Editing Three Colours: White

{{Short description|1994 French film by Krzysztof Kieślowski}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Three Colours: White
| image = Three Colours White (film poster).jpg
| alt = 
| native_name =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
| producer = [[Marin Karmitz]]
| writer = {{Plainlist|
* Krzysztof Kieślowski
* [[Krzysztof Piesiewicz]]
}}
| starring = {{Plain list|
* [[Zbigniew Zamachowski]]
* [[Julie Delpy]]
* [[Janusz Gajos]]
* [[Jerzy Stuhr]]}}
| music = [[Zbigniew Preisner]]
| cinematography = [[Edward Kłosiński]]
| editing = Urszula Lesiak
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
* mk2 Productions SA
* [[France 3 Cinéma]]
* CAB Productions SA
* TOR Production
* [[Canal+ (French TV channel)|Canal+]]
}}
| distributor = {{Plainlist|
* mk2 Diffusion (France)
* Rialto Film (Switzerland)
}}
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1994|1|26|France|1994|2|4|Switzerland|1994|2|25|[[Warsaw]]}}
| runtime = 88 minutes <!-- VHS release: 87:36 -->
| country = France<br>Poland<br>Switzerland
| language = Polish<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/three-colors-white-1200435107/|title=Three Colors: White|last=Nesselson|first=Lisa|date=27 January 1994|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref><br>French<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/three-colours-white-trois-couleurs-blanc-1994-0|title=THREE COLOURS WHITE (TROIS COULEURS BLANC) (1994)|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|access-date=15 May 2020}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
| budget = 
| gross = $1.4 million
}}

'''''Three Colours: White''''' ({{langx|fr|Trois couleurs: Blanc}}, {{langx|pl|Trzy kolory: Biały}}) is a 1994 [[Art film|arthouse]] [[Psychological fiction|psychological]] [[comedy-drama]] film co-written, produced and directed by [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2067-three-colors-a-hymn-to-european-cinema|work=Criterion|title=Three Colors: A Hymn to European Cinema|access-date=13 March 2012|author=MacCabe, Colin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v131195|work=Allmovie|title=White (1994)|access-date=December 9, 2012|author=Ankeny, Jason|publisher=[[Rovi Corporation]]}}</ref> ''White'' is the second in the [[Three Colours trilogy|''Three Colours'' trilogy]], themed on the [[Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité|French Revolutionary ideals]], following ''[[Three Colours: Blue|Blue]]'' and preceding ''[[Three Colours: Red|Red]]''. The film, like its precedent and succedent, received widespread critical acclaim and was selected as the Polish entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] at the [[67th Academy Awards]].

''White'' is about equality, with the film depicting Karol Karol, a shy man who, after being left by his wife in humiliating circumstances in [[Paris]], loses his money, his residency, and his friends. As a deeply ashamed beggar in Paris, Karol begins his effort to restore equality to his life through revenge.

==Plot==
At a Paris [[divorce]] court, Polish barber Karol Karol is pleading with the judge.{{efn|The same court hearing that Julie briefly stumbled upon in ''[[Three Colours: Blue|Blue]]''.}} Karol, through an interpreter, is made to understand that his wife Dominique does not love him as he was unable to [[Consummation|consummate]] the marriage. The divorce is granted, and Dominique hands Karol a suitcase with his possessions before driving off. Karol loses access to his bank account, his passport, and ownership of a salon he and Dominique owned jointly. Karol breaks into the salon to sleep, but is discovered by Dominique the next morning. The two initiate sex, but he again suffers impotence. Dominique declares that she no longer loves him. She then sets the salon drapes on fire and frames him for arson, forcing Karol to flee and become a beggar.

While performing songs using a comb in a [[Paris Métro]] station, Karol meets fellow Pole Mikołaj. While Karol has lost his wife and his property, Mikołaj is married and successful; he offers Karol a job—he must kill someone who wants to die but does not have enough courage to do it himself. Karol declines and proceeds to show Dominique to Mikołaj from outside her window, but he sees the shadow of her with another man. Karol runs and calls her from a telephone booth at the station, only for Dominique to make him listen to her having sex, causing him to break down. Mikołaj helps Karol return to Poland hidden in the suitcase, which is later stolen by employees at the airport. After discovering how poor he is, the airport employees beat him up and leave him in a Polish countryside dump. Karol reaches [[Warsaw]] and finds his brother Jurek.

Karol soon returns to work at Jurek's hair salon and later takes on another job as a bodyguard in a cash exchange office. Using his position as a bodyguard, Karol spies on his bosses and discovers their scheme to purchase pieces of land that they know will be targeted by major companies for development and resell for large profits. Karol beats them to it and informs his former bosses that if they kill him, all his [[Estate (law)|estate]] will go to the [[Catholic Church|church]], forcing them to purchase the land from him instead. Karol then tracks down Mikołaj and asks for the job he offered to him previously. Mikołaj meets Karol in a [[Warsaw Metro]] tunnel for the execution of the "suicide". Mikołaj turns out to be the intended victim and asks Karol to kill him. Karol first shoots a [[Blank (cartridge)|blank]] into Mikołaj's chest and asks if he really wants to go through with it, as the next bullet is real. Mikołaj changes his mind and thanks Karol for helping him feel alive again. He pays Karol the money anyway, saying that he earned it.

Karol later goes into business with Mikołaj. Karol becomes ambitious, earning a fortune while improving his French and brooding over Dominique's abandonment. One night, after waking up from a dream about Dominique, Karol calls her, but she hangs up. He devises a scheme to exact revenge on her. He gives Dominique the majority of his fortune in his will, then, with the help of Mikoľaj and Jurek as well as his financial influences, fakes his own death and prepares to frame her for it. On the day of his "burial", Karol sees Dominique mourning from afar. He later surprises her in her hotel room, apparently reconciling with her before they have sex. In the morning, Karol leaves before Dominique wakes up. She is then awakened by the local police, who arrest her on the suspicion that she murdered Karol to obtain his money.

Karol later visits a prison complex and sees Dominique through her cell window with binoculars. She uses sign language to tell Karol that she wants to marry him again, which brings him to tears.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Zbigniew Zamachowski]] as Karol Karol
* [[Julie Delpy]] as Dominique Vidal
* [[Janusz Gajos]] as Mikołaj
* [[Jerzy Stuhr]] as Jurek
* [[Aleksander Bardini]] as the lawyer
* Grzegorz Warchoł as the elegant man
* Cezary Harasimowicz as the inspector
* [[Jerzy Nowak]] as the old farmer
* [[Jerzy Trela]] as Monsieur Bronek
* [[Teresa Budzisz-Krzyżanowska]] as Madame Jadwiga
* [[Juliet Binoche]] as Julie de Courcy (cameo)
}}

==Production==
The final scene of Dominique standing behind bars of her prison cell was shot months after the rest of the film, and was intended to soften Dominique's image; Kieślowski has said that he was dissatisfied with the ending shot previously and wanted her to seem less of a monster.<ref>"A Conversation with Julie Delpy on Kieslowski", special feature on ''White'' (Miramax DVD, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Region 1 release, 2003).</ref>
Filming began from 9 November 1992 to 1 February 1993. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/95624/white#notes | title=White }}</ref>

==Analysis==
The film has been interpreted as an anti-comedy by [[Roger Ebert]], in parallel with ''Blue'' being an anti-tragedy and ''Red'' being an anti-romance.<ref>[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-three-colors-trilogy-blue-white-red Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red (1993-1994)], by [[Roger Ebert]], March 9, 2003</ref>

==Reception==
''Three Colours: White'' was met with critical acclaim; it holds an 89% rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], with an average rating of 7.6/10, based on 55 reviews. The consensus reads: "Taking a lighter tone than the other films of the ''Three Colors'' trilogy, ''White'' is a witty, bittersweet comedy with heavier themes on its mind than one might at first realize".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_colors_white |title=Three Colors: White |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=June 18, 2023}}</ref> On Metacritic, it was assigned a score of 91 out of 100, based on 11 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/three-colors-white |title=Three Colors: White 1994 |publisher=Metacritic |accessdate=June 18, 2023}}</ref>

==Year-end lists==
* 4th – Todd Anthony, ''[[Miami New Times]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=Anthony|first=Todd|date=January 5, 1995|title=Hits & Disses|newspaper=[[Miami New Times]]}}</ref>
* 5th – [[Desson Howe]], ''[[The Washington Post]]''<ref>{{citation|last=Howe|first=Desson|date=December 30, 1994|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/12/30/the-envelope-please-reel-winners-and-losers-of-1994/3cf88a79-b416-4c9a-8ff1-8e9c9a91df37/|title=The Envelope Please: Reel Winners and Losers of 1994|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>
* Honorable mention – Jeff Simon, ''[[The Buffalo News]]''<ref>{{cite web|last=Simon|first=Jeff|date=January 1, 1995|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/movies-once-more-with-feeling/article_b73e9a1a-9f60-5d7a-a05c-289243ba0483.html|title=Movies: Once More, with Feeling|work=[[The Buffalo News]]|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{Main|Three Colors: White (soundtrack)}}

==Awards and recognition==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"| Award / Film Festival
! scope="col"| Category
! scope="col"| Recipient(s)
! scope="col"| Result
! scope="col"| Ref
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | [[44th Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin International Film Festival]]
|[[Golden Bear]]
|''Three Colours: White''
|{{Nominated}}
| rowspan="2" |<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |title=Berlinale: 1994 Prize Winners |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1994/03_preistr_ger_1994/03_Preistraeger_1994.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726021403/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1994/03_preistr_ger_1994/03_Preistraeger_1994.html |archive-date=2011-07-26 |access-date=2011-12-30 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>
|-
|[[Silver Bear for Best Director]]
|[[Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
|{{Won}}
|-
! scope="row"| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1994|Chicago Film Critics Association]]
|[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
|''Three Colours: White''
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-22 |title=Chicago Film Critics Awards - 1988-97 |url=http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=59 |access-date=2024-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822153706/http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=59 |archive-date=2015-08-22 }}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| [[7th European Film Awards|European Film Awards]]
|Best Film
|''Three Colours: White'' (also for ''[[Three Colours: Blue]]'' and ''[[Three Colours: Red]]'')
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archive - European Film Awards |url=https://europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/archive/1994 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=europeanfilmawards.eu}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| [[Turkish Film Critics Association]]
|Best Foreign Film
|''Three Colours: White''
|{{draw|9th place}}
|<ref>{{Citation |title=Three Colors: White (1994) - Awards - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111507/awards/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==See also==
* [[List of submissions to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]]
* [[List of Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Mojo title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2067-three-colors-a-hymn-to-european-cinema ''Three Colors: A Hymn to European Cinema''] – an essay by [[Colin MacCabe]] at [[The Criterion Collection]]
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2065-white-the-nonpolitical-reunifications-of-karol-karol ''White: The Nonpolitical Reunifications of Karol Karol''] – an essay by [[Stuart Klawans]] at The Criterion Collection
* [http://culture.pl/en/article/discover-polish-cinema-with-dave-white Discover Polish Cinema with Dave – White]

{{Krzysztof Kieślowski}}
{{Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Colors: White}}
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:1994 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1994 independent films]]
[[Category:1990s French films]]
[[Category:1990s French-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Polish-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Canal+ films]]
[[Category:Films about divorce]]
[[Category:Films about immigration to France]]
[[Category:Films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
[[Category:Films produced by Marin Karmitz]]
[[Category:Films scored by Zbigniew Preisner]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films set in Warsaw]]
[[Category:Films shot in Paris]]
[[Category:Films shot in Poland]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Kieślowski]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Piesiewicz]]
[[Category:France 3 Cinéma films]]
[[Category:French comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:French independent films]]
[[Category:French-language comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:French-language independent films]]
[[Category:French-language Swiss films]]
[[Category:Polish comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Polish independent films]]
[[Category:Swiss comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Swiss independent films]]