Featured Audience Ratings

• Jonathan H

  
  Kieslowski knows as much about comedy as I do about stochastic calculus.

• Dan S

  
  A breezy, light-hearted dramady concerning a recently divorced, devastated tramp (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who struggles to start a new life away from his ex-wife (Julie Delpy), who he still loves. Unlike 'Blue' (still a fine film overall), this movie flies. It is funny, has a… More
  A breezy, light-hearted dramady concerning a recently divorced, devastated tramp (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who struggles to start a new life away from his ex-wife (Julie Delpy), who he still loves. Unlike 'Blue' (still a fine film overall), this movie flies. It is funny, has a lovable lead character, and is both a fascinating study of Polish culture as well as a far-fetched but totally entertaining revenge plot, which plays neatly into the film's central message of "Who are your friends, and do you try to 'get back' at your enemies?". This is widely considered to be the weakest of the 'Colors' trilogy, but I disagree. This is a very good film which works very well at a couple different levels, while never betraying itself or getting self-indulgent with its running time.

• Ross C

  
  A comical sequel on "equality" that develops a story that appeared as a fleeting cameo in Blue. It's a very typical Eastern European kind of absurd humour that can be a bit silly at times, but is always entertaining.

• Anthony L

  
  In many ways White is the most accessible of the Three Colours Trilogy and while Juliette Binoche and Irène Jacob's performances are highly celebrated, I personally think Zbigniew Zamachowski's performance is brilliant and underrated. That said, as good as it is, White is… More
  In many ways White is the most accessible of the Three Colours Trilogy and while Juliette Binoche and Irène Jacob's performances are highly celebrated, I personally think Zbigniew Zamachowski's performance is brilliant and underrated. That said, as good as it is, White is the weakest addition to the trilogy and sits rather uncomfortably between the two I believe. A great film, sandwiched between two masterpieces.

• Daniel M

  
  So much of Kyzstzstof Kieslowski's work flies in the face of Hollywood convention, whether in its themes, visual execution or character development. So it is odd that the middle film of the Three Colours trilogy should fall into the same trap as the middle instalments of… More
  So much of Kyzstzstof Kieslowski's work flies in the face of Hollywood convention, whether in its themes, visual execution or character development. So it is odd that the middle film of the Three Colours trilogy should fall into the same trap as the middle instalments of Hollywood trilogies. Just as Back to the Future Part II and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are overshadowed by their surrounding counterparts, so Three Colours -- White drops the ball by quite a long way. There are interesting elements throughout, but the result is ultimately disappointing. White is probably the most personal of Kieslowski's trilogy, since it deals not only with French society but with his Polish homeland. Much of the film is concerned with the state of the Polish economy as our protagonist travels home to find his brother and take up a proposition by a strange man called Mikolaj. Kieslowski has a decent stab at showing how Polish society has changed since the end of the Cold War, mainly through little touches in the dialogue; for example, when the criminals mug Karol, they find his watch is made in Russia and quickly throw it away. In its examination of capitalism and family, White could be described as a heavy-hearted eulogy to Poland, since the comedy is clearly affectionate but is solidly rooted in pathos. Although Kieslowski's early work ran into trouble with the communist authorities, he does not see its replacement as an unequivocal improvement. Certainly the presence of wealth and the free market doesn't seem to make life easier for Karol, who resembles Chaplin's little tramp in his combination of initiative and stupidity. Aside from its elegiac feel, White is as visually stylish as Blue and Red. Edward Klosinski's cinematography alternates between the sparse snowy landscapes of rural Poland and the pearly-white columns of the Parisian law courts. White is seen as a symbol of simplicity, purity and impartiality, all of which converge in the film's central theme of equality. Here, however, is the first problem with the film. Whereas Blue was absolutely clear in its examination of liberty, seeing it as something emotional rather than political, White somehow confuses the two and wrongfully intertwines them. Karol's motivation throughout the film is to win back his ex-wife, which is fair enough. But he chooses to achieve this by amassing material wealth and then faking his own death to draw her out in sympathy. There seems to be an assumption within the film that gaining economic or financial equality with someone will somehow make them re-evaluate you romantically; a cynical notion, to be sure, but one which jars with the optimistic tone of the central performance. The theme of equality is communicated in a variety of ways over the course of the film. During the court scene, Karol accuses the judge of not giving him a fair hearing simply because he cannot speak much French. Kieslowski pulls a clever trick here by only subtitling the sections of dialogue which are in French, so that we instantly understand Karol's feeling of being shut out and unrepresented. The result of the divorce hearing, in which his cold-hearted wife gains everything, also reflects the way in which the system is skewed. This example is later taken to the extreme when his ex-wife torches her place of work and tells him that the police will believe he did it. The biggest problem with White is that it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Blue and Red have clearer intentions: Blue is an anti-tragedy which has an element of redemption but no textbook happy ending, and Red is an anti-romance in which the theme of fraternity is communicated through an unlikely platonic relationship between a model and a judge. White attempts to be an anti-comedy, but it is stymied by its continued falling into comedy conventions. Although it is full of pathos and is therefore not laugh-out-loud funny, it is still ultimately comedic in the same way that The Kid or Modern Times are comedic; they are populated with characters whose predicaments we share and with whom we sympathise. Moments of White are textbook black comedy, including the multiple scenes of Karol being beaten up, and in the tradition of modern comedies it finishes with some form of happy ending. Sticking with that ending, we come to the role of women in this story. Aside from the fact that Julie Delpy has less of a screen presence than Juliette Binoche or Irene Jacob (who wouldn't?), her role in the story is very limited and constrained. While Karol is portrayed as a man who earns his wealth and succeeds despite his weaknesses, she is presented as spoilt, self-interested, and driven to a large extent by a need for sexual gratification. She divorces Karol on the grounds that their marriage has not been consummated, and only seriously considers taking him back after they have slept together. Rumour has it that the ending was reshot by Kieslowski to make her character seem more sympathetic -- a decision which suggests a current of misogyny running right through this 'comedy'. Much of White is mean-spirited in a way you don't expect from such an intimate filmmaker. For every moment of innocent joy for Karol, such as him playing his improvised mouth organ in the underground, there is another moment in which he temporarily becomes a monster. After he has been kicked out of his house, he watches an old woman try and fail to push a bottle into a bottle bank. Rather than get up and help her, he sits there smirking in the knowledge that there is someone worse off than himself. And that's saying nothing of the murky dealings by which Karol comes by a body with which to fake his own death. On top of all this, the film is pulling in several directions with regard to its storyline. Although it is narratively more straightforward than the otherfilms, the central story of Karol trying to get back with his wife is often brushed into the background by the other stories going on around him. Some of these are worthwhile and important: the comic confusion of Karol arriving by suitcase in Warsaw is married to the harrowing scene where he has to shoot Mikolaj, in what is probably the most powerful scene in the film. But in all the scenes involving Karol's business, Kieslowski struggles to discern whether his actions aim for redemption or revenge, and the theme of equality gets lost. Three Colours -- White is a good example of a film which has bitten off more than it can chew. It manages to stay restrained and dignified in its treatment of its themes, and the central performance of Zbigniew Zamachowski is generally convincing. But it ends up chasing a series of tails/ tales, never knowing which one to follow and to what end. As a visual exercise it is to be admired, and even Kieslowski's weakest attempts at comedy are preferable to the rom-com dross of Hollywood. But it is the weakest of the Three Colours trilogy and will frustrate both ardent fans and casual viewers.

• Carlos M

  
  White is Kieslowski's lightest entry in the Colors Trilogy, and it works great as a different comedy presenting an ironic look into evenness and equality (the white colour of the French flag).

• Randy T

  
  While it's true that Kieslowski's <i>Three Colors: White</i> is a dark comedy, don't expect an abundance of belly laughs. The humor here is much more cerebral and subtle. This is a film that is clever, dramatic, romantic, and funny (in that order).

• Alice S

  
  About as slow as <i>Blue</i>, but not nearly as arresting. Karol and Mikolaj's serendipitous friendship is quite moving though.

• Drew S

  
  Everyone thinks this is the weak link in the Three Colors trilogy, but for what it's worth it engaged me more than Blue did. Blue was an artistic masterpiece, but a wee bit thin on the ideas; White has plenty of those but lacks the style that makes them really radiant like Blue… More
  Everyone thinks this is the weak link in the Three Colors trilogy, but for what it's worth it engaged me more than Blue did. Blue was an artistic masterpiece, but a wee bit thin on the ideas; White has plenty of those but lacks the style that makes them really radiant like Blue did. Even though Julie Delpy is plastered all over the DVD case, her screen time probably totals about ten or fifteen minutes. The real focus is on a schlubby Polish man named Karol Karol, so yeah I guess they needed a hot French lady to hook the audiences. (I actually saw an argument postulating that White is the least successful of the Three Colors films because it lacks a "luminous female presence", which is lame.) Since the purpose of his quest is her, I guess it makes sense to feature her in this way. The trilogy's got me hooked, I'll say as much as that. A lot of people tout these as truly amazing films, and while they are rather memorable, I wouldn't go as far as that. They never seem to have much of an impact on me. I'm excited for Red.

• E.J. B

  
  The second film in the Trois Couleurs Trilogy is a hilarious black comedy that portrays the differences between two people - one rich, one poor - and shows that they are both no different from each other.

• Ken S

  
  My favorite of the three

• Leigh R

  
  Cute, but again like the first film, slow.

• Lanning :

  
  Hell hath no fury . . . like a Polish hairdresser scorned. A beautifully twisted plot of retribution against, ironically, a woman held in supreme affection. Why? Good question. I swear that only if a woman were loved as absolutely as could be possible would such a wholehearted… More
  Hell hath no fury . . . like a Polish hairdresser scorned. A beautifully twisted plot of retribution against, ironically, a woman held in supreme affection. Why? Good question. I swear that only if a woman were loved as absolutely as could be possible would such a wholehearted revenge scheme ever achieve lift-off. It is difficult to pick sides in this contest; both Delpy and Zamachowski keep doing little things that make them . . . not easy to love. This is one of those rare scripts I wish I'd written myself. Delpy is set up as the perfect target here, Zamachowski gets and gives with passion, and this is a near perfect gem of a movie. <p> Do we at all celebrate Zamachowski's success? Do we at all pity Delpy her fate? Interesting to ponder. <p> One thing I'm more and more sure of in my declining years: insanity can meet up with you just around the next corner, and it may already be walking hand-in-hand with you as you make that turn.

• Jake B

  
  Hilarious, involving, brisk, and deeper than the surface indicates. A wonderful change of pace after the first installment of the trilogy. Exemplifies Kieslowski's stylistic dexterity as a filmmaker.

• Mike T

  
  A subtly humorous and complex analysis of a protagonist who is, in many ways, unlike any I've seen. Kieslowski's writing is wholly engaging and satisfying on a basic level, but the film gives off the impression that there is much more under the surface. A brilliantly made… More
  A subtly humorous and complex analysis of a protagonist who is, in many ways, unlike any I've seen. Kieslowski's writing is wholly engaging and satisfying on a basic level, but the film gives off the impression that there is much more under the surface. A brilliantly made movie filled with vivid images and performances.

• Brian R

  
  The weakest of the Three Colors trilogy pictures. An anti-comedy, "RED" an anti-romance, "BLEU" An anti-tradgedy. "BLEU" represents liberty, "WHITE" represents equality, "RED" represents solidarity. In "WHITE" the… More
  The weakest of the Three Colors trilogy pictures. An anti-comedy, "RED" an anti-romance, "BLEU" An anti-tradgedy. "BLEU" represents liberty, "WHITE" represents equality, "RED" represents solidarity. In "WHITE" the protagonist is Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who at first looks lost as he approaches a court hearing. It turns out that his wife is seeking a divorce. Karol is at a low point in his life, he once owned a beauty salon with his wife, his bank account is seized, without no money Karol is forced to live out on the streets. Karol spends his time hanging out at the subway tunnels playing his musical instrument, a man named Miko&#322;aj (Janusz Gajos) shows up and becomes quickly associated with Karol. Miko&#322;aj offers Karol a job consisting of killing someone who wants to be dead but does not have the courage to do it himself. Miko&#322;aj helps Karol return to Poland hidden in the suitcase. Karol takes a job as a bodyguard Karol spies on his bosses and discovers their scheme to purchase different pieces of land that they knew were going to be targeted by big companies for development and resell for large profits. Karol beats them to it, and then tells his ex-bosses that if they kill him all his estate shall go to the Church, and they are therefore forced to purchase all the land from him. With the money he gained from this scheme, Karol becomes ruthlessly ambitious, focusing his energies on money-making schemes while learning French and brooding over his wife's abandonment. He uses his new financial influence in a world where, as several characters observe, "you can buy anything" to execute a complex scheme to first win back Dominique, and then destroy her life by faking his own death after which she is imprisoned for his 'murder'. Imo "Three Colors White" is the least best of the three. Maybe because the characters are so ruthless that someone like Karol has to devishly plan a revenge plot to get even with his wife. I didn't really feel sorry for Karol even when he is left out broke and homeless on the street. There is a scene where he looks at an old woman trying to put a bottle into the recycle bin. Karol now looks on with a crude smirk on his face which shows what kind of person he is. Nonetheless, filmmaker Kieslowski has a way of getting an audience's attention even if his main characters is looked on as innocent or decieving.

• Ivan D

  
  A slight departure from "Three Colors: Blue's" transcendent and melancholic tone, Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors: White", representing the middle color in the French flag which symbolizes the virtue of equality, is humorous in its study of sexual… More
  A slight departure from "Three Colors: Blue's" transcendent and melancholic tone, Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors: White", representing the middle color in the French flag which symbolizes the virtue of equality, is humorous in its study of sexual weakness and subsequent redemption. The film opens with a trial scene involving Karol Karol (Zbiegniew Zabachowski), a hairdresser who has, ever since his marriage with his wife Dominque (Julie Delpy), failed to sexually consummate their love. With his numerous insecurities and sexual inferiority plaguing their marriage and also are the things that are responsible for putting him on the pitiful end of a divorce, just like Julie's isolation in "Three Colors: Blue", he has withdrawn himself from the main stream of existence. But this time, this isolation is never a strengthened choice. Pushed into the streets with a frozen bank account and only a large, almost empty suitcase to live with, he is a definitive image not of emotional bravery (unlike Julie) but of defeat. But as fate permits it, he meets Mikolaj (Janusz Gajos), initially a mysterious Polish lad who has soon became his friend. Unlike the previous film which broods about loneliness and repeatedly hints on isolated sadness, our protagonist here in "Three Colors: White" is also a lonely little chap but with a trusted pal. Although of course inserted by Kieslowski more importantly as an initial plot device (this film is, after all, the most plot-reliant of the trilogy), the Mikolaj character slowly transforms from being a hazy character with questionable intents into a surprisingly upbeat light that has been most instrumental for Karol's new lease on life, which is the same equivalent of what Karol is to Mikolaj. And in this friendship that was built in a time of utter tribulation, there's the cause of it all: Dominique. Julie Delpy, who I have first seen in "Before Sunrise" as the intelligently vibrant and sweet Celine, is unbelievably cold and indifferent as Dominque. At times she even looks and feels like a femme fatale. But Kieslowski, veering away from the shallow dimensions of character stereotypes, treated Dominique not as the aggravator of the situation but also as a victim of circumstances. Just like every wife, Dominique only wants sexual and emotional fulfillment in her marriage. But Karol, ever the shy sexual weakling, never properly took on the role of an accommodating husband. From what I've noticed, "Three Colors: White" was very well-known as a revenge film as much as it is recognized internationally as the only comedy film in the trilogy, albeit a dark one. For many, this certain 'revenge', planned by Karol to give Dominique her deserved comeuppance (the catalyst being the time when he has heard her pleasurably moaning on the phone, presumably while having sex with another man), is the poetic justice that the film is looking for on Karol's part for him to attain the signified 'equality' that the color 'white' is representing. But as I look more into it, the less I give a damn about Karol's so-called vengeance scheme. Sure, it was, for a moment, very enlightening and emotionally purging for us because we have rooted for Karol in the film's entirety. Yes, we are supposed to, but we're not compelled by Kieslowski to overly do so because he has never overlooked to give dear Dominique her own share of a beating heart. In the end, as I subconsciously decipher the pure significance of 'equality' in the whole film and as Karol gradually changes from a vulnerable sap into a relatively powerful businessman and a confident male, the more I think that it's not Karol's quest for revenge that is the real point of the film in terms of aligning itself with the color white's 'equality' symbolism but more significantly about how Dominique, being a good wife and all (the film shows how genuinely happy she is during their wedding), gets what she deserves: a Karol who's sure of himself, is sexually assertive, and knows what he wants. In a way, I even think that when Dominique finally found out about Karol's vengeful scheme, sure she was shocked, but she's also silently elated. With the way how her husband has handled and cleverly played the situation to manipulate the situation to his advantage and set it against her, she has realized ever so unconsciously that Karol, at that very moment, has finally become a man, the one that she's waiting to love. This therefore creates equality between the ever- loving feminine (Dominique) and the now transformed masculine (Karol), making their marriage worth all the emotional pitfalls, the agony of sexual misgivings, and the pain of relational apathy. So surprisingly, "Three Colors: White" is not just a one-sided tale of revenge but is also an exploration of the essential role masculinity plays in strengthening a marriage. Absurdist as the film may sometimes seems to be, Kieslowski still has offered a fresh take on the thorns and roses that populates not just the spacious boundaries of love, but also the bumbling and stumbling confines of life.

• Kyle M

  
  Unique and darkly humorous. The characters stick with you.

• Bill C

  
  White is really the weakest of the Trois Couleurs trilogy. Its described as a dark comedy, but I see it as a one sided he said story. Your point of access is Karol very plain Polish immigrant in Paris. Opening is him walking into a divorce court where his beautiful wife Julie Deply is… More
  White is really the weakest of the Trois Couleurs trilogy. Its described as a dark comedy, but I see it as a one sided he said story. Your point of access is Karol very plain Polish immigrant in Paris. Opening is him walking into a divorce court where his beautiful wife Julie Deply is divorcing him because of his erectile dysfunction. She leaves him broke, homeless and without a passport. The movie then follows his fall further and further until he meets another polish immigrant asks him to kill him. They both return to Poland where the rise to power in the Polish underworld and then he seeks his revenge on Deply. Overall the lack of details on the characters leave the audience at too large of a distance to care for the characters. Like most Kieslowski movie the cinematography is beautiful and the relationship between Karol and his friends are very heartfelt, but the main arc is really waste of time.

• Emily B

  
  After being left completely in awe of Blue yesterday I just had to continue the trilogy straight away. Not near as good as Blue to me, it is still a major acheivement in film. Once again Zbigniew Preisner's score really stood out for me, and the title colour again is used alot,… More
  After being left completely in awe of Blue yesterday I just had to continue the trilogy straight away. Not near as good as Blue to me, it is still a major acheivement in film. Once again Zbigniew Preisner's score really stood out for me, and the title colour again is used alot, with a white object being in almost every scene. Whilst the theme of Blue was Liberty, the theme of White is Equality, not just equality between a couple but also political. Zbigniew Zamachowski puts in a good performance and gives the film some dark humour. Julie Delphy, who is plastered all over the DVDs and posters, yet is actually in the film for only a few scenes doesn't have enough screentime but is also good.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings