Retro Film Review: Three Colours: White (Trois couleurs: Blanc, 1994)
Equality may have many different meanings for different people. For example, most Americans think that equality is all about people having equal opportunity to pursue happiness. Most Europeans think of equality in terms of all people having some quantities of food, clothes and accommodation being guaranteed by the state. Some characters on both sides of Atlantic see equality as reason for all people to look, dress, talk and think the same. For Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski equality in White, second film in his Three Colours trilogy, is all about getting even.
Protagonist of the film is Karol Karol (played by Zbigniew Zamachowski), Polish hairdresser who emigrated to Paris and married Dominique (played by Julie Delpy), Frenchwoman whom he loves beyond words. Their marriage fell apart and Dominique, using his apparent impotence as a reason, got divorce and deprived him of his store and other earthly possessions. Karol is left penniless, unable even to get money to obtain passport or ticket home, and forced to panhandle in Parisian metro. There he is spotted by Mikolaj (played by Janusz Gajos), his countryman who offers to smuggle him to Poland in exchange for some big and presumably illegal favour. Karol agrees, returns to new, capitalist Poland and slowly gains wealth through illicit means. He uses his new position to plot revenge against his ex-wife.
Although White looks like a light-hearted comedy compared with the first part of the trilogy, it is the cynicism and misanthropy that makes the most striking contrast with sombre and almost solemn humanism of Blue. Although nominally a comedy, this film was inspired by something that probably broke Kieszlowski's heart. Kieszlowski, a Catholic intellectual, was utterly disappointed in seeing his native Poland being freed from the shackles of Communism only to fall prey to equally godless capitalism in its most virulent form. Seeing his people being rapidly divided between tiny minority of filthy rich and majority of poor, Kieszlowski thought about true meaning of equality in modern world and White shows that this ideal, just like freedom in Blue, represents an illusion. In this film people aren't and can't be equal - genders aren't equal, nations aren't equal, and, finally, people within a country aren't equal.
Ironically, those sad and potentially depressing observations are presented to the audience through funny and entertaining story. White represents probably the only Kieszlowski's film that could be appreciated by ordinary audience. That doesn't mean that the film is without its flaws - some scenes are repeating, while other don't seem to serve any purpose apart from making sure that White has regular 90 minutes of running time. On the other hand, the acting in this film is superb. Zbigniew Zamachowski brings a lot of human quality to his character, making audience to sympathise with his action even when those actions might be morally questionable. Julie Delpy with her almost inhuman beauty is perfect choice for the role of woman who can destroy man and still hold his heart. Those more familiar with Polish cinema won't fail to recognise Janusz Gajos, character actor who at times seems to repeat his role from Psy. All in all, White is the most accessible and most entertaining of Three Colours films, but all three films should be watched in order for quality of White to be truly appreciated.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on June 4th 2003)
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