True Bleu

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2011)

Kieslowski's "Bleu," the first installment of the "Trois couleurs" series is a rapturous splendor, treading gracefully upon the grounds of hopelessness and disillusion experienced by Julie (Juliet Binoche) with a vibrance and intimacy that has never been matched - there is a certain parity at all times between Binoche's visceral performance and the serene metaphysical landscape painted by Salwomir Idziak's cinematography, which is constantly involved with the extraordinary aspects of the everyday that most refuse or aren't capable of seeing. Although Julie's spiritual transformation is the film's central focus, that metamorphosis isn't possible without Zbigniew Preisner's score. Like the balancing act of the camera and the performers, Preisner strikes a chord (if you'll excuse the pun) that resonates softly, initially, but as it drones on begins to echo the lingering antagonisms of consciousness that haunt the protagonist after her loss. On the other hand, it is in fact the harrowing reminder that is the music that allows Julie to reach the other side, to surface amidst the beautiful elegy that is closure and, in turn, release.