Red

Red (1994) marks the close of Polish filmmaker Krysztof Kieslowski's acclaimed Three Colors trilogy. The first two films, Blue (1993) and White (1994), explored the themes of freedom and equality, respectively. With Red, Kieslowski turns his keen artist's eye on the topic of brotherhood. Although I did not enjoy this film as much as the previous two, upon reflection, I see that it is perhaps the deepest and most complex of the trilogy. Kieslowski packs every frame, every expression, every utterance, each and every character's actions and motivations with luminous volumes of meaning. Kieslowski's characters are some of the most fully realized and lovingly rendered in film history. There is always one more layer, one more angle, one more aspect that you've yet to see. In Red's complexities, in its overwhelming artistic rendering, in its heartbreak of tragic loss and eventual hope, Kieslowski solidifies his spot amongst the most important directors of all time.

Red's premise is simple enough: an accident brings together the lives and destinies of Valentine, a Swiss model dealing with troubling family issues, and a man known only as "the judge," a retired judge for the Swiss courts. Valentine soon discovers the judge's nasty habit: using a specialized antenna, he spies on the phone conversations of his neighbors. Surmising the judge's crimes arise from the bitterness and disgust he feels at his own life, Valentine decides to befriend the man instead of spurning him. While Valentine and the judge deal with their own personal demons of alienation, Kieslowski introduces the story of Auguste, a young judge whose life eerily mirrors that of his elder counterpart, and whose own trajectory has brought him within orbit of Valentine.

Red is a study in the intersections of destiny, and of fraternity, of human compassion. It is a chronicle of the need to connect to someone, to anyone, even when traditional means of connection are blocked or exhausted. Valentine is geographically and emotionally isolated. She has withdrawn from the problems of her mother and brother living in France and she is kept on an emotional leash by her traveling businessman boyfriend.

The judge is equally isolated. A life of judging others has led to a harsh judgment upon himself. He is embittered with the feeling of a wasted life, and now reaches out only parasitically to leech the emotions of others through their phone calls. But when chance brings Valentine into his life, the judge has enough sense to recognize her as his last chance to lead a meaningful life, even if he is slow to accept her friendship.

The most overwhelming sense you get from Kieslowski's film is that it is dealing with real people. This is how real people live. They are complex. They are not always nice, and sometimes they're downright destructive. But even destructive people can change. They can have hope. They can be both terrible and wonderful.

Kieslowski also incorporates an intriguing aspect of deus ex machina. One gets the sense that the old judge is at least in part autobiographical, that Kieslowski has written himself into his last film as an ultimate coup de grace. The judge definitely has an aspect of the supernatural about him. There is Auguste, obviously the judge's doppleganger separated by 30 years. And the judge seems to exhibit some mysterious god-like powers: prophecy, precognition, and the ability to influence future events.

For Red, Kieslowski has once again teamed up with Zbigniew Preisner, who created the thrilling and haunting score from Blue. Preisner's role in Red is much more understated, the music never rising from the background. But the subdued score is still masterfully done. Cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski has taken a cue from Blue's cinematographer Slowomir Idziak. Sobocinski employs the same ubiquitous use of intense color to set the stage for Kieslowski's artisitic vision.

Red is a worthy endpiece to Three Colors. Where Blue and White explore qualities that people only think they want until they actually have them, Red completes the circle with fraternity, a quality that people need even when they think they don't.

Storyline & plot: 8/10
Cinematography & effects: 9/10
Music & mood: 6/10
Performances: 9/10

The Reverend says: 8/10