Trzy kolory: Bialy (1994)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski (scenario) and
Krzysztof Piesiewicz (scenario) ...

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Second of a trilogy of films dealing with contemporary French society shows a man dealing with a Polish immigrant whose wife wants to divorce him because he can't perform in bed.

Plot Keywords:

Trilogy | French | Divorce | Equality | Hairdresser

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Zbigniew Zamachowski	...	Karol Karol
Julie Delpy	...	Dominique
Janusz Gajos	...	Mikolaj
Jerzy Stuhr	...	Jurek
Aleksander Bardini	...	Le notaire (The Lawyer)
Grzegorz Warchol	...	L'elégant (The Elegant Man)
Cezary Harasimowicz	...	L'inspecteur (The Inspector)
Jerzy Nowak	...	La vieux payson (The Old Farmer)
Jerzy Trela	...	Monsieur Bronek
Cezary Pazura	...	Le propriétaire du bureau de change (Bureau de Change Proprietor)
Michel Lisowski	...	L'interprète (The Interpreter)
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	Le juge (The Judge) (as Philippe Morier Genoud)
Piotr Machalica	...	L'homme de haute taille (The Tall Man)
Francis Coffinet	...	L'employé de banque (The Bank Employee)
Barbara Dziekan	...	La caissière (The Cashier)

Also Known As:

Three Colours: White (Canada: English title) (UK)
Three Colors: White (USA)
Trois couleurs: Blanc (France)
Trzy kolory: Biały (Poland)
White

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and language.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

France | Poland | Switzerland

Language:

Polish | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:14 (New Brunswick/Nova Scotia/Prince Edward Island) (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

MK2 Productions

Trivia:

Almost every shot in the movie contains at least one white object.

Quotes:

Karol Karol: [to the man who wanted help committing suicide] That was a blank. The next one's real. Are you sure?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Severance (2006)

Kieslowski a masterful painter in Blue, White and Red: see all three!

It is not only difficult to comment separately on the three parts of Kieslowski's trilogy, it seems obvious that the filmmaker wants us to do just the opposite: view them in order, Blue, White, and Red, and consider them together as one complete work. It is true they are distinct stories with distinct themes: liberty, equality, fraternity, and each them is developed with unique applications of intrigue and artistry. They are each well worth seeing independently, but I believe they are best seen as one work. Collectively, I would rate the trilogy as a 9; separately, I place each in my top ten for the years 1993 and 1994.

White is the fabric of a bride, chaste and pure at the outset of her marriage; later it is the flash of an orgasm in the dark; and then .... But any more said of the instances of white in this film might spoil it for the first-time viewer. Unlike Three Colors: Blue, White is a more plot-oriented movie, with two main characters to Blue's one. And this is as it should be. Blue's theme of Liberty, the first word of France's motto, is an individual's principle, while White's theme of Equality, the French motto's second word, requires at least two people. The central quest for liberty is personal; the struggle for equality is fundamentally social. White is the most conventional of the three Color films, and while it is still one of my ten top films of 1994, I rate it an 8, slightly less than the highly visual Blue and the mind-bending Red.