Post by klep on Feb 1, 2021 9:06:27 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/1: Three Colors: Blue
NEW BEGINNINGS WEEK!
Blue is as much a mood as a color. In an emotional context the word conveys a sense of sadness and depression - a weight that's fallen upon you and robs some of the warmth from the world.
In the first scene of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blue, Julie (Juliette Binoche) and her family get in a car accident, leaving her the only survivor.
Everyone mourns in their own way, and Julie decides that she needs to cut herself off from her past entirely: selling the house, all their belongings, and hiding the money away in an account she won't use. She drops contact with everyone except her doctor, finding an apartment in an anonymous part of Paris where no one knows her. The only thing she keeps is a chandelier of blue glass from her daughter's room. It's an existence that seems to suit her. She minds her business and expects the people around her to mind theirs. She seems to have enough money of her own not to have to work, and so she idles her days away in a local café or swimming in a local pool.
Unfortunately, her husband was a famous composer working on an orchestration to celebrate the union of Europe. Pieces of her life keep coming back to haunt her, whether it's journalists, a witness to the crash who wants to return a necklace he found, bits of her husband's music, or her husband's assistant Olivier (Benoît Régent) who has a frankly creepy obsession with her. These intrusions lead to the discovery of her husband's mistress, who is pregnant with her child. Julie is ultimately forced to decide how she wants her husband's legacy and her place in it to be defined.
Blue is, naturally, the dominant color of Blue. Kieslowski uses it to wash out other colors, giving us a sense of how vacant Julie's life is in the wake of her family's deaths. Other colors occasionally come in during moments that draw Julie away from her grief - coffee and ice cream in the café, or the late night visit she makes to a strip club to help a new friend. But the blue always comes back, sometimes even becoming overpowering when the composition her husband was working on crescendos in her mind.
Kieslowski had a magical touch with color; his films can feel like stained glass in motion - color transparently suspended in air - even as the frame is catching mundane things like a woman walking around her apartment. There's an effortless beauty to it, breathtaking and sublime. But all of his efforts would be for naught if it weren't for Binoche's magnificent performance. She plays Julie as a deeply internal character - someone who doesn't communicate her emotions to others very easily. But all the same, she makes you feel her struggles with a glance, a slight facial movement, a minor shake.
But she only cries twice. Once when Julie learns her family is dead and again at film's end. Julie spent so much time and effort trying to cut herself off from humanity and her feelings, but life doesn't work that way. As she reflects on the people whose lives she's touched in the recent months - and the incipient relationship she's allowing herself to try out with Olivier - she smiles and cries. Her life will never be the same, but there's still a chance for it to be worthwhile - even though the blue may never truly leave.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/8: Cameraperson
DOCUMENTARY WEEK!
For Documentary Week we'll be looking at Kirsten Johnson's 2016 film Cameraperson, a curated montage of images she's caught throughout her years as a cameraperson on various documentaries. Join us as we discuss her exploration of her experiences next week! Cameraperson is available on the Criterion Channel and kanopy, and can be rented in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 2/2: American Psycho
Juxtaposing a film about a woman who hunts abusive men with a film about an abusive man who hunts women, next week the podcast will be talking about Mary Harron's American Psycho. Be sure to join our discussion on Wednesday of this film, available for rent in the usual places.
NEW BEGINNINGS WEEK!
Blue is as much a mood as a color. In an emotional context the word conveys a sense of sadness and depression - a weight that's fallen upon you and robs some of the warmth from the world.
In the first scene of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blue, Julie (Juliette Binoche) and her family get in a car accident, leaving her the only survivor.
Everyone mourns in their own way, and Julie decides that she needs to cut herself off from her past entirely: selling the house, all their belongings, and hiding the money away in an account she won't use. She drops contact with everyone except her doctor, finding an apartment in an anonymous part of Paris where no one knows her. The only thing she keeps is a chandelier of blue glass from her daughter's room. It's an existence that seems to suit her. She minds her business and expects the people around her to mind theirs. She seems to have enough money of her own not to have to work, and so she idles her days away in a local café or swimming in a local pool.
Unfortunately, her husband was a famous composer working on an orchestration to celebrate the union of Europe. Pieces of her life keep coming back to haunt her, whether it's journalists, a witness to the crash who wants to return a necklace he found, bits of her husband's music, or her husband's assistant Olivier (Benoît Régent) who has a frankly creepy obsession with her. These intrusions lead to the discovery of her husband's mistress, who is pregnant with her child. Julie is ultimately forced to decide how she wants her husband's legacy and her place in it to be defined.
Blue is, naturally, the dominant color of Blue. Kieslowski uses it to wash out other colors, giving us a sense of how vacant Julie's life is in the wake of her family's deaths. Other colors occasionally come in during moments that draw Julie away from her grief - coffee and ice cream in the café, or the late night visit she makes to a strip club to help a new friend. But the blue always comes back, sometimes even becoming overpowering when the composition her husband was working on crescendos in her mind.
Kieslowski had a magical touch with color; his films can feel like stained glass in motion - color transparently suspended in air - even as the frame is catching mundane things like a woman walking around her apartment. There's an effortless beauty to it, breathtaking and sublime. But all of his efforts would be for naught if it weren't for Binoche's magnificent performance. She plays Julie as a deeply internal character - someone who doesn't communicate her emotions to others very easily. But all the same, she makes you feel her struggles with a glance, a slight facial movement, a minor shake.
But she only cries twice. Once when Julie learns her family is dead and again at film's end. Julie spent so much time and effort trying to cut herself off from humanity and her feelings, but life doesn't work that way. As she reflects on the people whose lives she's touched in the recent months - and the incipient relationship she's allowing herself to try out with Olivier - she smiles and cries. Her life will never be the same, but there's still a chance for it to be worthwhile - even though the blue may never truly leave.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/8: Cameraperson
DOCUMENTARY WEEK!
For Documentary Week we'll be looking at Kirsten Johnson's 2016 film Cameraperson, a curated montage of images she's caught throughout her years as a cameraperson on various documentaries. Join us as we discuss her exploration of her experiences next week! Cameraperson is available on the Criterion Channel and kanopy, and can be rented in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 2/2: American Psycho
Juxtaposing a film about a woman who hunts abusive men with a film about an abusive man who hunts women, next week the podcast will be talking about Mary Harron's American Psycho. Be sure to join our discussion on Wednesday of this film, available for rent in the usual places.