★★★½

Three Colours: White (1994)

Written by Dalton Welsh - August 4, 2020

Krzysztof Kieslowski returns for his second film in the three colours trilogy, “Three Colours: White” and while still a worthy entry into the trilogy, the more accessible or surface level nature of its story unfortunately comes at the cost of the same emotional strength of its predecessor. Following the story of Karol, who finds himself displaced in France after his wife divorces him after six months due to his impotence which forces him to begin a new life. The film effectively explores the effects of a troubled relationship and the desperate attempts we take to rekindle love lost, with a great performance from its lead Zbigniew Zamachowski and cinematography brimming with the emotion and feeling our protagonist.

While Kieslowski’s previous entry “Blue” was a film that was driven by its mood, this film is more oriented towards being fueled by its plot. Again around 90 minutes in length while the runtime works well for a film like Blue that has little in the way of plot, for White perhaps a longer runtime could have helped to give the story more room to breathe and develop. Because of this constraint of the length it can feel a little messy in what it is trying to convey. These efforts are by no means entirely futile though, as the film is still ultimately effective in communicating its themes. Each film in the trilogy is representative of the colours of the French flag with white being equality. Which is presented in the film through its exploration of the inequitable love of a relationship. Karol’s remaining longing for his ex-wife Dominique, despite her claims that she no longer reciprocates those feelings, portraying this imbalance. The subsequent unhealthy obsession and eventual attempts at revenge that arise within Karol conveying that fighting lovelessness with hate isn’t the answer. And while the story that portrays this theme perhaps could have dwelled on some of its moments longer, the journey of our protagonist is nonetheless intriguing to watch. The way that he is forced to adapt causing his character to both rise and fall in his strength and morals is fully realised. Which, additionally, brings with it another great lead performance for this trilogy in Zbigniew Zamachowski.

Where Binoche in “Blue” showed great subtlety, Zamachowski brings great versatility. Effectively conveying heartache, fear, lust, shame, power and confusion. Alternatively, while his co-star Julie Delpy as Karol’s ex-wife Dominique commits to her performance one can’t help but feel her character to be somewhat underdeveloped. Obviously, attention should primarily be given to our protagonist, but perhaps Delpy could have been given more to work with seeing as she is clearly capable of delivering a great performance.

As far as visuals go, continuing from the previous films use of blue, white is ever present throughout the film. Being a less dynamic colour than blue makes it harder to effectively convey the motif, but director of photography Edward Kłosiński pulls it off with great style. Having the landscape of Poland at their disposal allows for some beautiful shots of the snow-covered landscape. Additionally, the use of bright white lighting in the repeated scenes of Karol reminiscing his wedding day effectively portrays his longing for a display of love from his former wife, looking back on when their love for one another was at its peak. The intensity of the lighting makes it feel as though it were merely a dream, the lack of emotion that Dominique now feels for Karol making that day feel almost unimaginable. The baron white of the room Karol occupies when he returns to Poland also greatly aiding in illustrating how everything has been taken from him and the hopelessness he feels as a result.

So, with another great lead performance, this time from Zbigniew Zamachowski, displaying great range as we watch engaged whilst Karol evolves and morphs into a new man following great heartache at the separation from his wife. While at times rushed and not quite as thematically or emotionally rich as director Kieslowski’s previous entry in the series. It is still nonetheless an effective display of the inequities and imbalance of love and fondness found in a relationship and the unjust lengths we will go in search of the admiration of another. Communicated beautifully through the ever-present white motif of the cinematography, the bleakness conveying our protagonist’s loss, and its contrasting brightness captivatingly portraying longing for the warmth of love now lost.