Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors: Blue, White, Red has been restored for release on 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 7, 2023.
The 6-disc edition from The Criterion Collection includes both 4k Blu-ray and 1080p Blu-ray copies of all three films, along with a selection of bonus material such as three cinema lessons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski, interviews, a documentary from 1995 featuring Kieślowski, behind-the-scenes programs, and more (see details below).
On 4k Blu-ray the films are presented in 2160p with Dolby Vision HDR and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks.
Three Colors: Blue, White, Red is priced $99.95 (List: $125.95) on Amazon.
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restorations, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
- One 4K UHD disc of each film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray of each film with special features
- Three cinema lessons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Interviews with cowriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, composer Zbigniew Preisner, and actors Julie Delpy, Irène Jacob, and Zbigniew Zamachowski
- Selected-scene commentary featuring actor Juliette Binoche
- Video essays by film critics Annette Insdorf, Tony Rayns, and Dennis Lim
- Documentary from 1995 featuring Kieślowski
- Three short films by Kieślowski—The Tram (1966), Seven Women of Different Ages (1978), and Talking Heads (1980)—plus the short film The Face (1966), starring Kieślowski
- Interview programs on Kieślowski’s life and work, featuring Binoche, Insdorf, Jacob, film critic Geoff Andrew, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, producer Marin Karmitz, and editor Jacques Witta
- Behind-the-scenes programs for White and Red, and a short documentary on Red’s world premiere
- Trailers
- PLUS: Essays by film critics Colin MacCabe, Nick James, Stuart Klawans, and Georgina Evans; an excerpt from Kieślowski on Kieślowski; and reprinted interviews with cinematographers Idziak, Edward Kłosiński, and Piotr Sobociński
BLUE
In the devastating first film of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter. But Blue is more than just a blistering study of grief; it’s also a tale of liberation, as Julie attempts to free herself from the past while confronting truths about the life of her late husband, a composer. Shot in sapphire tones by Sławomir Idziak, and set to an extraordinary operatic score by Zbigniew Preisner, Blue is an overwhelming sensory experience.
WHITE
The most playful and also the grittiest of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors films follows the adventures of Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish immigrant living in France. The hapless hairdresser opts to leave Paris for his native Warsaw when his wife (Julie Delpy) sues him for divorce (her reason: their marriage was never consummated) and then frames him for arson after setting her own salon ablaze. White, which goes on to chronicle Karol’s elaborate revenge plot, manages to be both a ticklish dark comedy about the economic inequalities of Eastern and Western Europe and a sublime reverie on twisted love.
RED
Krzysztof Kieślowski closes his Three Colors trilogy in grand fashion, with an incandescent meditation on fate and chance, starring Irène Jacob as a sweet-souled yet somber runway model in Geneva whose life dramatically intersects with that of a bitter retired judge, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant. Meanwhile, just down the street, a seemingly unrelated story of jealousy and betrayal unfolds. Red is an intimate look at forged connections and a splendid final statement from a remarkable filmmaker at the height of his powers.
