Three Colors: Blue

(Trois couleurs: Bleu, Krzysztof Kieslowski, France/Poland/Switzerland 1993, 98 min., 35mm, French w/subtitles)

Loosely based, both thematically and visually, on the colors of the French flag, Kieslowski’s trilogy examines the tenuous bonds that connect people and the haphazard events that forge or break them. A restrained coolness pervades Blue, which stars Juliette Binoche as a recent widow who passes through life, evading contact with the world and its painful reminders of her lost past. But the entreaties of a former lover and a friendship with the prostitute downstairs threaten to draw her back into the realm of relationships and feeling. Beautifully shot and daringly edited, Blue also earned Binoche a Best Actress Award at Cannes.

Presented in collaboration with the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, University of Rochester.