Three Colours: Red (1994)

Earning Krzysztof Kieslowski Oscar nominations for both script (co-written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz) and direction, this concluding part of his tricolour trilogy has much in common with his earlier The Double Life of Véronique.

Not only does it reunite him with Irène Jacob, but it also explores the theme that people are bound together by fraternal ties that they can never anticipate or fully understand.

University student and part-time model Valentine Dussaut (Jacob) accidentally hits and injures a dog while driving and returns it to its owner, retired judge Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who repays the favour by secretly arranging her a date with lawyer Auguste Bruner (Jean-Pierre Lorit).

For a man who spent his working life enforcing the law, Kern has little respect for the law himself – his retirement hobby is bugging his neighbours’ telephones so that he can eavesdrop on their conversations.

Gloriously shot on location in Geneva by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski, the film’s use of colour and sound is unparalleled in 1990s cinema. The concluding sequence is a masterstroke.

This was the last film ever made by director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who died in 1996 (although he had already announced before his death that he would be making no more films after Three Colours: Red).

Valentine Dussaut
Irène Jacob
Judge Joseph Kern
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Auguste Bruner
Jean-Pierre Lorit
Karin
Frédérique Feder
Photographer
Samuel Le Bihan
Veterinary surgeon
Marion Stalens
Barman
Teco Celio
Record dealer
Bernard Escalon
Neighbour
Jean Schlegel
Woman
Elzbieta Jasinska

Director
Krzysztof Kieslowski