View source for Three Colours: Blue

{{Short description|1993 film by Krzysztof Kieślowski}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Expand Polish|topic=cult|Trzy kolory. Niebieski
| date = 10 2023
| fa = yes
}}{{Infobox film
| name           = Three Colours: Blue
| image          = Three Colours Blue (film poster).jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = French theatrical release poster
| native_name    = {{Infobox name module|fr|Trois couleurs: Bleu}}
| director       = [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Krzysztof Piesiewicz]]
* Krzysztof Kieślowski
}}
| producer       = [[Marin Karmitz]]
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Juliette Binoche]]
* [[Benoît Régent]]
* [[Hélène Vincent]]
* [[Florence Pernel]]
* {{interlanguage link|Charlotte Véry|fr||ro}}
* [[Emmanuelle Riva]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Sławomir Idziak]]
| editing        = [[Jacques Witta]]
| music          = [[Zbigniew Preisner]]
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
* mk2 Productions SA
* CED Productions
* [[France 3 Cinéma]]
* CAB Productions
* TOR Studio Production
* [[Canal+ (French TV channel)|Canal+]]
}}
| distributor    = {{Plainlist|
* mk2 Diffusion (France)
* Rialto Film (Switzerland)
}}
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1993|09|08|France/Switzerland|1993|10|10|[[Warsaw]]}}
| runtime        = 94 minutes <!-- VHS release: 93:52 -->
| country        = {{ublist|France|Poland|Switzerland}}
| language       = French
| budget         = 
| gross          = $1.5 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0108394/|title=Three Colors: Blue (1993)|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=24 September 2024}}</ref>
}}

'''''Three Colours: Blue''''' ({{langx|fr|Trois couleurs: Bleu}}, {{langx|pl|Trzy kolory: Niebieski}}) is a 1993 [[psychological drama]] film co-written and directed by Polish filmmaker [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]]. It is the first instalment in the [[Three Colours trilogy|''Three Colours'' trilogy]], themed on the [[Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité|French Revolutionary ideals]] of liberty, equality and fraternity, followed by ''[[Three Colours: White|White]]'' and ''[[Three Colours: Red|Red]]'' (both 1994). According to Kieślowski, the subject of the film is [[liberty]], specifically emotional liberty, rather than its social or political meaning.<ref>Insdorf, Anne, et al. "A Look at Blue". ([[Featurette]]) DVD. [[The Criterion Collection]]. ''Three Colors: Blue''. November 15, 2011.</ref>

Set in Paris, the film follows a woman named Julie ([[Juliette Binoche]]) whose husband and daughter are killed in a car accident. Suddenly freed from her familial bonds, she tries to isolate herself and live in seclusion from her former ties. However, she discovers that she cannot escape human connections.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kieślowski |first=Krzysztof |editor-last=Stok |editor-first=Danusia |title=Kieślowski on Kieślowski |location=London |publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] |year=1998 |page=212}}</ref>

Upon its release, ''Blue'' received widespread critical acclaim and won several awards, including the [[Golden Lion]] and the [[Volpi Cup for Best Actress]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]]. It remains one of Kieślowski's most celebrated works.<ref>{{cite web |title=Krzysztof Kieslowski's Acclaimed Films |url=http://www.theyshootpictures.com/kieslowskikrzysztof.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708173650/https://www.theyshootpictures.com/kieslowskikrzysztof.php |archive-date=July 8, 2014 |access-date=October 22, 2016 |website=They Shoot Pictures, Don't They}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Votes for Three Colours Blue (1993)|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c1b61df/sightandsoundpoll2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224000401/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c1b61df/sightandsoundpoll2012|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 24, 2017|access-date=October 17, 2016|publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> The male lead, [[Benoît Régent]], died of an [[aneurysm]] at the age of 41 in October 1994, just one year after the film was released.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1994/10/25/theatre-mort-de-l-acteur-benoit-regent-un-blond-fait-pour-la-nuit_3844084_1819218.html | title=THEATRE Mort de l'acteur Benoît Régent Un blond fait pour la nuit | newspaper=[[Le Monde]] | language=fr | date=25 October 1994}}</ref>

==Plot==
Julie, the wife of famous French composer Patrice de Courcy, loses her husband and five-year-old daughter in an automobile accident but survives herself. While recovering in the hospital, Julie attempts suicide by taking an overdose of pills but is unable to swallow them. After being released from the hospital, Julie, who is thought to have helped write much of her husband's famous pieces, destroys what remains of his work. She contacts Olivier, a collaborator of her husband's who has always admired her, and sleeps with him before bidding him farewell. She empties the family home and puts it up for sale, moving into an apartment in Paris near [[Rue Mouffetard]] without informing anyone. Her only memento is a mobile of blue beads that is hinted to have belonged to her daughter.

Julie dissociates herself from her past life and distances herself from former friendships. She is no longer recognized by her mother, who suffers from [[Alzheimer's disease|Alzheimer's]]. She reclaims and destroys the unfinished score for her late husband's last commissioned work, a piece celebrating European unity following the end of the [[Cold War]]. Excerpts of its music, however, continuously haunt her.

Despite her desire to live anonymously and alone, Julie is soon confronted by her past. A boy who witnessed the accident gives her a cross necklace found at the scene and asks her about her husband's last words, which turned out to be the punchline of an indelicate joke the husband was telling the family. Julie allows the boy to keep the necklace. She also reluctantly befriends Lucille, an [[Stripper|exotic dancer]] who is having an affair with one of her neighbors and is despised by most residents of the apartment building. The two women provide emotional support for each other. While comforting Lucille at the [[Pigalle, Paris|Pigalle]] club where she works, Julie sees Olivier being interviewed on television, revealing that he kept a copy of the European piece and plans to finish it himself. Julie then sees a picture of Patrice with another woman.

Julie confronts Olivier about the European piece and asks him about the woman seen with Patrice. She tracks down Sandrine, a lawyer and Patrice's mistress, and discovers that she is pregnant with his child. Julie arranges for Sandrine to have the family home, not yet sold, and eventual recognition of his paternity for the child. Julie then returns to working on the piece with Olivier and finishes the final part. She calls Olivier, who refuses to take the piece as his own unless Julie is credited as well, to which Julie agrees. Julie then calls Olivier again and asks him if he still loves her; he says yes, and Julie proceeds to meet him.

Part of the completed ''Unity of Europe'' piece is played, which features a chorus and a solo soprano singing in Greek; the lyrics praise the divine love in [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]]'s first letter to the [[1 Corinthians 13|Corinthians]]. Images are seen of all the people Julie's actions have affected. Julie cries before she begins to smile gradually.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Juliette Binoche]] as Julie de Courcy (née Vignon)
* [[Benoît Régent]] as Olivier Benôit
* [[Florence Pernel]] as Sandrine
* {{interlanguage link|Charlotte Véry|fr||ro}} as Lucille
* [[Hélène Vincent]] as the journalist
* [[Philippe Volter]] as the real estate agent
* [[Emmanuelle Riva]] as Madame Vignon, Julie's mother
* [[Yann Trégouët]] as Antoine
* [[Isabelle Sadoyan]] as the servant
* [[Julie Delpy]] as Dominique (cameo)
* [[Zbigniew Zamachowski]] as Karol Karol (cameo)
}}

==Production==
''Blue'' was an [[international co-production]] between the French companies CED Productions, [[Eurimages]], [[France 3 Cinéma]], and MK2 Productions, the Swiss company CAB Productions and the Polish company Studio Filmowe TOR. Principal photography began on 7 September 1992 and completed shooting in October 1992.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69193/blue#notes | title=Blue}}</ref>

Like the other films in the trilogy, ''Blue'' makes frequent visual allusions to its title: numerous scenes are shot with blue filters or blue lighting, and many objects are blue. When Julie thinks about the musical score that she has tried to destroy, blue light overwhelms the screen. The film also includes several references to the colours of the [[drapeau tricolore|tricolor]] that inspired Kieślowski's trilogy: several scenes are dominated by red light, and in one scene, children dressed in white bathing suits with red floaters jump into the blue swimming pool. Another scene features a link with the next film in the trilogy: while spotting the lawyer Sandrine, her husband's mistress, Julie is seen entering a courtroom where Karol, the Polish main character of ''White'', is being divorced by Dominique, his estranged French wife.

==Analysis==
The occasional fade-outs and fade-ins to Julie's character are used to represent an extremely subjective point of view. According to Kieślowski, "at a certain moment, time really does pass for Julie while at the same time, it stands still. Not only does her music come back to haunt her at a certain point, but time stands still for a moment".{{verify source|date=February 2021}}

Steven Woodward, in a detailed analysis of the film, drew attention to the unconventionality with which Kieślowski treats the title color in terms of the symbolism it expresses. Woodward noted that in the hospital scene, "given the association of blue light and funeral music, blue seems to convey the conventional sense of mourning and depression. However, the musical accompaniment highlights Julie's increasing struggle with the melody, which reminds her of her feelings of mourning; the symbolism of the color blue is associated with props such as a pool filled with water in which the heroine immerses herself to drown out the sound of her husband's compositions. However, the melody "still flows" and the feeling of mourning cannot be drowned out, so Julie gives in to it in the final sequence in blue colors.<ref>{{cite journal| title = Blue on Second Thought| last = Woodward | first = Steven | journal = New Review of Film and Television Studies | url =https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17400309.2017.1265427 | year = 2017| volume = 15 | pages = 58–69 | doi = 10.1080/17400309.2017.1265427| url-access = subscription }}</ref>

[[Slavoj Žižek]] noted that the slogan "freedom, equality, fraternity" used in the ''Three Colors'' trilogy cannot be separated from the Christian theological virtues - faith, hope and love. According to Žižek, blue is associated with freedom and love; “freedom is true liberation only when supported by Love, the loving acceptance of others (In ''Blue'', Julie goes from cold, abstract freedom to the real freedom of loving others)”. This Love, however, takes on a specific dimension, because the final "sexual act, during which Julia becomes enlightened, is staged as her own lonely fantasy, a dream-like event that does not actually involve contact with another person". The Slovenian psychoanalyst also stated that Julie had for a long time fetishized the idealized memory of her husband, which was disturbed by the news of marital infidelity. ''Blue'', therefore, according to Žižek, "is not a film about mourning, but about creating conditions for mourning: only in the last shot of the film can Julie begin to work through mourning".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Žižek |first=Slavoj |author-link=Slavoj Žižek |title=The Fright of Real Tears: Krzystof Kieslowski Between Theory and Post-Theory |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |year=1999 |isbn=9780851707556 |edition=1st}}</ref>

Emma Wilson analyzed ''Blue'' as a postmodern work of art, reflecting the content of Frederic Jameson's philosophical concept. According to Wilson, "the film questions the potential of its medium and shows how the evocative power of [...] images of suffering has been displaced".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=E. |date=1998-12-01 |title=Three Colours: Blue: Kieslowski, colour and the postmodern subject |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/39.4.349 |journal=[[Screen (journal)|Screen]] |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=349–362 |doi=10.1093/screen/39.4.349 |issn=0036-9543|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{Main|Three Colors: Blue (soundtrack)}}

==Reception==
''Three Colours: Blue'' received widespread acclaim from film critics. On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Three Colors: Blue'' contains some of director/co-writer Krzysztof Kieslowski's most visually arresting, emotionally resonant work – and boasts an outstanding performance from Juliette Binoche in the bargain."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_colors_blue |title= Three Colors: Blue |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date= 24 September 2024}}</ref> [[Metacritic]], which uses a [[Weighted arithmetic mean|weighted average]], assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/three-colors-blue |title=Three Colors: Blue |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=June 18, 2023}}</ref>

Marjorie Baumgarten of ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]'' wrote, "''Blue'' is a film that engages the mind, challenges the senses, implores a resolution, and tells, with aesthetic grace and formal elegance, a good story and a political allegory."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Baumgarten |first=Marjorie |date=March 18, 1994 |title=Movie Review: Blue |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1994-03-18/blue/ |access-date=May 21, 2007 |newspaper=[[Austin Chronicle]]}}</ref> [[Derek Malcolm]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote, "''Blue'' remains an intense and moving tribute to the woman at its centre who, in coming back from tragedy, almost refuses, but ultimately accepts the only real love that's on offer."<ref name="Derek Malcolm">{{cite news |last=Malcolm |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Malcolm |date=14 October 1993 |title=Three Colours: Blue review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/09/three-colours-blue-review |access-date=November 3, 2014 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

===Year-end lists===
* 9th – [[James Berardinelli]], ''ReelViews''<ref>{{cite web |last=Berardinelli |first=James |author-link=James Berardinelli |date=January 2, 1995 |title=Rewinding 1994 -- The Year in Film |url=https://preview.reelviews.net/comment/010295.html |access-date=July 19, 2020 |website=ReelViews}}</ref>

===Accolades===
* [[Venice Film Festival]], 1993: [[Golden Lion]], [[Volpi Cup for Best Actress]] (Juliette Binoche), [[Golden Osella]] (Sławomir Idziak)<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-18|title=Three Colors: Blue|url=https://nwfilm.org/films/three-colors-blue/|access-date=2020-12-08|website=NW Film Center|archive-date=2021-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414175507/https://nwfilm.org/films/three-colors-blue/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[César Award]], <nowiki>1993</nowiki>: Best Actress (Juliette Binoche), Best Sound, Best Film Editing<ref>{{Cite web |title=19th César Awards |url=https://www.allocine.fr/festivals/festival-128/edition-18353029/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=[[AlloCiné]] |language=fr}}</ref>
* [[Golden Globe Award]]: [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama]] (Juliette Binoche, nominated)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Winners & Nominees 1994 |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1994 |access-date=2022-10-06 |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]]}}</ref>
* [[Golden Globe Award]]: [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] (nominated)<ref name=":1" />
* [[Goya Awards]]: Best European Film
* [[29th Guldbagge Awards|Guldbagge Awards]]: [[Guldbagge Award for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]] (nominated)<ref name="29thGuldbagge">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfi.se/en-GB/Swedish-film-database/Item/?type=MOVIE&itemid=18271&iv=Awards |title=Three Colors Blue (1993) |website=[[Swedish Film Database]] |date=23 March 2014}}</ref>
* [[Chicago International Film Festival|Chicago Film Festival]], 1993 - Special Jury Prize<ref>{{cite web|title=Chicago Film Festival 1995|url=https://mubi.com/awards-and-festivals/chicago?year=1993|website=Mubi}}</ref>
* [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]], [[1993 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|1993]] – [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] (Runner up)<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 13, 1993 |title='Schindler', 'Piano' top L.A. critics' awards |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Daily News]] |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/12/13/schindler-piano-top-la-critics-awards/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803223742/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-12-13/features/1993347094_1_schindler-list-award-debra-winger |archive-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref>
In 2007, the film was ranked at No. 29 by ''[[The Guardian]]'''s readers poll on the list of "40 greatest foreign films of all time".<ref>{{cite news|title=As chosen by you...the greatest foreign films of all time|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/may/11/1|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 May 2007}}</ref> The film ranked 64th on [[BBC Culture]]'s 2018 list of "The 100 greatest foreign-language films".<ref>{{cite web |date=29 October 2018 |title=The 100 greatest foreign-language films |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181029-the-100-greatest-foreign-language-films |access-date=10 January 2021 |website=[[BBC Culture]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Mojo title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2067-three-colors-a-hymn-to-european-cinema ''Three Colors: A Hymn to European Cinema''] – an essay by [[Colin MacCabe]] at [[The Criterion Collection]]
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2066-blue-i-bare-necessities ''Blue: Bare Necessities''] – an essay by Nick James at The Criterion Collection

{{Krzysztof Kieślowski}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''Three Colours: Blue''
|list =
{{Goya Award for Best European Film}}
{{Golden Lion}}
{{Golden Osella}}
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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1993 films]]
[[Category:1993 drama films]]
[[Category:1993 independent films]]
[[Category:1990s French films]]
[[Category:1990s French-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Polish-language films]]
[[Category:1990s psychological drama films]]
[[Category:Canal+ films]]
[[Category:Films about classical music and musicians]]
[[Category:Films about depression]]
[[Category:Films about grief]]
[[Category:Films about self-harm]]
[[Category:Films about widowhood]]
[[Category:Films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Actress César Award–winning performance]]
[[Category:Films produced by Marin Karmitz]]
[[Category:Films scored by Zbigniew Preisner]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films shot in Paris]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Piesiewicz]]
[[Category:France 3 Cinéma films]]
[[Category:French independent films]]
[[Category:French psychological drama films]]
[[Category:French-language Swiss films]]
[[Category:Golden Lion winners]]
[[Category:Golden Osella winners]]
[[Category:Polish drama films]]
[[Category:Polish independent films]]
[[Category:Swiss drama films]]
[[Category:Swiss independent films]]