Three Colors: White (Trzy kolory: Bialy) (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) poster & wallpaper
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Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Stuhr, Florence Pernel ... see more see more... , Juliette Binoche , Grzegorz Warchol

The second feature in filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy, the black comedy White features Zbigniew Zamachowski as Karol Karol, an expatriate Polish hairdresser whose French wife (... read more read more...the breathtaking Julie Delpy) divorces him after just six months of marriage because of his impotency. Penniless and devoid of his passport, Karol must journey back to Poland by hiding in a trunk. Upon his return, he slowly begins amassing a considerable fortune, ultimately hatching a perverse plot for revenge. Often unjustly dismissed as the weak link in the trilogy, White grows in strength upon repeated viewings. An allegory about equality, the film is mordantly witty, a cynical look at power, marriage and capitalism. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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86% liked it

18,194 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

34 critics

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Release Date: February 18, 1994

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DVD Release Date: March 4, 2003

Stats: 842 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (842)

  • fb619846742
    December 18, 2011
    fb619846742
    A breezy, light-hearted dramady concerning a recently divorced, devastated tramp (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who struggles to start a new life away from his ex-wife (Julie Delpy), who he still loves. Unlike 'Blue' (still a fine film overall), this movie flies. It is funny, has a lovab... read morele lead character, and is both a fascinating study of Polish culture as well as a far-fetched but totally entertaining revenge plot, which plays neatly into the film's central message of "Who are your friends, and do you try to 'get back' at your enemies?". This is widely considered to be the weakest of the 'Colors' trilogy, but I disagree. This is a very good film which works very well at a couple different levels, while never betraying itself or getting self-indulgent with its running time.
  • RossCollinsUK
    January 16, 2011
    RossCollinsUK
    A comical sequel on "equality" that develops a story that appeared as a fleeting cameo in Blue. It's a very typical Eastern European kind of absurd humour that can be a bit silly at times, but is always entertaining.
  • SirPant
    October 12, 2010
    SirPant
    In many ways White is the most accessible of the Three Colours Trilogy and while Juliette Binoche and Irène Jacob's performances are highly celebrated, I personally think Zbigniew Zamachowski's performance is brilliant and underrated. That said, as good as it is, White is the wea... read morekest addition to the trilogy and sits rather uncomfortably between the two I believe. A great film, sandwiched between two masterpieces.
  • mumby1988
    May 30, 2010
    mumby1988
    So much of Kyzstzstof Kieslowski's work flies in the face of Hollywood convention, whether in its themes, visual execution or character development. So it is odd that the middle film of the Three Colours trilogy should fall into the same trap as the middle instalments of Hollywoo... read mored trilogies. Just as Back to the Future Part II and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are overshadowed by their surrounding counterparts, so Three Colours -- White drops the ball by quite a long way. There are interesting elements throughout, but the result is ultimately disappointing.

    White is probably the most personal of Kieslowski's trilogy, since it deals not only with French society but with his Polish homeland. Much of the film is concerned with the state of the Polish economy as our protagonist travels home to find his brother and take up a proposition by a strange man called Mikolaj. Kieslowski has a decent stab at showing how Polish society has changed since the end of the Cold War, mainly through little touches in the dialogue; for example, when the criminals mug Karol, they find his watch is made in Russia and quickly throw it away.

    In its examination of capitalism and family, White could be described as a heavy-hearted eulogy to Poland, since the comedy is clearly affectionate but is solidly rooted in pathos. Although Kieslowski's early work ran into trouble with the communist authorities, he does not see its replacement as an unequivocal improvement. Certainly the presence of wealth and the free market doesn't seem to make life easier for Karol, who resembles Chaplin's little tramp in his combination of initiative and stupidity.

    Aside from its elegiac feel, White is as visually stylish as Blue and Red. Edward Klosinski's cinematography alternates between the sparse snowy landscapes of rural Poland and the pearly-white columns of the Parisian law courts. White is seen as a symbol of simplicity, purity and impartiality, all of which converge in the film's central theme of equality.

    Here, however, is the first problem with the film. Whereas Blue was absolutely clear in its examination of liberty, seeing it as something emotional rather than political, White somehow confuses the two and wrongfully intertwines them. Karol's motivation throughout the film is to win back his ex-wife, which is fair enough. But he chooses to achieve this by amassing material wealth and then faking his own death to draw her out in sympathy. There seems to be an assumption within the film that gaining economic or financial equality with someone will somehow make them re-evaluate you romantically; a cynical notion, to be sure, but one which jars with the optimistic tone of the central performance.

    The theme of equality is communicated in a variety of ways over the course of the film. During the court scene, Karol accuses the judge of not giving him a fair hearing simply because he cannot speak much French. Kieslowski pulls a clever trick here by only subtitling the sections of dialogue which are in French, so that we instantly understand Karol's feeling of being shut out and unrepresented. The result of the divorce hearing, in which his cold-hearted wife gains everything, also reflects the way in which the system is skewed. This example is later taken to the extreme when his ex-wife torches her place of work and tells him that the police will believe he did it.

    The biggest problem with White is that it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Blue and Red have clearer intentions: Blue is an anti-tragedy which has an element of redemption but no textbook happy ending, and Red is an anti-romance in which the theme of fraternity is communicated through an unlikely platonic relationship between a model and a judge.

    White attempts to be an anti-comedy, but it is stymied by its continued falling into comedy conventions. Although it is full of pathos and is therefore not laugh-out-loud funny, it is still ultimately comedic in the same way that The Kid or Modern Times are comedic; they are populated with characters whose predicaments we share and with whom we sympathise. Moments of White are textbook black comedy, including the multiple scenes of Karol being beaten up, and in the tradition of modern comedies it finishes with some form of happy ending.

    Sticking with that ending, we come to the role of women in this story. Aside from the fact that Julie Delpy has less of a screen presence than Juliette Binoche or Irene Jacob (who wouldn't?), her role in the story is very limited and constrained. While Karol is portrayed as a man who earns his wealth and succeeds despite his weaknesses, she is presented as spoilt, self-interested, and driven to a large extent by a need for sexual gratification. She divorces Karol on the grounds that their marriage has not been consummated, and only seriously considers taking him back after they have slept together. Rumour has it that the ending was reshot by Kieslowski to make her character seem more sympathetic -- a decision which suggests a current of misogyny running right through this 'comedy'.

    Much of White is mean-spirited in a way you don't expect from such an intimate filmmaker. For every moment of innocent joy for Karol, such as him playing his improvised mouth organ in the underground, there is another moment in which he temporarily becomes a monster. After he has been kicked out of his house, he watches an old woman try and fail to push a bottle into a bottle bank. Rather than get up and help her, he sits there smirking in the knowledge that there is someone worse off than himself. And that's saying nothing of the murky dealings by which Karol comes by a body with which to fake his own death.

    On top of all this, the film is pulling in several directions with regard to its storyline. Although it is narratively more straightforward than the otherfilms, the central story of Karol trying to get back with his wife is often brushed into the background by the other stories going on around him. Some of these are worthwhile and important: the comic confusion of Karol arriving by suitcase in Warsaw is married to the harrowing scene where he has to shoot Mikolaj, in what is probably the most powerful scene in the film. But in all the scenes involving Karol's business, Kieslowski struggles to discern whether his actions aim for redemption or revenge, and the theme of equality gets lost.

    Three Colours -- White is a good example of a film which has bitten off more than it can chew. It manages to stay restrained and dignified in its treatment of its themes, and the central performance of Zbigniew Zamachowski is generally convincing. But it ends up chasing a series of tails/ tales, never knowing which one to follow and to what end. As a visual exercise it is to be admired, and even Kieslowski's weakest attempts at comedy are preferable to the rom-com dross of Hollywood. But it is the weakest of the Three Colours trilogy and will frustrate both ardent fans and casual viewers.
  • blacksheepboy
    November 10, 2009
    blacksheepboy
    White is Kieslowski's lightest entry in the Colors Trilogy, and it works great as a different comedy presenting an ironic look into evenness and equality (the white colour of the French flag).
  • flixsterman
    June 6, 2009
    flixsterman
    While it's true that Kieslowski's Three Colors: White is a dark comedy, don't expect an abundance of belly laughs. The humor here is much more cerebral and subtle. This is a film that is clever, dramatic, romantic, and funny (in that order).
  • aliceinpunderland
    March 6, 2009
    aliceinpunderland
    About as slow as Blue, but not nearly as arresting. Karol and Mikolaj's serendipitous friendship is quite moving though.
  • ceWEBrity
    March 6, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    Everyone thinks this is the weak link in the Three Colors trilogy, but for what it's worth it engaged me more than Blue did. Blue was an artistic masterpiece, but a wee bit thin on the ideas; White has plenty of those but lacks the style that makes them really radiant like Blue d... read moreid.

    Even though Julie Delpy is plastered all over the DVD case, her screen time probably totals about ten or fifteen minutes. The real focus is on a schlubby Polish man named Karol Karol, so yeah I guess they needed a hot French lady to hook the audiences. (I actually saw an argument postulating that White is the least successful of the Three Colors films because it lacks a "luminous female presence", which is lame.) Since the purpose of his quest is her, I guess it makes sense to feature her in this way.

    The trilogy's got me hooked, I'll say as much as that. A lot of people tout these as truly amazing films, and while they are rather memorable, I wouldn't go as far as that. They never seem to have much of an impact on me.

    I'm excited for Red.
  • MovieGeek13
    March 6, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    The second film in the Trois Couleurs Trilogy is a hilarious black comedy that portrays the differences between two people - one rich, one poor - and shows that they are both no different from each other.
  • kenstachnik
    March 6, 2009
    kenstachnik
    My favorite of the three

View All Three Colors: White (Trzy kolory: Bialy) (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Caryn James
August 30, 2004
Caryn James, New York Times

How could the creator of Blue, the story of a woman who grieves by moping around Paris in a chichi haircut, possibly have followed it with such a rich, light-handed marvel? Full Review

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

Kieslowski, who so keenly satirized the crippling excesses of communism in his earlier work, unflinchingly has a go at training-wheels capitalism, but not without affection for the thawing tundra of h... Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

A continuing testament to the Polish director's poetic mastery. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

In White, which details the agonies of obsessive love, [Kieslowski's] story is more realistic, and his style more prosaic, but the results are no less inscrutable -- and no less engaging. Full Review

Richard Corliss
January 1, 2000
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

The film works fine on its own.

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

It's probably the friendliest, most enjoyable movie the Polish filmmaker has made.

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

White is the anti- comedy, in between the anti- tragedy and the anti- romance. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

White is an excellent character study, and the presentation of a twisted love story is compelling. Full Review

Peter Canavese
December 31, 2011
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

Karol Karol embodies his homeland, going for broke--in criminal fashion, if necessary--to stake its claim as a player in the European landscape. [Blu-ray] Full Review

Sean Axmaker
December 17, 2011
Sean Axmaker, Parallax View

... not so much a black comedy as a wicked satire in the cold white light of Polish winter, which (as you would expect) informs the color palette of this film. Full Review

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