Three Colours: Red

Krzystzof Kieslowski, France, 1994, 99 minutes

If Three Colours Red is to be Krzysztof Kieslowski's final film, as he announced at Cannes last year, then it is a fitting cinematic epitaph. Not only is Red the best of his Three Colours trilogy, but it is also an achievement that he will probably not be able to better. Set in Geneva, Red charts the chance encounter between a young model (Irene Jacob) and a retired, world-weary judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and the development of a relationship that eventually turns into unrequited love.

As with all Kieslowski's films, Red is imbued with a sense of frustrated lives and emotions, but also a dark, disquieting optimism. Such a tone is too complex to be described as melodrama, and it makes his films strangely uplifting. Using his technically perfect and innovative camera-style, Kieslowski creates an hypnotic effect that draws the audience deeply into the fate of the film's characters. To do this without using the most grinding of cinematic cliche's (swooping music, slo-mo OTT acting) requires a near-consummate ability as a director.

Review by Iain Lang
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96