1. Rejection of self-condemnation

Shortly after its establishment in France, which took place immediately after the fall of communism in Europe, the Polish director Krzysztof Keslowski created a cycle called Three colors. Thus confirming the propensity found with the famous Decalogue. The inclination turned into a vocation. What from the series. The three films that provide the content have words as subtitles Blue, white, red. As for the national colors of the French flag. The film pays tribute both to the homeland of late adoption and to the ethical values ​​of the French nation. The values ​​contained in the currency Freedom, Equality, Fraternity!.

It appeared on the big screens in 1993, and was awarded two important awards at the Venice Film Festival (Golden lion and Juliette Binoche Female Performance Award, three nominations for Golden Globe (for female performance – Juliette Binoche, for best soundtrack – Zbigniew Preissner, as well as for best film), the film was also a specific way in which the director welcomed the steps that led to the conclusion of the Maastricht Treaty. The unfinished composition of Julie’s husband, a composition constantly quoted in the grammar of the film, clearly indicates the importance of the connection between sound and image (the story Song for Europe which represents one of the main themes of the film) will be premiered in a series of celebrations designed to mark the occasion.

So, Julie loses her husband and daughter in a car accident. After that, she herself makes an unsuccessful attempt to settle accounts with life. Later he condemns himself to death. He carefully prepares his civil death. He manages his property, cares only about the fate of his servants, and his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother (Emmanuel Riva) moves to an unknown address, chooses a modest life in some apartment building, destroys what he considers unique. a copy of the man’s unfinished composition, refuses any discussion and any immodest interference by journalists. In this way, he wants to nullify any interference with memory. But all these efforts end in failure. The film, among other things, is also about memory and man’s inability to dominate it. To cut it out of your daily existence. Excerpts from her husband’s compositions unexpectedly invade Julie’s hearing, an embittered street singer sings something that completely resembles excerpts from the late artist’s music.

Periodically, Keslovsky gives the viewer the impression that the film is interrupted, as it used to be in nearby cinemas, to make room for the invasion of memories. Or funeral music. A modest composer Olivier, first of all an honest and kind person, sneaks into Julie’s life. The woman responsible for rewriting the manuscript made an extra copy of the composition, aware of its value as well as Julie’s post-traumatic destructive impulses. It is about a composition that will be completed by Olivier and that will eventually be finished by Julie. Moreover, one has to endure the shock of revelations related to the husband’s double life.

Three colors. Blue after all, it is both a sad and an optimistic story of salvation. About rebirth. The revival of Julie’s good husband. She finds her peace. Rediscover the highness of life. With the help of others, who very often seem to turn into a receptacle for the main character’s pain. Hence, pesemne, and Julie’s generosity to the old people who served her, hence the gesture to the child that will be born. Another sign of the superiority of life. Hence the symbolism in the name, hence the countless blue inserts. Blue from jewelry, from lights, from the pool, from small objects. Kesliowski and three cameramen (Edward Klosinski, Slawomir Idziak, Piotr Sobotsinski) sign a real lesson in the smart use of filters.

Apparently, Julie was not moved by anything. No pain leaves the impression that he might bring her down again. The face of Juliette Binoche, the exceptional interpreter of Julie, gives the impression of the same indifferent and steadfast when she learns about her husband’s infidelity, and when a neighbor asks her to sign a statement to evict a woman suspected of corruption. Binoche gives the impression that after Julie cannot kill herself, she has become a marble man. Cold white beauty. Her lack of reaction contrasts with the calmness of Olivier’s (Benoit Rejean) facial expressions and demeanor. – Read the entire article and comment on Contributors.ro