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Three Colors: Blue

Play trailer Poster for Three Colors: Blue R Released Dec 3, 1993 1h 37m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 58 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Julie (Juliette Binoche) is haunted by her grief after living through a tragic auto wreck that claimed the life of her composer husband and young daughter. Her initial reaction is to withdraw from her relationships, lock herself in her apartment and suppress her pain. But avoiding human interactions on the bustling streets of Paris proves impossible, and she eventually meets up with Olivier (Benoît Régent), an old friend who harbors a secret love for her, and who could draw her back to reality.
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Three Colors: Blue

Three Colors: Blue

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Critics Consensus

Three Colors: Blue contains some of director/co-writer Krzysztof Kieslowski's most visually arresting, emotionally resonant work -- and boasts an outstanding performance from Juliette Binoche in the bargain.

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Critics Reviews

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Derek Malcolm Guardian The film is almost totally schematic and this weakens it. What strengthens it is the sheer emotional power of its making. Jun 22, 2023 Full Review Kevin Maher Times (UK) The score from Zbigniew Preisner is extraordinary, the opening motorway crash sequence is terrifying and the final close-up, as Julie is ultimately reconciled to her fate, is unutterably moving. Rated: 5/5 Mar 30, 2023 Full Review Peter Bradshaw Guardian There is something so rich and spacious and unhurried here. There is a wonderful reach and flair in Kieślowski’s film-making. Rated: 5/5 Mar 30, 2023 Full Review Bianca Garner Filmotomy Kieślowski makes it feel like a dream, that is slowly fading away from memory. Oct 10, 2024 Full Review David Parkinson Radio Times Juliette Binoche gives an intense yet sensitive performance as the survivor of a car crash that killed her family, who discovers that, no matter how great her pain, she doesn't have the freedom to give up life. Rated: 5/5 Sep 6, 2024 Full Review Carlos Boyero El Pais (Spain) Kieslowski and his usual co-writer, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, portray loneliness, emotional paralysis, and the devastation of the soul as has rarely been done in the history of cinema. [Full review in Spanish] Jul 5, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+) audience reviews
Moises S It is a good movie very enjoyable to watch given all the visual efforts put into it. The plot is not complicated, actually a bit plain but it gives a good perspective of what freedom means for a non sad widow. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/25 Full Review Kyle M Per generally viewed experiences, going through film trilogies tend to pick up how they ascend after each chapter that accumulates in the final third of the singular narrative, divided into scope-worthy defining differentiations. The usual case is that the finale, in general terms regarding how other series spanned, tends to be the best by further polishing the praiseworthy qualities manifested from the beginning while flexing in some reminiscent feeling, reflecting how much the journey absorbed our worthwhile engagement. Also per usual is how the first film would go on an expositional pace to establish the essential rooting that’ll grow in the succeeding chapters, also ultimately setting up first impression that shall too grow as it builds. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s renowned, supposedly finest hour “Three Colours” trilogy been ranked as one of cinema’s greatest films, collectively based off the French Revolutionary ideals behind the symbolic national flag as emotionally associative, thematic defined hefts. First installment “Blue”, aligned towards liberty in emotional sense being melancholy, sad and depressed, finds widow Julie as a haunted sole survivor of an auto wreckage that claimed the life of her composer husband and five-year-old daughter. Her grief has proven overwhelming understandably over the sudden loss as her initial way of dealing with suppressing the pain, wisely backed out of her suicidal attempt in the beginning when still healing, is isolating herself in her apartment, withdrawing from her relationships (her only family being her dementia mother). However, her daily routines attracted unexpected human connections from an old faithful friend with unrequited love to a witness of the accident who found a token of remembrance, and befriending an exotic dancer with mutual emotional support over their life dealings, then confronting her late-husband’s frequent mistress. Julie, delicately performed by Juliette Binoche as a testament to her stature, can be seen as a demonstrative conduit that meditates on grief. Such ordeal has different approaches based off of disarray emotions in an uncertain trance, processing the unfathomable suddenness in wondering how to muster whatever strength to move forward. Anyone that gone through the five stages of grief, which the first three were subtly hinted through the second setting as she heals from her injuries, can identify as well reflect in hindsight what sort of beneficial effects that lies when opening to connect with others as a way to move on towards acceptance. The connective characterization is therapeutically well-thought out that Julie finds comfort over inevitable interactions that her grief couldn’t hinder from, and each arc is respectfully and sensitively executed by being relatedly mindful to her ordeal, or at least thoughtfully inspired. This meditation on grief leads onto social influences that await as a way to heal by opening to others than divulging in loneliness, which Kieslowski capped so well at the end, backed up by his collaborative score composer Zbigniew Preisner’s seamless adjacence. The first chapter in Kieslowski’s remarkable trilogy “Three Colours: Blue” is well done in expressing the aligning themes so impeccably in contexts and resonant, solidifying a decent first impression for what to expect across its interconnected successors. The singularly colorful palette usage provides a memorable haze over vague recollection due to the disengaging pacing with not enough qualifying substances to consider its patience. Though from the looks of it, there’s promising complexities that await in the remainder of the trilogy with moderate anticipation as worthwhile absorbent. Its subject matter may be a topical attraction with reflective tendency, but the acclaimed recognition for these films is treatable expressive cinematic art form for cinephiles in checking these out for themselves, which they essentially should. (B) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review Sofia A A beautiful blue Masterpiece! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/06/24 Full Review Mira K Unfortunately I don't like Binoche. I don't know why, but I can't relate to her and I feel no emotions through her. Car crash at the beginning felt boring. Maybe I have seen too much stuff like that. I just watched this like distant observer - like when you have out of body experience and watch yourself and everything that is happening from the outside without feeling anything and without relating to anything. Music was beautiful. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/26/24 Full Review David S It was pretty good but had two flaws. It's the story of a woman who's badly injured and whose husband and child die in a car wreck. They seem to have had a full life, yet in all the time she's in the hospital no one visits and in subsequent months she sees only her husband's work collaborator (once for sex) and her mother who has Alzheimer's (although 65 or so is really too young for advanced Alzheimer's. No other family, no friends. Just unbelievable. The other flaw is that her husband was one of the best classical music composers in the world. I mean really, do we need another movie about the elite like this? It just came across and sooooo pretentious. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/06/23 Full Review Garvis W Always loved this movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Three Colors: Blue

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Julie (Juliette Binoche) is haunted by her grief after living through a tragic auto wreck that claimed the life of her composer husband and young daughter. Her initial reaction is to withdraw from her relationships, lock herself in her apartment and suppress her pain. But avoiding human interactions on the bustling streets of Paris proves impossible, and she eventually meets up with Olivier (Benoît Régent), an old friend who harbors a secret love for her, and who could draw her back to reality.
Director
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Producer
Marin Karmitz
Screenwriter
Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Production Co
Tor Film Production, MK2 Films, Ced Productions, France 3 Cinéma, CAB Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 3, 1993, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$539.2K
Runtime
1h 37m
Sound Mix
Surround
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