My Writings

The plot in Red is simple and unravels very slowly, as a chance accident (Valentine runs over a dog) leads her to the owner, a retired and world weary judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who spends his hours eavesdropping on his neighbour's telephone calls. The Fraternity aspect is explored by comparing the motivations of Valentine, who is essentially good, with the judge, who has lost his faith in humanity and has become corrupted.

Further events link the two until they become attracted by the key ingredient that each has, that the other needs. She has pity, and he has fatalism. Each is re-defined by the other and eventually friendship develops.

Kieslowski is rightly lauded for his use of symbolism and attention to detail, but if anything there is too much red in this film. Everything is red - the theatre seats, the cars, the traffic lights, the posters, Valentine's lipstick and a myriad other objects in the background of every scene, until the imagery loses its subtlety. Nevertheless the director does a good job of building up a degree of tension, and we begin to understand that Valentine's ferry trip to England has dangerous portents. There is a clumsy finish when all of the major characters from the three films are re-united on a television bulletin, but a much better idea would have been to use the courthouse for a shared scene. In White the courthouse was where the divorce took place. In Blue it was where the mistress worked, and in Red the judge worked there before he retired.