The Three Colors Triolgy: White

This movie is amazing. I already wrote about "Blue", the first entry in Kiewsloski's Three Colors Trilogy. That film dealt with the concept of liberty. This film deals with the concept of equality, and it is a hoot.

It is a dark comedy, so many of the scenes of the film have an irony and a harshness that makes you laugh through your tears. The film follows Karol, a Polish immigrant to France whose marriage to Dominque is falling apart. We come to find out that there has been no consummation of the marriage (due to physical inability on his part to consummate), so Dominique is not only leaving him, but she is intent on humiliating him. Karol is left penniless and destitute. The majority of the film is about his attempt to rebuild his life and get equal with Dominique.

Here again, Kiewsloski uses the cinema as his canvas. The color white is everywhere in this movie. After his marriage is dissolved in a courtroom, Karol leaves the courtroom, making his way down the alabaster steps. As the pigeons fly away to avoid him, on of them defecates on him, leaving a white smear on his suit. The frozen landscapes of Poland bring the white theme. And the enduring image of Dominique in her wedding dress is used, as the hope of a marriage awaits Karol and Dominique, only to be a short lived disappointment.

In the end, the film is about getting even, and what that means. The climactic shot of the film has a power to it in showing when Karol has achieved his equality. But since there is more to the movie, the final shot of the film tells us far more about the true nature of the relationship between Karol and Dominique. The foreshadowing of the window shot early in the film shows a longing that Karol has for Dominique, and the final shot shows that same longing, though I will not say anything more about the final shot.

Kiewsloski's world is exciting and different. His films are a revelation to me. As I write this, I only have one more film of the Three Colors Trilogy left to watch, but I anticipate it greatly.