Three Colors: White (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) (1994)
90%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 7 nominations
Taking a lighter tone than the other films of the Three Colors trilogy, White is a witty, bittersweet comedy with heavier themes on its mind than one might at first realize.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s bleak, hopeful, and ultimately confusing, then Trois Couleurs: Blanc is the perfect choice for you! Critics can’t seem to agree on whether it’s a masterpiece or a mess, but one thing’s for sure: it’s definitely a movie. With characters that are either allegorical stick figures or real people (depending on who you ask), and a love story that’s more of a postulate than a realized fact, this film will leave you scratching your head and wondering what the heck just happened. But hey, at least it’s got a clever vein of humor and storytelling verve, right? So if you’re in the mood for a movie that’s both cruel and cool as an ice-pick, then give Trois Couleurs: Blanc a try. Or don’t. We won’t judge.
Production Company(ies)
Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios,
Distributor
Miramax Films, Artificial Eye
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Paris, France
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some sexuality and language
Year of Release
1994
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby SR
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 29m
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Language(s):Polish, French, English
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Country of origin:France, Poland, Switzerland
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 18, 1994 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2009
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $1,249,979
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,528,864
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,351
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 275,776
US/Canada gross: $1,237,219
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,503,049
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,978
US/Canada opening weekend: $22,284
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $45,083
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,244
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Julie Delpy – Dominique
Janusz Gajos – Mikolaj
Jerzy Stuhr – Jurek
Juliette Binoche – Julie Vignon (de Courcy)
Aleksander Bardini – The Lawyer
Director(s)
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Writer(s)
Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Producer(s)
Marin Karmitz
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 7 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (6)
A bleak but ultimately hopeful comedy which, if it hadn’t got to be called White, might very well be dubbed Black.
August 9, 2012
Derek Malcolm
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The least favourite of the trilogy, this is also arguably the most accessible.
August 9, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Steve Beard
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
he love that figures centrally in White appears more as a postulate than as a realized fact. To achieve something more durable and persuasive, real characters are required, not allegorical stick figures.
August 9, 2012 | Rating: 2/4
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The entertaining second seg of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy is involving, bittersweet and droll.
March 26, 2009
Lisa Nesselson
Variety
TOP CRITIC
It’s often cruel, of course, and cool as an ice-pick, but it’s still endowed with enough unsentimental humanity to end with a touching, lyrical admission of the power of love. Essential viewing.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
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?
August 30, 2004 | Rating: 4/5
Caryn James
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
In Kieslowski’s world, what goes around comes around, and Karol’s journey to self-improvement … is funny while also being strangely moving.
July 27, 2020
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
I suppose the acting and filming of White is fine but the story and characters were too insufferable and annoying for me to care about
April 26, 2020 | Rating: 4/10
Rachel Wagner
rachelsreviews.net
It’s as if Kieslowski is playing God: guiding his characters through circumstances entirely out of their control, orchestrating the rhythms of everyday life with the ease of a puppet master… magical.
April 5, 2020
Asher Luberto
L.A. Weekly
Unquestionably well made, and with a clever and very concentric vein of humour and storytelling verve sustained throughout.
November 12, 2018 | Rating: 3/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
This hugely talented director seems to do everything with a shrug — scratching at subjects rather than excavating them.
December 7, 2017
Quentin Curtis
Independent on Sunday
[T]his is the comedy of the trilogy, 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.
January 13, 2017
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com…
Plot
After being divorced by his French wife due to impotence, Polish immigrant Karol Karol enlists the help of fellow expatriate Mikolah to smuggle him back to Poland, where he begins to build a new life while never forgetting his old one in Trois Couleurs: Blanc.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
Krzysztof-Kieslowski.jpg
