Three Colors Trilogy (BLU-RAY)
This boldly cinematic trio of stories about love and loss, from Krzysztof Kieślowski was a defining event of the art-house boom of the 1990s. The films are named for the colors of the French flag and stand for the tenets of the French Revolution—liberty, equality, and fraternity—but that hardly begins to explain their enigmatic beauty and rich humanity. Set in Paris, Warsaw, and Geneva, and ranging from tragedy to comedy, Blue, White, and Red (Kieślowski’s final film) examine with artistic clarity a group of ambiguously interconnected people experiencing profound personal disruptions. Marked by intoxicating cinematography and stirring performances by such actors as Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, Irène Jacob, and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Kieślowski’s Three Colors is a benchmark of contemporary cinema.
FILMS IN THIS SET
Three Colors: Blue
In the devastating first film of the Three Colors trilogy, Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter. But Blue is more than just a blistering study of grief; it’s also a tale of liberation, as Julie attempts to free herself from the past while confronting truths about the life of her late husband, a composer. Shot in sapphire tones by Sławomir Idziak, and set to an extraordinary operatic score by Zbigniew Preisner, Blue is an overwhelming sensory experience.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New high-definition digital restoration, with 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Cinema lesson with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- New video essay by film studies professor Annette Insdorf
- New video interview with Three Colors composer Zbigniew Preisner
- Selected-scene commentary featuring actor Juliette Binoche
- “Reflections on Blue,” and Kieślowski: The Early Years, interview programs featuring film critic Geoff Andrew, Binoche, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, Insdorf, actor Irène Jacob, and editor Jacques Witta
- The Tram (1966), a student short by Kieślowski, and The Face (1966), a short starring Kieślowski
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
Three Colors: White
The most playful and also the grittiest of Kieślowski’s Three Colors films follows the adventures of Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish immigrant living in France. The hapless hairdresser opts to leave Paris for his native Warsaw when his wife (Julie Delpy) sues him for divorce (her reason: their marriage was never consummated) and then frames him for arson after setting her own salon ablaze. White, which goes on to chronicle Karol Karol’s elaborate revenge plot, manages to be both a ticklish dark comedy about the economic inequalities of Eastern and Western Europe and a sublime reverie about twisted love.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New high-definition digital restoration, with 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Cinema lesson with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- New video essay by film critic Tony Rayns
- Two new interview programs, one with Three Colors cowriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz and one with White actors Zbigniew Zamachowski and Julie Delpy
- Short documentary on the making of White
- Two short documentaries by Kieślowski: Seven Women of Different Ages (1978) and Talking Heads (1980)
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
Three Colors: Red
Krzysztof Kieślowski closes his Three Colors trilogy in grand fashion, with an incandescent meditation on fate and chance, starring Irène Jacob as a sweet-souled yet somber runway model in Geneva whose life dramatically intersects with that of a bitter retired judge, played by Jean‑Louis Trintignant. Meanwhile, just down the street, a seemingly unrelated story of jealousy and betrayal unfolds. Red is an intimate look at forged connections and a splendid final statement from a remarkable filmmaker at the height of his powers.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New high-definition digital restoration, with 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Cinema lesson with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- New video essay by film writer Dennis Lim
- New interview with actor Irène Jacob, plus interviews with producer Marin Karmitz and editor Jacques Witta
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- Short documentary on the film’s world premiere at Cannes
- Krzysztof Kieślowski: I'm So-So . . . , a 1995 feature-length documentary in which Kieślowski discusses his life and work
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New high-definition digital restorations, with 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks on the Blu-ray editions
- Three cinema lessons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- New interviews with writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz, composer Zbigniew Preisner, and actors Julie Delpy, Irène Jacob, and Zbigniew Zamachowski
- Selected-scene commentary featuring actor Juliette Binoche
- New video essays on Blue, White, and Red by film writers Annette Insdorf, Tony Rayns, and Dennis Lim
- Full-length 1995 documentary featuring Kieślowski
- Three Kieślowski’s short films—The Tram (1966), Seven Women of Different Ages (1978), and Talking Heads (1980)—plus the short film The Face, starring Kieślowski
- Interview programs on Kieślowski's life and work, featuring film critic Geoff Andrew, Binoche, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, Insdorf, Jacob, producer Marin Karmitz and editor Jacques Witta
- Behind-the-scenes programs for White and Red, and a 1994 short documentary on Red’s world premiere
- Original theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by film critics Colin MacCabe, Nick James, Stuart Klawans, and Georgina Evans; an excerpt from Kieślowski on Kieślowski; and reprinted interviews with cinematographers Idziak, Edward Klosinski, and Piotr Sobocinski
New covers by Sarah Habibi