Blue

Blue (1993) is the first film of legendary Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy. A violent car crash has recently taken the lives of Julie's (Juliette Binoche) daughter and husband, the world-famous composer Patrice de Courcy. Now Julie must try to come to grips with the sudden loss and with her husband's unfinished masterpiece which was to be the centerpoint of celebrations surrounding European unification.

In the wake of the tragedy, Julie withdraws from her former life, abandoning her husband's country estate and taking a small apartment in the city. In a symbolic last farewell, she destroys Patrice's final composition and wipes her hands clean of the whole matter.

In the French flag, the color blue represents liberty, and Julie's life comes to represent a social, psychological, and emotional freedom. She strives to live completely unattached, free of painful memories, free of social obligations, free from work. In her words, she wishes only that the rest of her life contain "nothing." Nothing to connect her to anyone, nothing to cause her pain ever again.

But Julie finds such liberty difficult to maintain. Aspects of her former life continually intrude upon her new one. She is haunted by the spectre of her husband's unfinished masterpiece. She hears the music everywhere: a street performer picks out the haunting tune on his flute, and she finds herself repeatedly awakened by a phantasmagoric crescendo.

Spectres are not the only things to haunt Julie. She finds herself tracked by Olivier, Patrice's former colleague, who has been hiding his love for her for years. And when secrets from Patrice's life come to the surface, including a lost copy of his final work, both Julie and Olivier face a horrible choice that could tarnish the memory of the great composer.

In short, Blue is a film about grief. But yet, it is such a complex meditation on deep personal pain that to say it is a film about grief is to do it no justice. Much of Krzysztof Kieslowski's early work as a filmmaker was very political, being a product of Communist Poland in the 60s and 70s. But with his relocation to France in 1991, Kieslowski announced he no longer wished to make political films. What emerged was the "Three Colors" trilogy, a subversion of political themes of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Kieslowski removes these themes from the political purview and plants them firmly in deeply personal and emotional narrative. Blue is a meditation on personal liberty. Is it truly possible? Could one truly live off the map, free from the social and emotional connections of a normal life? At what price? And what kind of tragedy might precipitate such a drastic withdrawl?

Julie's grief is not just simply grief. It is the exasperation of having to share the loss of Patrice with an entire continent who knew him through his music. Julie's loss expands and becomes Europe's loss, the loss of the spirit of unification. And beyond Julie's grief, there is the hope of emptiness. She does not want her grief anymore. It does her no good, and she wishes to let it go. But when her grief returns like a lost puppy, Julie is consumed by a towering anger at everything that reminds her of her former life. Finally, past grief, emptiness, and anger, there is.... not acceptance, but redemption. Redemption of the person she truly is, grief, anger, and all.

This film is astounding in all respects. Slawomir Idziak's cinematography is beautiful, luminous, and inventive. Zbigniew Preisner's original score is lyrical and haunting. Juliette Binoche's performance is easily the best of a very storied career. An excellent beginning to the trilogy. Looking forward to White (1994) and Red (1994).

Storyline & plot: 9/10

Cinematography & effects: 10/10

Music & mood: 9/10

Performances: 10/10

The Reverend says: 10/10