Trois couleurs: Rouge (1994)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski (writer)
Krzysztof Piesiewicz (writer)

Release Date:

December 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Final entry in a trilogy of films dealing with contemporary French society concerns a model who discovers her neighbour is keen on invading people's privacy.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Model | Trilogy | Neighbor | Spying

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Irène Jacob	...	Valentine Dussaut (as Irene Jacob)
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Le juge
Frédérique Feder	...	Karin (as Frederique Feder)
Jean-Pierre Lorit	...	Auguste Bruner
Samuel Le Bihan	...	Le photographe (Photographer) (as Samuel Lebihan)
Marion Stalens	...	Le Vétérinaire (Veterinary surgeon)
Teco Celio	...	Le barman (Barman)
Bernard Escalon	...	Le disquaire (Record dealer)
Jean Schlegel	...	Le voisin (Neighbour)
Elzbieta Jasinska	...	La femme (Woman)
Paul Vermeulen	...	L'ami de Karin (Karen's friend)
Jean-Marie Daunas	...	Le gardien du théâtre (Theatre manager)
Roland Carey	...	Le trafiquant (Drug dealer)
Brigitte Raul
Leo Ramseyer

Also Known As:

Three Colours: Red (Canada: English title) (UK)
Red (USA) (short title)
Three Colors: Red (USA)
Trzy kolory: Czerwony (Poland)

MPAA:

Rated R for a brief but strong sex scene.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Poland | France | Switzerland

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14 (New Brunswick/Nova Scotia/Prince Edward Island) (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | Norway:10 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Geneva, Canton Geneva, Switzerland

Company:

CAB Productions

Trivia:

At the end, during the ship catastrophe, we see real life/TV footage of the sinking of the ferry "Herald of Free Enterprise", which took place in the English Channel in 1987.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: A stage hand reflected in the window upon Valentine's first visit to the Judge's house.

Quotes:

Valentine: You're not afraid?
The Judge: I wonder what I'd do in their place. The same thing.
Valentine: You'd throw stones?
The Judge: In their place? Of course. And that goes for everyone I judged. Given their lives, I would steal, I'd kill, I'd lie. Of course I would. All that because I wasn't in their shoes, but mine.

Movie Connections:

References "Dekalog: Dekalog, dziewiec (#1.9)" (1990)

Kieslowski a masterful painter in Blue, White and Red: see all three!

It is not only difficult to comment separately on the three parts of Kieslowski's trilogy, it seems obvious that the filmmaker wants us to do just the opposite: view them in order, Blue, White, and Red, and consider them together as one complete work. It is true they are distinct stories with distinct themes: liberty, equality, fraternity, and each them is developed with unique applications of intrigue and artistry. They are each well worth seeing independently, but I believe they are best seen as one work. Collectively, I would rate the trilogy as a 9; separately, I place each in my top ten for the years 1993 and 1994.

The color red is most memorable in the third movie as a backdrop in a billboard ad, the profiled model of which is the central of the movie's three main characters. The other two characters do a double-take of a varying degree of recognition when they first come upon the ad, posted larger than life alongside a busy city intersection. This ad is not a major part of the plot of this movie, yet its image becomes striking and is one of the reasons I have called Red a `mind-bending' film. This is the third of Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy, based on the Blue-White-Red of the French flag and the three parts of its motto, `Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.' The films stay primarily focused on these themes, keeping with the basic levels of one, two, or three main characters, yet with each film the complexity of plot escalates as the three principles move from fundamentally personal (Liberty, Blue) to relational (Equality, White) to social (Fraternity, Red). Red is my favorite of these films, and I give it a 9. It stands by itself as a great film, but one should see Blue and White first for the fullest effect.