Rating: 
Summary: Didn't Get It
Review: I noticed that the movie got rave reviews from some, but when I saw it all I could think was "Uuhhhhhhhhhhhh". That's what this movie feels like. It is LONG. and boring. Nothing happens. a lot of silence, and blue stuff everywhere in the house, like blue glass chimes. Maybe it "spoke" to some and forced them to tears, but I had to keep myself from not screaming that I wanted my $2.75 rental money back, not to mention the wasted 2 hours of my life. Ech. There are those who will either really love this movie or really hate it. I'm with the latter. Wouldn't recommend it on my worst enemy.
Rating:
Summary: Okay ... where's the real movie?
Review: I used to think that the Canadian comedy troupe, SCTV, did the best parodies of all that can be pretentious and boring when it comes to foreign films (remember, these are 'films' not 'movies'). That was until this priceless comedy gem was recommended to me. "Blue" is about a woman who stares meaningfully into vast distances and has a stylish apartment. If you don't fall asleep watching this woman (who is played by Juliette Binoche, usually seen in more serious movi ... I mean, 'films'), then you will scratch your head and grin and say, "I will laugh, for obviously that is what I am supposed to do. No movie can be this aggressively pretentious on purpose. It must be a comedy. Ha ha ha." Director Kieslowski (also, usually attatched to more serious projects) is so good at capturing what was once a cliched ponderousness in foreign films, that one would almost think he, himself, is serious. I saw through it, though, and that makes me the winner. Okay, I am out the price of this mov ... I mean, film, but I am still the winner. So there.
Rating: 
Summary: A Well of Tears
Review: In "Mrs. Dalloway," Virginia Woolf wrote, "This late age of the world's experience had bred in them all, all men and women, a well of tears. Tears and sorrows; courage and endurance; a perfectly upright and stoical bearing." In a way, Julie's story is a sort of theft of these lines. In "this late age of the world's experience," with all moral and social certainty removed, Julie must make her way through a world violently liberated from her family. Her aimless, nihilistic, and anonymous lifestyle in a Paris flat after her tragic loss is not so much an attempt to bring meaning back into her life, as it is an attempt to discover how to live in a world without meaning.
Rating:
Summary: Let's Face it, this movie bites.
Review: This "mystery" is one of the most dull films ever made. Essentially, it follows the life of this woman who loses her husband and child in a car accident (the first 5 minutes). The rest of the movie is spent watching her not react. Sound interesting? Maybe you think, "Hey, Camus handled that sort of thing well in the Stranger." Well it isn't here. If you think it is, then perhaps you enjoy watching strokes unfold, but I don't.I'm all for minimalism, but this plotless wonder takes it a bit too far. I think that color can be an effective way to tell a story, Eyes Wide Shut proved that, but staring at blue pools, jewels, and backgrounds for one and half hours won't get the job done. Color can be an element of a movie, but it's just the beginning--you still need something like dramatic tension, a climax, and denouement. This one lacks any semblance of all three. And having cool colors and a good soundtrack doesn't make up for the complete absense of a compelling story. (Her husband's dead; she does nothing; why do I care?) I didn't think I would ever see this basic material (dead spouses' secrets) more poorly handled than it was in the great failure "Random Hearts." I was wrong. Much is made of Binoche's fine acting. I suppose that's justified, if one considers her inaudible whispering "acting." Her catatonic technique is made even more annoying by arbitrary blasts of music that punctuate even the most minor scenes--have that remote handy--but then the whole movie is just series of minor scenes. My copy of "Blue" actually has printed on it: "Recommend this mystery to friends," which is a bit like a Broadway musical saying "recommend this play to friends." The only thing mysterious about this film is how you'll get back the 90 minutes you wasted watching it. Bonne chance!
Rating:
Summary: Powerfully disturbing
Review: Wonderful film punctuated by the superb acting of Juliette Binoche.
Rating: 
Summary: The best of the trilogy
Review: Kieslowski's "Blue" is a beautiful film that tends to hit you more in the subconscious than in the story. The general feel of the film is one of melacholy, and you are definitely affected by the end of the film, (or bored out of your mind if you are into action flicks). This is definitely a chick film, but it has so much going for it. PS - if you enjoyed watching this movie, definitely check out the rest of the trilogy, even though I think the others are not as good. The ties that all these films share with each other make it a very interesting trilogy of films.
Rating:
Summary: Blue Can Be Beautiful
Review: "Blue" is the first film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy that examines life in contemporary European society. Each of the three films corresponds to a color in the French flag and a segment of the French national motto. They are "Blue" (liberté), "White" (egalité) and "Red" (fraternité). The theme of liberty runs throughout "Blue," but it is a cruel, unwelcome liberty. The husband and daughter of Julie (Juliet Binoche), a young French woman, are killed in a car accident at the beginning of the film. She, of course, is devastated. She briefly considers suicide, but is unable to go through with it. That would take an intensity of emotion-grief, loss, despair, something-that she simply does not have. She is so cold inside that she can feel nothing at all, not even sadness. (Blue, after all, is the coldest color of the spectrum.) In one telling scene, Julie comes upon her housekeeper who is weeping profusely. "Why are you crying?," she asks her. "I am crying," the maid replies, "because you are not." Julie decides that her only course of action is to free herself completely from her past. She sells her house and all of her possessions and moves to an apartment in Paris where she knows no one and no one knows her. The only thing she keeps is her daughter's blue bead lamp, a colorful focal point in her drab, spartan quarters, and the only reminder of her lost life. Before she can leave, though, Julie must give herself one final test. She seduces Olivier (Benoit Regent), a rather dull former colleague of her husband's who, not incidentally, is in love with her. They make love on a solitary mattress in her empty house, but she feels nothing. Perhaps she really is incapable of love. Having confirmed her suspicion, she walks away without even a backward glance. Julie's disappearance, however, is difficult. Her late husband was a famous composer and they both remain the subject of media interest and gossip. It is rumored that Julie actually wrote his music herself, and it is true that the sounds of his last, unfinished work haunt her throughout the film. No matter where she goes, she cannot escape his (or is it her?) music because it lives within her mind and her soul. Occasionally the action is stopped completely and the screen fades to black, accompanied by the fortissimo sounds of his last, farewell concerto. It is an interesting, risky device, but it works well in conveying the dislocation, the sense of forever being apart from others, that Julie feels. In the most interesting twist in the film, Julie meets her late husband's mistress, Sandrine, (Florence Pernel), a woman she did not even know existed. Sandrine is pregnant with his baby, a shocking revelation, but Julie does not hate her for it. Rather, she is remarkably generous and kind, just as he had always promised Sandrine she was. All Julie wants to know is, "Did he love you?" She answers her own question, though, when she spots the cross hanging from Sandrine's neck, the same beloved gift her husband gave to her. Kieslowski takes his time in telling his story. Things do not happen quickly, nor are events momentous when they occur. The pacing is slow and languorous, but certainly never boring. Unlike most movies made today, this is a quiet, subtle film. Kieslowski and his cinematographer do a lot with the lighting, particularly in the scenes in the swimming pool. Those shots are awash in soft, evocative blue hues that give the scenes an exquisite, dream-like feel. The performances by all of the leads are splendid. Juliette Binoche is truly a marvelous actress. She was so good in Godard's "Hail Mary" and Malle's "Damage," and she is even better here. Her character does not say much, nor does she take much dramatic action. Most of what we learn about her comes from staring into her sad eyes and regarding her troubled face. She is able to convey so much, not with broad strokes or grand gestures, but with intricate nuances and careful expressions. It is a performance to treasure. As I watched "Blue," I was reminded of another excellent French production, "Un Coeur en Hiver," that also dealt with painful music and the tragedy of a cold, unfeeling heart. The similarities are subtle, but I think both of these films demonstrate one quality sorely lacking in most Hollywood pictures: maturity. The average major studio release is targeted at the core demographic of 14 to 24 year old males, not exactly the most discerning audience around. This strategy results in a lot of dreadful films being made. Fortunately for those of us with a more highly developed aesthetic sense, there are films like "Blue" around to satisfy our longings.
Rating:
Summary: Involvement is inevitable
Review: After losing her husband and daughter in a car accident, the grief stricken Julie (Binoche, who I consider a Goddess) makes a decision to retreat from life and confine herself in solitude. (Personally speaking, I would have no problem holing up in an Parisian atelier with a pack of Gitanes and a view of the Paris skyline. This movie does the solitude thing with great style!). However, events conspire and we see her inevitable return to the land of the living. The street fight outside her appartment and the subsequent door banging (loud and scary) scene, seems to be a metaphor for life seeking entry to her lonely world, and her subsequent appartment lockout a push away from it. Her decision not to get involved with an eviction petition leads her to a new and different personal involvment. Life is coming at her all the time and every decision she takes, brings her closer to full participation in it. We are reminded of her enormous pain and grief by the frequent blackouts during the course of this movie. The narrative almost stops. The shadows seem to gather and overwhelm (don't we all feel like this sometimes?) I think the ending is about the inevitability and acceptance of life. Binoche got to do something like this again in "The English Patient", and, how she does it is a miracle. I love this movie. When someone tells me they like it too, I want to hug them and call them "friend"!
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars is not enough!
Review: Blue is such a masterpiece that it is really hard to define...some few words come to my mind to describe it...Breathtaking, profound, delicate, devastating,sad and cheerful at the same time.. Juliette Binoche's performance is unspeakable... Preisner's music is the soul of the film. A very simple and complicated film at the same time. No recommended for those who like to have everything told in a story... Blue should be seen with the eyes of the heart, and with an opened-soul, thus you will be immersed in all its exquisite beauty. p.s. sorry about the writing..English is not my native language
Rating:
Summary: Poetic
Review: Part I of Kieslowski's "Three Color" trilogy. It stars Juliette Binoche, who gives one of the most amazingly subtle performances I've ever seen. The film follows the life of Julie, a woman who was the sole survivor in a car accident which took the lives of her young daughter and famous composer husband. As Julie starts a new life, she discovers things about her past which open her eyes to her own present. A poetic film if I ever saw one.
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