Three Colors: White (1994)

After his wife divorces him, a Polish immigrant plots to get even with her.

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski (scenario), Krzysztof Piesiewicz (scenario)

Stars:

Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zbigniew Zamachowski	...	Karol Karol
Julie Delpy	...	Dominique
Janusz Gajos	...	Mikolaj
Jerzy Stuhr	...	Jurek
Aleksander Bardini	...	Le notaire (The Lawyer)
Grzegorz Warchol	...	L'elégant (The Elegant Man)
Cezary Harasimowicz	...	L'inspecteur (The Inspector)
Jerzy Nowak	...	La vieux payson (The Old Farmer)
Jerzy Trela	...	Monsieur Bronek
Cezary Pazura	...	Le propriétaire du bureau de change (Bureau de Change Proprietor)
Michel Lisowski	...	L'interprète (The Interpreter)
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	Le juge (The Judge) (as Philippe Morier Genoud)
Piotr Machalica	...	L'homme de haute taille (The Tall Man)
Francis Coffinet	...	L'employé de banque (The Bank Employee)
Barbara Dziekan	...	La caissière (The Cashier)

Storyline

Karol (Polish) marries Dominique (French) and moves to Paris. The marriage breaks down and Dominique divorces Karol, forcing him into the life of a metro beggar and eventually back to Poland. However, he never forgets Dominique and while building a new life for himself in Warsaw he begins to plot.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | obsession | divorce | wealth | humiliation | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality and language

Details

Country:

Switzerland France Poland

Language:

Polish French English

Release Date:

10 June 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Three Colors: White

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,464,625

Company Credits

Production Co:

MK2 Productions, France 3 Cinéma, CAB Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julie Delpy shared that Krzysztof Kieslowski would sit under the camera and chain-smoke. Because he always sat under the camera, he was in very close proximity to the actors during close-ups. She continued that this was reassuring, as he was solely focused on his actors, but sometimes it could be distracting.

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Goofs

When our couple manage to make love, Dominique's moanings are not simultaneous with her lips.

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Quotes

Mikolaj: What counts on bridge is memory.
[sighing]
Mikolaj: And mine is excellent.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Getting Even with Dad/Fear of a Black Hat/Wolf/White (1994)

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Soundtracks

To ostatnia niedziela
(This Last Sunday) (uncredited)
Music by Jerzy Petersburski and words by Zenon Frejdwald
Played on the comb by Karol in the subway

User Reviews

White

White is a Polish film in Polish and French with English subtitles. The film is the second series in the Three Colours trilogy which started with the film Blue and ends with Red. The film takes place in France where a man named Karol Karol whose wife Dominique just divorced him. To make matters work Karol's bank account is frozen and he has no money and no place to go. In the subway he meets a man named Mikolaj who helps him get back to his homeland of Poland. Karol eventually gets there, but not the way he planned on. Once he gets to Poland some friends help him get back on his feet and establish himself. Soon he is doing fine, but is still upset over what Dominique did to him. So with some more help he plans a scheme of revenge to get back at her. Winner of The Silver Berlin Bear for Best Director (Krzysztof Kieslowski, who also co-wrote the film) at The Berlin International Film Festival. White has good direction, a good script, good performances by the entire cast, good original music and good cinematography. White is a very interesting film. From where it started off in the beginning I had no idea how it would end or what would happen next. It kept me following the movie eagerly waiting to see what happened next. It is a very smart and sharp story and the acting and great direction make this film really stand out as well. This film is in no ways similar to Blue, the previous film in the series and I really admire the director for making two totally different films that each work really well. I really loved White because of it's sharp script and because it kept me compelled and interested and I really did not know how it was going to turn out. After these two great films I'm looking forward to completing the series by watching Red. Judging by what I thought of Blue and White, I'm sure I'm going to like Red very much as well.