Three Colors: Blue

BLUE

A 1993 French film written, and directed by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski; “Three Colors:

Blue” is the first part of Kieslowski's trilogy on French life. Blue is a film about a middle-aged woman named Julie. Julie starts a new life after surviving a tragic car accident which takes the lives of her husband, an acclaimed European composer and her young daughter.

Julie separates herself from her past, including all its memories and people involved. She even destroys the last unfinished score of her husband's work; which was a piece celebrating European unity, following the end of the cold war. However we see pieces of the music haunting her thoughts throughout the film. Julie decides to leave the house she lived in with her family and takes an apartment in Paris. She erases all contact with everyone and anything in her past, except for a small chandelier of blue diamond’s that belonged to her daughter.

 She tries to cut off her past and start anew alone, but her past will not let her go. Oliver,

an old friend and coworker of Julie’s husband, finds her and confronts her despite her attempts to be alone. Oliver seeks after because he has feelings for her and also because he believes she secretly was the true author of her husband’s most recent work. Her past begins to haunt her more and more, and as we learn more about Julie she learns more about her past; including that her husband was having an affair. While both trying to escape Olivier and his obsession with her husband’s final work, and attempting to uncover who her husband's mistress was, Julie finds herself becoming more and more absorbed into her past.

Eventually, she discovers the woman that her husband was having an affair with, and finds out that she is carrying his child. Out of compassion, understanding, and a desire for change, Julie gives the woman the house where Julie and her family once lived. Julie also decides to not work with Oliver and finish her husband's last composition. However, Oliver and she agree that the truth about her husband's music would not be revealed as her own work. Finally, the movie ends with the finished composition being played as the images of all the people in the film.

According to Kieślowski, the theme of the film is “liberty,” specifically emotional liberty. We see this theme represented in Julie’s attempts to free herself from her past and the emotional stress and grief she is dealing with after the tragedy. She quickly lets herself become emotionless and cold. However, she remains linked to her past and cannot completely allow herself to runaway and die inside. This is symbolized with Julie keeping chandelier of blue diamond’s

 that belonged to her daughter.

This movie is very dark, complicated, and quite frankly depressing. However, it’s still a very good movie. We get to see the personal battles and depression that Julie must deal with first hand; we get a real feel for the absolute madness she is dealing with mentally. This is a genuine film that holds nothing back and throws the truth right in the viewers face. I highly recommend this film, especially to those who like real characters with authentic personalities.