The third film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy, named after the colours of the French flag and loosely themed after the values of French Revolution. With this one obviously named Red and dealing with the value of brotherhood.
A young woman, Valentine (Irene Jacob), works as a model and studies at the university. One day a chain of events leads her to an old house where she meets a retired judge, Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who she learns spends his days spying on his neighbours and their illicit affairs. Horrified, she flees, but ends up returning and learning more about this strange man, to whom she feels fascinatingly connected.
All three films in the trilogy are pretty even in quality, but if I had to name my favourite, it would be this one. It contains all the good aspects of the two previous films, from amazing use of colour to great characters to an intriguing plot, but it also seems to have the most to say. The conversations between Valentine and Joseph are genuinely good and I also enjoyed the side plot dealing with the neighbours of the two main characters and how their life draws parallels to Joseph's past. Very neat, inventive storytelling there.
Granted, the ending is a bit weird, trying to tie all three of the films together in a rather ham-fisted way. It has to be a joke, at least I hope, but nevertheless it made the ending feel watered down. But, the movie leading up to that was more than good enough to make up for it.
The whole trilogy was an enjoyable watch and they're very much to be watched together. They're also short enough to make it viable and filled with enough content to make it worth your while.
A young woman, Valentine (Irene Jacob), works as a model and studies at the university. One day a chain of events leads her to an old house where she meets a retired judge, Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who she learns spends his days spying on his neighbours and their illicit affairs. Horrified, she flees, but ends up returning and learning more about this strange man, to whom she feels fascinatingly connected.
All three films in the trilogy are pretty even in quality, but if I had to name my favourite, it would be this one. It contains all the good aspects of the two previous films, from amazing use of colour to great characters to an intriguing plot, but it also seems to have the most to say. The conversations between Valentine and Joseph are genuinely good and I also enjoyed the side plot dealing with the neighbours of the two main characters and how their life draws parallels to Joseph's past. Very neat, inventive storytelling there.
Granted, the ending is a bit weird, trying to tie all three of the films together in a rather ham-fisted way. It has to be a joke, at least I hope, but nevertheless it made the ending feel watered down. But, the movie leading up to that was more than good enough to make up for it.
The whole trilogy was an enjoyable watch and they're very much to be watched together. They're also short enough to make it viable and filled with enough content to make it worth your while.