The Frame

This is the first of a trilogy, and I watched all the trilogy in the same week (though not sequentially), so my comments may range across multiple entries here. Blue is the first and probably the best known of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors films, but I’m not sure it’s the best introduction to Kieslowski’s work (I might suggest The Double Life of Veronique, which I watched yesterday). Blue is paced more slowly than pretty much any American film could get away with, and it’s unclear at the end if the heroine (who is struggling with the death of her husband and child in a car accident) has been able to move into or past her grief–her reactions are difficult to get a grip on, because they aren’t typical of grieving widows. Yet, Blue is like a placid pool of water–it’s far deeper than it initially looks. I’m not sure I can explicate or prove that statement any more than that without seeing the film again. It’s a feeling more than anything else, that there are vast amounts of things going on under the surface, behind Juliette Binoche’s eyes, underneath her enigmatic expressions. It’s a gorgeous-looking film, as are all of Kieslowski’s, and honestly, I appreciated it a lot more after having seen the rest of the trilogy.
Well Above Average