White is the second part to the Three Color Trilogy directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski in 1994. Some critics would say that this was the weakest of the three films. Others would say that it does not fit in with the trilogy. To some degree, this film is different in personality but Krzysztof Kieslowski does a wonderful job of tying it together with the first film, Blue.
The way that Krzysztof Kieslowski ties in the film is the courthouse scene with Karl getting a divorce from his wife of six months and Julie trying to go into the courtroom to find the mistress that was seen in the pictures with her husband. The subtle image if Julie trying to enter the courtroom makes it easy to miss if viewers were not paying attention. Krzysztof Kieslowski also does a great job of showing different point of views within both films. Blue, viewers are able to see Julie’s point of view and then White can be experienced through Karl.
The character, Karl, makes it easy for the audience to sympathize with him. He is a quirky guy who loves his wife but seems to have really bad luck. Just when the audience thinks that Karl is down and out he proves to them that he is smart and has things figured out. One example is when Mikolaj and Karl are talking and Mikolaj reveals to Karl that he is the one who wants to be killed. Karl says, “We all know pain.” Mikolaj responds, “Yes, but I wanted less.” This is a wonderful universal theme that is timeless. Krzysztof Kieslowski seems to be speaking through Karl by saying what should be done with this pain? Should people wallow in it or should they make something of themselves like Karl and move forward. The ironic thing is that Karl moves on and creates a fortune for himself all for one reason, his wife. This brings up another idea on love. The film leaves people feeling that Karl and Dominique have found their love again. The question to ask is why did he have to trick her to come to Poland? If she loved him, shouldn’t she have wanted to come anyways? Also, if it was love in the first place with their marriage and the whole wedding scene with doves why would she through him to the curb just because he couldn’t perform physically up to her standards but yet she would cry at his funeral?
This film does fit in with the trilogy. The films Blue and Red tend to be on the heavy side but White holds the together. It compliments them very well because it is still aesthetically pleasing, intellectually stimulating and contains well developed characters.
The way that Krzysztof Kieslowski ties in the film is the courthouse scene with Karl getting a divorce from his wife of six months and Julie trying to go into the courtroom to find the mistress that was seen in the pictures with her husband. The subtle image if Julie trying to enter the courtroom makes it easy to miss if viewers were not paying attention. Krzysztof Kieslowski also does a great job of showing different point of views within both films. Blue, viewers are able to see Julie’s point of view and then White can be experienced through Karl.
The character, Karl, makes it easy for the audience to sympathize with him. He is a quirky guy who loves his wife but seems to have really bad luck. Just when the audience thinks that Karl is down and out he proves to them that he is smart and has things figured out. One example is when Mikolaj and Karl are talking and Mikolaj reveals to Karl that he is the one who wants to be killed. Karl says, “We all know pain.” Mikolaj responds, “Yes, but I wanted less.” This is a wonderful universal theme that is timeless. Krzysztof Kieslowski seems to be speaking through Karl by saying what should be done with this pain? Should people wallow in it or should they make something of themselves like Karl and move forward. The ironic thing is that Karl moves on and creates a fortune for himself all for one reason, his wife. This brings up another idea on love. The film leaves people feeling that Karl and Dominique have found their love again. The question to ask is why did he have to trick her to come to Poland? If she loved him, shouldn’t she have wanted to come anyways? Also, if it was love in the first place with their marriage and the whole wedding scene with doves why would she through him to the curb just because he couldn’t perform physically up to her standards but yet she would cry at his funeral?
This film does fit in with the trilogy. The films Blue and Red tend to be on the heavy side but White holds the together. It compliments them very well because it is still aesthetically pleasing, intellectually stimulating and contains well developed characters.
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