Three Colors: Blue (1993)

A woman struggles to find a way to live her life after the death of her husband and child.

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski (scenario), Krzysztof Piesiewicz (scenario)

Stars:

Juliette Binoche, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 21 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Juliette Binoche	...	Julie Vignon (de Courcy)
Benoît Régent	...	Olivier (as Benoit Regent)
Florence Pernel	...	Sandrine
Charlotte Véry	...	Lucille (as Charlotte Very)
Hélène Vincent	...	La journaliste (as Helene Vincent)
Philippe Volter	...	L'agent immobilier
Claude Duneton	...	Le médecin
Hugues Quester	...	Patrice (Mari de Julie)
Emmanuelle Riva	...	La mère
Florence Vignon	...	La copiste
Daniel Martin	...	Le voisin du dessous
Jacek Ostaszewski	...	Le flutiste
Catherine Therouenne	...	La voisine
Yann Trégouët	...	Antoine (as Yann Tregouet)
Alain Ollivier	...	L'avocat

Storyline

The first part of Kieslowski's trilogy on France's national motto: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. 'Blue' is the story of Julie who loses her husband, an acclaimed composer and her young daughter in a car accident. The film's theme of liberty is manifested in Julie's attempt to start life anew, free of personal commitments, belongings, grief or love. She intends to numb herself by withdrawing from the world and living completely independently, anonymously and in solitude in the Parisian metropolis. Despite her intentions, people from her former and present life intrude with their own needs. However, the reality created by the people who need and care about her, a surprising discovery and the music around which the film revolves heal Julie and draws her back to the land of the living.

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Plot Keywords:

liberty | first part of trilogy | trauma | telling a joke | mourning | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Juliette Binoche: The Art of Being - Official Fansite

Country:

France Poland Switzerland

Language:

French Romanian Polish

Release Date:

8 September 1993 (France)

Also Known As:

Three Colors: Blue

Filming Locations:

Piscine Pontoise - 19 Rue de Pontoise, Paris 5, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,413, 5 December 1993

Gross USA:

$1,324,974

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,324,974

Company Credits

Production Co:

MK2 Productions, CED Productions, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the opening screening of this film at the 2018 Visegrad Film Forum in Bratislava, cinematographer Slawomir Idziak described an unusual technique he used to shoot the scene where blue light glares appear superimposed over Juliette Binoche's character. It was apparently achieved by wrapping the camera in blue gels, opening its rear and flashing lights directly at the film negative.

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Goofs

When Julie meets her husband's mistress in the restaurant's toilet, the mistress is at least 8 months pregnant. She says she didn't know she was pregnant when the man died, but it's been winter all the time so evidently not such a long time has passed since the accident.

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Quotes

Julie Vignon: Now I have only one thing left to do: nothing. I don't want any belongings, any memories. No friends, no love. Those are all traps.

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Crazy Credits

The final credit says in French, "We thank Alfa Romeo who allowed the scene of the accident to the Alfa 164 whose dynamics are of course purely imaginary."

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Executive Decision/Ed/Two Much/The Star Maker/Land and Freedom (1996)

User Reviews

'Blue,' 'White' and 'Red' represent the apotheosis of European art cinema just at the moment when its very existence seemed most uncertain…

"Three Colors Blue" is the first part of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy… "Blue" is set in France, "White" in Poland and "Red" in Switzerland, but all production was based in France… Not only are the colors of the trilogy those of the French national flag; the original intention was meditation on the ideals of the French Revolution: freedom, equality and fraternity… This suggests a political dimension to the work… But though like most Polish filmmakers Kieslowski had his difficulties with the Polish Communist system, its collapse by the early 1990s meant that he was not only free to work where he pleased, but liberated from the necessity for his films to engage directly in the political process…

In "Three Colors Blue" Juliette Binoche plays a woman whose husband and daughter are killed in a car crash… Overcome by melancholy, she progressively withdraws from life, depriving herself of possessions and refusing relationships, a state of mind conveyed in part by the director's subtle use of color blue… But eventually she is able to accept the attentions of a lover and even to offer friendship to another woman who is pregnant with her husband's child… Finally, she completes the piece of music which her husband has been commissioned to write…

The result is a work that has less in common with the Polish 'Cinema of moral concern' of the late 1970s than with the tradition of the mainstream European art cinema, in its concerns with alienation and the loss of feeling, countered by the transcendent power of love…