The benefits of film criticism.
0 Comments Published by Jesse Trussell on Friday, December 02, 2005 at 8:36 PM.
Great films don't present themselves to you on the first viewing. Nobody expects to get Finnegan's Wake on the first read, so why should a film like White?
I wasn't sure how I felt about the middle pole of the Three Colors trilogy after I finished it the first time. It certainly had a handful of brilliant scenes, and it expressed Kieslowski's dark humor much better than Blue. But it was not nearly as satisfying an experience as the first film, nor was it as beautiful and moving. So I head to the critics. I had felt that I was not getting certain aspects, that many themes I had picked up fully. This is different than my reaction to Nashville, where I simply didn't care for the film, here I felt like I was being asked to explore more deeply.
It was in a review on a DVD website that I hit upon the facet that brought the film fully around for me. White is named so after the color in the French flag, which I knew, but I was not sure what it represented. Upon learning that white was equality, the film clicked. With this as a basis for all the other themes and interplay in the film White works wonderfully. It may never be as transcendent as Blue, but its wicked sense of humor gives it a different twist.
I wasn't sure how I felt about the middle pole of the Three Colors trilogy after I finished it the first time. It certainly had a handful of brilliant scenes, and it expressed Kieslowski's dark humor much better than Blue. But it was not nearly as satisfying an experience as the first film, nor was it as beautiful and moving. So I head to the critics. I had felt that I was not getting certain aspects, that many themes I had picked up fully. This is different than my reaction to Nashville, where I simply didn't care for the film, here I felt like I was being asked to explore more deeply.
It was in a review on a DVD website that I hit upon the facet that brought the film fully around for me. White is named so after the color in the French flag, which I knew, but I was not sure what it represented. Upon learning that white was equality, the film clicked. With this as a basis for all the other themes and interplay in the film White works wonderfully. It may never be as transcendent as Blue, but its wicked sense of humor gives it a different twist.
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