Trois couleurs: Rouge (1994)

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski (writer)
Krzysztof Piesiewicz (writer)

Release Date:

December 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Final entry in a trilogy of films dealing with contemporary French society concerns a model who discovers her neighbour is keen on invading people's privacy.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Model | Redemption | Dog | Trilogy

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Irène Jacob	...	Valentine (as Irene Jacob)
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Le juge
Frédérique Feder	...	Karin (as Frederique Feder)
Jean-Pierre Lorit	...	Auguste
Samuel Le Bihan	...	Le photographe (Photographer) (as Samuel Lebihan)
Marion Stalens	...	Le Vétérinaire (Veterinary surgeon)
Teco Celio	...	Le barman (Barman)
Bernard Escalon	...	Le disquaire (Record dealer)
Jean Schlegel	...	Le voisin (Neighbour)
Elzbieta Jasinska	...	La femme (Woman)
Paul Vermeulen	...	L'ami de Karin (Karen's friend)
Jean-Marie Daunas	...	Le gardien du théâtre (Theatre manager)
Roland Carey	...	Le trafiquant (Drug dealer)
Brigitte Raul
Leo Ramseyer

Also Known As:

Three Colours: Red (Canada: English title) (UK)
Red (USA) (short title)
Three Colors: Red (USA)
Trzy kolory: Czerwony (Poland)

MPAA:

Rated R for a brief but strong sex scene.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Poland | France | Switzerland

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14 (New Brunswick/Nova Scotia/Prince Edward Island) (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | Norway:10 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland

Company:

CAB Productions

Trivia:

Citing that it does not meet enough of the necessary guidelines concerning a film's "artistic control" within a foreign co-production, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences disqualified the film from competing as Switzerland's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. (In an unprecedented move, Switzerland rejected the Academy's offer to submit another film.) Miramax Films' co-chairman Harvey Weinstein persuaded more than sixty industry heavyweights to sign a letter of complaint urging the Academy to reconsider its stance, to no avail.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the film, one of the main characters carries a dog on the ferry to England. At the time the film was made there was strict anti-rabies quarantine in force and the ferry operator would not have allowed a dog on board if it were not inside an appropriate container AND due to be collected by an approved quarantine kennel.

Quotes:

The Judge: I want nothing.
Valentine: Then stop breathing.
The Judge: Good idea.

Movie Connections:

Features Dead Poets Society (1989)

Perhaps the most philosophically dense film ever made

I feel at a loss, so brilliant is this film. Kieslowski is a writer, a philosopher; and while an excellent filmmaker, his greatness lies in his writing; and "Red" is his paradigm. This film is a metafictional study of the artist's judgement in the creation of his fictional world; of how an artist can attempt to remake life -- even his own -- thru his art, even as he cannot escape the knowledge that, no matter how he involves himself in his story, it is still fiction and he is still outside of his remade world, still burdened with its unreality and the reality of the life he has tried to artistically remake. And magically, all of this is not to the smallest degree at the expense of a wonderful story about the mysteries of love and fate and the characters who live out this story, this pre-judged destiny. If I had to choose, I might nominate this the greatest film ever made.