Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) poster & wallpaper
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Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Federique Feder, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Samuel Le Bihan

A beautiful model named Valentine crosses paths with a retired judge, whose dog she runs over with her car. The lonely judge, she discovers, amuses himself by eavesdropping on all of his neighbors' ph... read more read more...one conversations. Near Valentine's apartment lives a young man who aspires to be a judge and loves a woman who will betray him. From these characters' proximity comes spiritual kinship and mutual redemption.

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94% liked it

32,898 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

43 critics

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Release Date: October 4, 1994

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DVD Release Date: March 4, 2003

Stats: 1,459 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,459)

  • fb619846742
    December 20, 2011
    fb619846742
    A stirring, fitting final chapter to director Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy, dealing with a model (Irene Jacob) who starts a relationship with a reclusive judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) after a terrible accident. Where "Blue" missed a compelling complementary char... read moreacter to its lead star, "Red" shines from start to finish chronicling two very different people whose relationship does not feel contrived for a second. This is a passionate, intimate, subtle look on life and caring for other people, and it is thanks to two fine actors in Jacob and Trintignant that we care for these characters so much. This is a simple masterpiece that takes its time and never tries to "wow" you, but thanks to a well-controlled screenplay, as well as a devastatingly beautiful final act, it will remain lodged in your memory for eternity. Bravo!
  • RossCollinsUK
    January 16, 2011
    RossCollinsUK
    Somewhat surreal and intriguing story, set around the beautiful Lake Geneva, of a young woman just starting out in life meeting a cynical old man who helps her find her way and in return gives him the peaceful release he needs. The pace is a bit slow in the early stages but it bu... read moreilds up to form the best movie in the trilogy.
  • SirPant
    October 12, 2010
    SirPant
    Red is a fantastic finale to the Trilogy, it's not as strong as Blue but it's nearly as beautiful. I think the ending and how the three films join is a little disappointing to be honest but it doesn't distract to much from this film as a stand alone piece. It's a great example of... read more what is good about 90's cinema. Highly recommended, the films as a trilogy get a five out of five rating from me!
  • mumby1988
    March 12, 2010
    mumby1988
    When Three Colours -- Red first opened in America, Roger Ebert made the observation that it was "grown-up filmmaking: a film by an adult, for adults". Regardless of Ebert's snootiness towards the perceived infantilism of Hollywood, or the grossy inflated level of praise for Europ... read moreean art films, there is no doubt that Three Colours -- Red is a truly wonderful film. The concluding instalment in Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy of films on French culture is a sumptuous and ravishing affair, combining intelligent storytelling with an uncompromising artistic flair to create a bewitching experience.

    Following on from Blue's treatment of liberty and White's examination of equality, Red completes the study of the French motto by tackling fraternity. This is played out in two distinct but complimentary ways. One is the relationship between Valentine, a beautiful model with a complicated family life, and Joseph Kern, a retired judge who spies on his neighbours by tapping their phone lines. This is the 'anti-romance' of the film, since these characters have no real reason to be connected, let alone attracted to each other. Let's face it, returning a dog you just ran over is not the greatest of ice-breakers.

    If this were a Hollywood rom-com, the device of the dog would be considerably overplayed, and the opposing personalities played for (attempted) comic effect. The two would have either walked off into the sunset after much bickering, or would have fought against the world to keep their forbidden love alive. Kieslowski attempts no such nonsense; the feelings these characters have for each other is strictly platonic -- strictly fraternal.

    As the characters begin to engage with each other, drawn together by the circumstance of the dog, we see the judge beginning to open up and acknowledge both his significance and his ability for empathy. His final scenes, at the fashion show and watching the TV reports, are analogous to Gene Hackman's final scenes in The Conversation, to which his character owes a debt. Both his smile at the TV and Hackman's saxophone playing are small but significant moments of triumph in surroundings which would otherwise cause despair.

    The second means by which fraternity is explored is in the series of coincidences which appear throughout the film. For example, early on a man is walking across the road and drops his books. One book falls open on a certain page; he studies the words intently, and that subject comes up on his law exam, which he manages to pass. In the final act, the judge talks to Valentine about an identical experience he had as a young student, with the exact same outcome.

    These kinds of coincidences suggest one of two things. Either they suggest that the characters are in some kind of intergenerational time-loop, in which the actions of one generation will be indirectly repeated, a la The Shining. Or, perhaps more likely, they suggest that these kinds of encounters happen all the time, mostly or almost always without our knowledge. They are impossible to predict or control, since they are inherent either in our cultures or in our very being.

    This is the brotherhood (or sisterhood) which the film explores, people living out lives in an unconsciously similar fashion, with similar goals, needs or desires. Kieslowski doesn't attempt to tie this down to a solid definition of 'human nature' (if there is such a thing), and hence we don't get a lot of patronising platitudes about what it means to be alive. He leaves both the cause and effect of these encounters unwritten, save for hinting that our desire to connect, whatever the cause and end, can only be a good thing.

    In order for this kind of premise to work, we have to believe that the people we are seeing on screen are ordinary people, as opposed to good-looking actors pretending to be normal. Kieslowski is not a documentarian, but he somehow manages to sustain all his artistic and philosophical flights of fancy by anchoring the film in a number of believable performances. Irène Jacob's dialogue is sparse and simple, with no outrageously self-indulgent metaphors which could distract from either the story or her great performance. Kieslowski has a level of artistry which offers up substance and ravishing beauty without shutting the audience out; we feel intimate with the characters, while slowly becoming aware of their greater significance.

    This sense of intimacy and 'the unwritten' is bolstered by the cinematography, which is simply beautiful to behold. As with Blue and White, there is barely a shot in the film which is not covered in the colour of the title. Piotr Sobociński captures an entire spectrum of deep and passionate reds which give the film real life and glamour, which is of course in keeping with the fashion elements of the plot. Red is a symbol for many things -- love, anger, passion -- and all of these are offered up as potential candidates for the 'unwritten' force which guides the characters in the film.

    Even if you're not trying to decode the meaning of a scene, every shot of the film washes over you in a wave of beauty. Whether it's the lovely external shots, showing the flat and the café, or the interior segments with all the bright lights and mirrors, there's something which will inspire and delight anyone. The camerawork is always interesting, with many long shots to give the more intimate sequences a chance to breathe and give emphasis to the smallest encounter, the kind of conversations and sweet nothings which more rapid editing would render meaningless. There is a great moment where the model and the judge are in the theatre, and he is talking about the book falling down from the balcony. The camera moves down from the balcony to the stage, mirroring the fall of the book -- a decision which illuminates what is arguably the pivotal scene of the film.

    In any kind of sprawling character epic, whether it's Love Actually or Magnolia, there has to be a slightly awkward scene where all these lives are tied together so that we realise how they are all somehow connected. As has been made clear, the fact that Kieslowski does not over-elaborate on all these little connections means that the ending seems more intelligent and less contrived than its American or British equivalents. It's still slightly awkward, but it's hard to think of a better way to tie this trilogy together.

    Three Colours -- Red is not quite a perfect film. It is a little difficult to follow at times, and some of the characters are underdeveloped, such as the gentleman on the phone whom the judge suspects of smuggling heroin. It may be the case that these things all make sense on subsequent viewing, and that is reassuring because the film invites you to remain in its world until, like the characters, we realise why we were here. Like Michelangelo Antonioni or a more upbeat David Lynch, Red has a bewitching quality to it, a certain atmosphere that makes you want to go back and unravel all the little pieces. It's a really fascinating film, and a fine conclusion to Kieslowski's career.
  • blacksheepboy
    November 10, 2009
    blacksheepboy
    Red is Kieslowski's best installment of his Three Colors films, and it is a reddish, warm depiction of solidarity and fraternity (the red colour of the French flag), bringing the trilogy to a wonderful conclusion.
  • flixsterman
    June 11, 2009
    flixsterman
    Definitely the most abstract and non-linear of Kieslowski's trilogy. If Blue moved you to tears and White made you chuckle, Red will inspire you to ponder and reflect..
  • dreamfaeries
    October 15, 2008
    dreamfaeries
    The best of the trilogy. I enjoyed this movie greatly. I love how each film rolls into each other and you see paticular parts in each film from the other films. Well done.
  • kenstachnik
    August 24, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Amazing, touching, haunting, beautiful, joyous and absolutely mesmerizing.
  • aliceinpunderland
    July 29, 2008
    aliceinpunderland
    A sweetly illuminating kinship between strangers. I would have liked a tragic ending to the trilogy though.
  • MovieGeek13
    April 19, 2008
    MovieGeek13
    To sum up the briiliance of Kieslowski's career, one needs only to watch this film. Kieslowski is a filmmaker of compassion and meditation. Not for anyone who doesn't go to the cinema to think.

View All Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Red succeeds so stirringly that it also bestows some much-needed magic upon its predecessors.

Jonathan Kiefer
June 12, 2002
Jonathan Kiefer, Salon.com

Undaunted by the tremendous emotional and moral valence he has by now invited us to expect, Kieslowski controls the film magnificently, putting to use the shapely formal precision he took an entire ca... Full Review

John Hartl
January 1, 2000
John Hartl, Film.com

What makes Red watchable is Kieslowski's arresting visual sense.

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

Red is not a movie by a filmmaker who has run out of ideas, but one by an artist at the height of his powers. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

A subtle masterpiece. Full Review

Richard Corliss
January 1, 2000
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

Visually and emotionally, this is the director's warmest film.

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

In this final installment of a glorious trilogy ... [Kieslowski] has saved his greatest for last. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is the kind of film that makes you feel intensely alive while you're watching it. Full Review

Edward Guthmann
January 1, 2000
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

Jacob is so good in the role, so effective at suggesting a mingling of innocence and intuition, that it's easy to imagine why Red was written with her in mind. Full Review

Peter Canavese
December 31, 2011
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

Explores fraternity in large part as much through the dynamic of neighbors and community as through potential one-on-one friendships or romances. [Blu-ray] Full Review

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