Stunning.

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2008)

At it's core, Blue is really an uplifting story of a woman who loses her husband and child (something I could never imagine the pain of ) and is slowly able to bring herself back into a working society. It's really stunning the way she gathers herself together at the end, but the final shot shows us that she'll never truly be rid of the pain from that situation. We also see how one person in such a tragic circumstance can affect so many lives and I thought that was really touching. Kieslowski does amazing work with colors here as he uses stark, vibrant reds, greens and blues that completely draw the viewers attention and suck them in. I loved the little scenario with the mice in Julie's apartment and how instinctively she tried to kill them but once she realized it was a family she was unable to do it. I also adored the repetition of her diving into the lush blue swimming pool, as a way of almost freeing herself from all of the stress and pain that's building up inside of her. Of course the first thing she does when she emerges from the water is cry. Overall it's a completely sublime film that I couldn't take my eyes off of. The final shot of Binoche (who gives an amazingly subtle performance) staring directly into the camera with a tear dried on her face and another emerges and runs down is truly heartbreaking. It feels as though she's staring right through us and into our soul.