FILM - Kieslowski and Swayze
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours trilogy makes a return to the Film
Theatre, and its themes, in the ever-widening European Union, are as relevant
as ever.
The colours in question are those of the French tricolore flag, symbol of
La Révolution, and emblematic of Kieslowski’s hopes for the new
Europe. In his schema Blue, the first film, stands for Liberté, White
for Egalité, and Red for Fraternité. One can work out the relevance
of the scenarios to these themes for oneself.
In Blue Juliette Binoche plays the widow of a notable composer, killed in
a road accident at the start. She makes it her mission to free herself from
her painful past, but her husband’s unfinished magnum opus keeps pulling
her back. If you are unfamiliar with the director’s style you may find
the dialogue disconcertingly elliptical and the general effect fragmentary.
Kieslowski works in motifs – colour, objects, repeated gestures – and
underlying much of his work is a fascination with destiny and coincidence,
whichever you choose to call it. In this unifying obsession his long-term
collaborator is the composer Zbiegniew Preisner.
White is the more caustic of the three films and the one I look forward to
reassessing, as Julie Delpy gets her comeuppance at the hands of the Pole
she married and then discarded. It is an ambivalent satire about the virtues
of getting ahead in the new Poland, but I found it strained and unconvincing
towards the end. However, many cite this segment as their personal favourite.
Red, finally, the film which reunited the director with the gorgeous Irène
Jacob and cast opposite her the sublime Jean-Louis Trintignant, is set in
Geneva and is a story of an unlikely friendship which culminates in a state
of grace for all concerned. It is an easy-to-like final panel in the triptych,
and one that does not compromise on the artistic rigour of its predecessors.
Which leaves me with just a few lines to mention Ghost and Dirty Dancing in
the Park on 11th and 12th July. You remember when Patrick Swayze was making
female hearts flutter back in the 80s and early 90s? Well these two films
were largely responsible. I am not sure how well his blow-dried blue-collar
good looks have dated in the interim, but I guess a face is a face, and in
any case these films set about delivering what audiences want with practised
efficiency.
David Clare |
