Irčne Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Federique Feder

A beautiful model named Valentine crosses paths with a retired judge, whose dog she runs over with her car. The lonely judge, she discovers, amuses himself by eavesdropping on all of his neighbors' ph...( read more  read more... )one conversations. Near Valentine's apartment lives a young man who aspires to be a judge and loves a woman who will betray him. From these characters' proximity comes spiritual kinship and mutual redemption.

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94% liked it

29,088 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

41 critics

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Release Date: October 4, 1994

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DVD Release Date: March 4, 2003

Stats: 1,277 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,277)


  • June 11, 2009
    Definitely the most abstract and non-linear of Kieslowski's trilogy. If Blue moved you to tears and White made you chuckle, Red will inspire you to ponder and reflect..
  • October 15, 2008
    The best of the trilogy. I enjoyed this movie greatly. I love how each film rolls into each other and you see paticular parts in each film from the other films. Well done.
  • August 24, 2008
    Amazing, touching, haunting, beautiful, joyous and absolutely mesmerizing.
  • July 13, 2008
    A week ago I only knew Krzysztof Kieslowski by name. Now, i'm sitting absolutely breathless after witnessing the absolute masterpiece of "Red", and the "Three Colors" trilogy in general. At the end of the film, when all the characters from "Blue", "White", and "Red" are brought t...( read more)ogether - you really feel like you are witnessing something special. It's impossible to not get chills up your spine. This is one of the most elaborate, precise, and thought-provoking pieces of work in all of film history. And I call it a "piece of work" rather than a "trilogy" because it's inexcusable to not see all three parts of the whole.

    The hero of "Red" is Valentine (Irene Jacob). We insantly notice that she's far more likable and sweet than the characters in the other two films. Even when things don't go her way she doesn't seem to lose her attitude. She remains cheerful and pleasant after failing to win a slot machine on a daily basis. And when she finally does win it, she accuses the store owner of rigging it. Shortly thereafter we see that there's much more to the character than a hollow happy-go-lucky girl.

    While fiddling with the radio on the drive home one day, Valentine strikes a dog with her car. Worried, she takes it into her car and drives it to his owner. The owner is a retired judge named Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who seems indifferent about everything in life itself. Shortly thereafter their paths are crossed again, and Valentine discovers that he's been spying on the neighbors with advanced surveillance equipment. Meanwhile, we see a parallel story develop in Auguste (Jean-Pierre Lorit) and Karin (Frederique Feder) in brief segments - however, we know exactly what it all means. The similarities between the two relationships are absolutely unmistakable. As Auguste's life crumbles like Joseph's once did, we begin to believe that Auguste and Valentine are soul mates. Furthermore, we think that Auguste and Joseph are practically one in the same.

    The beauty of the "Three Colors" trilogy is how different each film is from each other. "Blue" is perhaps the most emotionally developed and it's unquestionably the most visually appealing. "White" offers a bit more comic relief, and incredible wit and irony in it's writing. "Red", however, is the most engaging. It's a film that leaves the audience lingering on every single word spoken. Not only do we get into the whole philosophy behind voyeurism in the first half of the film, the charm of the second half revolves around the parallels between the characters and the character of Joseph himself.

    I had intended on seeing "The Double Life of Veronique" as soon as possible, and after seeing Irene Jacob's performance in this i'm dying to get my hands on it this instant. She lights up the screen with so much charisma and beauty, while at all times keeping her emotions fairly refined. This isn't a melodramatic film whatsoever and emotions are displayed in the most subtle of ways. Equally unbelievable in it's strength is Jean-Louis Trintignant's performance as Joseph. He's a character that goes through vast changes as the film goes on - the mysterious old guy locked in his house, to the lovable tragic hero.

    On the IMDB boards for this film, I saw someone draw comparisons to "Lost in Translation". While that is a bit of a stretch, I do like that comparison in many ways. In both films we see relationships develop between an older man and a younger woman based completely on coincidence. The difference here, of course, is that we're rooting for Auguste to win Valentine's heart in behalf of Joseph. We understand that Joseph and Irene don't really need to be together... but at the same time, we understand that they completely do grow to love each other.

    "Red" is a masterpiece that's rarely paralleled in terms of it's maturity and it's ability to make the audience completely invest within the characters. While I thought "Blue" was as good as you're going to get - it's clear after viewing the whole trilogy that no film really has the edge on the other. While "Red" is the best individually, "Three Colors" is the film that's the masterpiece. You need to see these immediately, and you need to see them all. They need to be viewed as one entity.
  • May 6, 2008
    For the record Red is the best of director Krzysztof Kieslowski's color trilogy. This is a stunning piece of work in every way possible including a wonderful performance by Irene Jacob. Not a movie for everyone (a.k.a idiots will hate this movie and want to watch Transformers ins...( read more)tead.) but for anyone willing to give the little foreign film a chance this is a must see.
  • November 14, 2009
    "Very mysterious...title reflects the plot ! A must see for french movie lovers"
  • November 10, 2009
    Red is Kieslowski's best installment of his Three Colors films, and it is a reddish, warm depiction of solidarity and fraternity (the red colour of the French flag), bringing the trilogy to a wonderful conclusion.
  • October 14, 2009
    Finale of [Trois Couleurs] and my favorite among three. [Rouge] is intense & passionate. Mild but beautifully poetic at the same time. The story is intriguing & easy to follow. The final scene marks a perfect fullstop for this trilogy.
  • August 23, 2009
    Well-made, intriguing, but a little unapproachable.
  • August 22, 2009
    My favorite of the trilogy.

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

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

View more Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • morphine
    July 24, 2006
    "This film is a metafictional study of the artist's judgement in the creation of his fictional world; of how an artist can attempt to remake life -- even his own -- thru his art, even as he cannot escape the knowledge that, no matter how he involves himself in his story, it is still fiction and he is still outside of his remade world, still burdened with its unreality and the reality of the life he has tried to artistically remake. And magically, all of this is not to the smallest degree at the expense of a wonderful story about the mysteries of love and fate and the characters who live out this story, this pre-judged destiny."
    - quoted by Greggory, CA
    from IMDB.com

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