Three Colours: Red

Red, the exquisite conclusion of the Three Colours Trilogy, proved to be Kieslowski’s final film; the director died unexpectedly in March 1996, at the age of 54, of a heart attack shortly after undergoing bypass surgery.

Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who’s a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we…

The last and best film in the trilogy…here all the skills of the director, Krzysztof Kieslowski, are brought into melancholy play [as] the movie itself shades from coldness and contrivance into a story as touching and mysterious as anything Kieslowski has ever made. Trintignant’s performance as the misanthropic old man is a portrait of heartbreak, all the more convincing for his character’s last-ditch efforts to mend other hearts. At the end, Kieslowski, too, assumes the mantle of Prospero, magically (and rather absurdly) assembling the trilogy’s main players, and it’s hard to begrudge the master his final flourish.

Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

Stunningly beautiful, powerfully scored and immaculately performed, the film is virtually flawless, and one of the very greatest cinematic achievements of the last few decades. A masterpiece.

Geoff Andrew, Time Out

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

Roger Ebert

Media Partner