't seen them in years, so I can't comment too much, I've forgotten the details.  Back then Blue was my fave, the emotional impact was intense to me, and I thought it was the most crisp and visually stunning of the three.  But your post makes me want to watch them again! Years later, now, I may have a different experience.  LDVdV is just incredible too, talk about little mysteries! 

And last, if you've never seen the whole Decalogue, grab those DVDs and dig in.  When one considers the stretch of work from Decalogue thru Colors, it just amazes me that KK is not more widely known and cherished world wide. 

Someday....someday....I will watch all of these again, starting with No End and Decalogue, and then the rest.  For now, I'm stilled mired in Sci-Fi series.  Big smile 



Back to Top
Matti View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: April 15 2005
Location: Finland
Status: Offline
Points: 2058
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2013 at 03:57
It's no surprise no one picked BLANC. I chose ROUGE even though it has some unnecessary, blurry sideways in the plot (and the ending that collects all the main characters of the trilogy as the survivors of the ferry accident is questionable). But I like its overall atmosphere. BLEU is the "grandest" of them but with repeated viewings I find it irritatingly over-pathetic towards the end.

Kieslowski's most beautiful film is La Double Vie de Veronique!!
Back to Top
Finnforest View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: February 03 2007
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2013 at 08:09
^
I have a hunch that these days I might prefer Blanc over the other two....perhaps now enjoying the greater dose of KK humor in that one...but as I said I'd have to revisit them first. 

Back to Top
jude111 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 20 2009
Location: Not Here
Status: Offline
Points: 1717
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2013 at 08:10
Originally posted by Matti Matti wrote:

It's no surprise no one picked BLANC. I chose ROUGE even though it has some unnecessary, blurry sideways in the plot (and the ending that collects all the main characters of the trilogy as the survivors of the ferry accident is questionable). But I like its overall atmosphere. BLEU is the "grandest" of them but with repeated viewings I find it irritatingly over-pathetic towards the end.

Kieslowski's most beautiful film is La Double Vie de Veronique!!

Kieslowski himself always said that Veronique is a flawed film, and that he didn't get to film it the way he wanted to. I forget the story - something like, the funding was cut off, the money ran out, so he had to piece together a film with the available footage that he had, even though it wasn't nearly the vision he had for the movie.

I agree that it's a beautiful film - but I also agree with him that it's not a masterpiece, but *clearly* could have been. When I see the film, I mourn for what could have been.

By the way, there's nothing unnecessary or superfluous about Red. Everything - every single thing - is there for a reason. It's clearly his most realized film.

The film theorist and critic Dave Kehr - who has called "Red" one of the key films and masterpieces ever made - did some amazing interviews and features on Kieslowski and the Three Colors films. Much of it's disappeared from the Web, but I did find this: http://www.petey.com/kk/docs/colors.txt


Edited by jude111 - June 09 2013 at 12:40
Back to Top
Finnforest View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: February 03 2007
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2013 at 12:30
Jude, sounds like you might appreciate the original framed poster I have in one room....Smile



Back to Top
jude111 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 20 2009
Location: Not Here
Status: Offline
Points: 1717
Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2013 at 12:40
Originally posted by Finnforest Finnforest wrote:

Jude, sounds like you might appreciate the original framed poster I have in one room....Smile




Definitely! Thumbs Up

Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.168 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.