Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1994
Three Colours: Red
Buy Three Colours: Red now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Three Colours: Red' (, ) is a 1994 romantic mystery film co-written, produced and directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kielowski. It is the final installment of the 'Three Colours trilogy', which examines the French Revolutionary ideals; it is preceded by 'Blue' and 'White'. Kielowski had announced that this would be his final film, which proved true with the director's sudden death in 1996. 'Red' is about fraternity, which it examines by showing characters whose lives gradually become closely interconnected, with bonds forming between two characters who appear to have little in common.
'Red' was released to universal critical acclaim, and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director for Kielowski. It was also selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was disqualified for not being a majority-Swiss production.
As of 2022, it is one of only two films to receive perfect ratings on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, along with 'Fanny and Alexander'.
Plot
Valentine Dussaut (Irene Jacob) is a student at the University of Geneva and works as a part-time model. She frequently calls her possessive boyfriend, who is abroad, and plans to meet him in London. For her modelling job, she poses for a chewing-gum ad campaign and a photo of her displaying sad emotions is selected. While walking back home, Auguste (Jean-Pierre Lorit), a law student neighbour of Valentine's, drops his textbooks and one book falls open at a particular chapter of the Criminal Code, which he notes. Driving back to her apartment, Valentine accidentally hits and injures a Malinois dog named Rita. She tracks down the owner, a retired judge, Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), but he seems unconcerned so Valentine keeps the dog. Valentine takes Rita to a veterinarian, where she learns that the dog is pregnant. She overcomes the sexual advances made by the ad company's photographer. Later, money is delivered to her apartment from an unnamed sender.
Out for a walk the next day, Rita leads Valentine back to Kern's house. He says she should keep the dog after confirming that he sent the money for the expenses. She gives Kern extra change after meeting the vet's expenses. Valentine then discovers that Kern is eavesdropping on a male neighbour's sexual telephone conversation with his male lover. She tries to convey to him her concerns about respecting the privacy of his neighbour. But the judge challenges Valentine to reveal the eavesdropping to the neighbour. She goes to do so but is horrified, not only to encounter the man's unsuspecting wife, but furthermore to witness their young daughter on the telephone extension, listening to the same conversation. Upon her return, Kern tells her that their actions of telling or not telling, and spying or not spying make no difference to the eventual outcome of other people's lives. As the conversation goes on, Valentine reveals that her brother was fathered by someone other than her biological father. Before leaving, Valentine also hears a conversation between Auguste and his girlfriend, Karin (Frederique Feder), neither of whom she has met. Auguste passes his exam to become a judge and credits his success to the dropped textbook.
That evening, Kern writes a series of letters to his neighbours and the court confessing his spying activities, and the community files a class action lawsuit. Later, at the courts, Kern sees Karin flirting with another man. When Valentine confronts Kern, he says it was her feeling of disgust that prompted him to confess. They discuss the nature of altruism when Kern recounts a case in which he mistakenly acquitted a sailor, only to see him live a life free of crime. Valentine asks if he has ever loved or been loved. Kern evades the question and instead talks about a dream he had the night before in which Valentine was 40 or 50 years old living a very happy life.
Auguste has been unable to reach Karin by telephone since his graduation so he drives to her flat and climbs up the building. Through the window, he sees her having sex with another man and leaves. He takes his grief out on his dog and at one stage abandons him at a lamppost. Kern calls Karin's weather service and asks her about the weather for the English Channel, which she predicts will be clear. She is happy about this as she is about to sail there herself soon with her new boyfriend who owns a yacht.
The day before Valentine leaves for England, she invites Kern to her fashion show. Stormy weather is gathering and Kern seems to sense that Valentine will soon be in danger from it. After the show, the two have coffee at the theatre and their conversation turns again to Kern's doomed love life. His story betrays echoes of Auguste's recent life, including the infidelity and the dropped textbook. He says that the girl he loved died in an accident after he followed her across the English Channel and that his last case as a judge pitted him against his ex-girlfriend's lover. By coincidence, Auguste's first case as a judge is Kern's trial. Kern tells Valentine in more detail about the dream he had about her. In the dream, she is 50 years old and happy and with a man she loves. As they say goodbye, Kern and Valentine plan to meet again in three weeks' time when Kern will give her one of Rita's puppies.
Finally, Valentine boards the ferry to England. Auguste also boards the ferry, reunited with his dog. Kern is tending to the puppies when he learns that a storm has hit the English Channel and both the ferry and the yacht have sunk. Watching the television coverage of the incident, it is revealed only seven survivors are pulled from the ferry - a barman, Julie and Olivier from 'Blue', Karol and Dominique from 'White', Auguste (without his dog) and finally Valentine. Kern is relieved upon seeing the news and looks out of his broken window. The final image is a television freeze-frame of Valentine which replicates the ad poster, but with real emotion showing on her face.
Cast
* Irne Jacob as Valentine Dussaut
* Jean-Louis Trintignant as Joseph Kern
* Jean-Pierre Lorit as Auguste Bruner
* Frederique Feder as Karin
* Samuel Le Bihan as Le photographe (photographer)
* Marion Stalens as Le vtrinaire (Veterinary surgeon)
* Teco Celio as Le barman (barman)
* Bernard Escalon as Le disquaire (record dealer)
* Jean Schlegel as Le voisin (neighbour)
* Roland Carey as Le trafiquant (drug dealer)
Production
Kieslowski stated that 'Red' was the most difficult film of the trilogy to write: "I've got everything I need to put across what I want to say, which is really quite complicated. Therefore, if the idea I've got in mind doesn't come across, it meant that either film is too primitive a medium to support such a construction or that all of us put together haven't got enough talent for it." The main theme of the score, "Bolero", was written before any filming took place. According to the filmmakers, it was meant to symbolize events that occur repeatedly in people's lives.
Analysis
As in the previous two films, a single color dominates: numerous objects in the film are bright red, including the huge advertising banner featuring Valentine's facial profile. Several images recur throughout the film. Characters are often juxtaposed on different physical levels. The scenes between Valentine and Kern at his house never show the characters on the same level: Valentine either stands above him or sits below him. When Karin searches for Auguste, he hides on a walkway below her. During the climactic scene in the theater, Valentine stands on the stage, towering over Kern who is in the pit below. Telephone communication is important throughout, and so is broken glass (when Kern reveals his eavesdropping, his neighbors throw rocks through his windows, and at the end of the film Kern watches Valentine and Auguste on the news while watching the outside world through broken glass). Also, when Valentine is bowling, the camera moves down the line to where there sits a broken glass next to a packet of Marlboro cigarettes, which is the brand that Auguste smokes.
Biblical references relating to the Gospel of Matthew are also evident. The old man can be pictured as an Old Testament archetype, a God-like figure. Exploring biblical ideas in Red the questions of the judge being a God figure is probably the one that has been explored most often. That he is as an Old Testament God, control over the wind and seas and predicts about people future. This film also depicts topics of the Philosophy of Law and the manner in which man acts in society, the relationship between the law, ethics and socially acceptable behavior and how not all of them coincide, particularly in the reflections by Judge Kern and some symbols related to Auguste.
Roger Ebert interpreted the film as an anti-romance, in parallel with 'Blue' being an anti-tragedy and 'White' being an anti-comedy.[https://web.archive.org/web/20181218124123/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-three-colors-trilogy-blue-white-red], by Roger Ebert, March 9, 2003
Reception
'Three Colors: Red' received overwhelmingly positive reviews. It holds both a 100 out of 100 rating on Metacritic and a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.70/10. Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus reads, "A complex, stirring, and beautifully realized portrait of interconnected lives, 'Red' is the captivating conclusion to a remarkable trilogy."
Film critic Geoff Andrew responded positively in 'Time Out London': "While Kielowski dips into various interconnecting lives, the central drama is the electrifying encounter between Valentinecaring, troubledand the judge, whose tendency to play God fails to match, initially, the girl's compassion. It's a film about destiny and chance, solitude and communication, cynicism and faith, doubt and desire; about lives affected by forces beyond rationalization. The assured direction avoids woolly mysticism by using material resourcesactors, color, movement, composition, soundto illuminate abstract concepts. Stunningly beautiful, powerfully scored and immaculately performed, the film is virtually flawless, and one of the very greatest cinematic achievements of the last few decades. A masterpiece." The film was included in the 'San Francisco Chronicle' "Hot 100 Films From the Past" in 1997.
Year-end lists
* 1st Desson Howe, 'The Washington Post'
* 1st Kevin Thomas, 'Los Angeles Times'
* 2nd - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (Ebert included the entire Three Colors Trilogy in his list; later, when he wrote about it a separate essay for "Great Movies" section, he noticed that Red is "the best film among equals" ).
* 2nd Kenneth Turan, 'Los Angeles Times'
* 4th James Berardinelli, 'ReelViews'
* 8th Janet Maslin, 'The New York Times'
* 8th Robert Denerstein, 'Rocky Mountain News'
* 9th Scott Schuldt, 'The Oklahoman'
* Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) Matt Zoller Seitz, 'Dallas Observer'
* Top 10 (not ranked) Howie Movshovitz, 'The Denver Post'
Soundtrack
Awards and recognition
* Nominated for three Academy Awards:
** Best Director Krzysztof Kielowski
** Best Original Screenplay Krzysztof Kielowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz
** Best Cinematography Piotr Sobociski
* 1996 BAFTA Awards:
** Best Director - Krzysztof Kielowski (Nominated)
** Best Original Screenplay - Krzysztof Kielowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz (Nominated)
** Best Film not in English Language - Martin Karmitz and Krzysztof Kielowski (Nominated)
* Cannes Film Festival, 'Palme d'Or' (nominated)
* National Board of Review, 'Best Foreign Language Film'
* New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 'Best Foreign Language Film'
* Bodil Awards, 'Best European Film'
* National Society of Film Critics Awards, 'Best Foreign Language Film'
* Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, 'Best Foreign Film'
* French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Awards, 'Best French Film'
* Zbigniew Preisner won the Csar Award for 'Best Music'.
* Csar Award nominations:
** 'Best Film'
** 'Best Actor' Jean-Louis Trintignant
** 'Best Actress' Irne Jacob
** 'Best Director' Krzysztof Kielowski
** 'Best Writing' Krzysztof Kielowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz
* 'Red' was selected by 'The New York Times' as one of "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made."
* In 2007, the film was ranked at No. 33 by The Guardian's readers poll on the list of "40 greatest foreign films of all time".
See also
* List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator website
* List of submissions to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Swiss submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
Buy Three Colours: Red now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1994