2017 Blind Spot: The Three Colors; Blue, White and Red

What I knew going in: I had read plenty of reviews on each of the films.

Blue: "Liberty" - Julie (Juliette Binoche) loses her husband and young daughter to a car crash. Now she's determined to shed every thing from her old life and to keep to herself in Paris. However the music from her composer husband's last piece of work haunts her, and she can't shake it.

Reading the synopsis of each film,  I thought Blue would be my favorite but it's kind of a downer. However, it really is an incredible piece of filmmaking.  I like how introspective the film was. It had to be that way, because that's how Julie lives now. She's distancing herself, and the film almost distances us from her. While I would normally hate the "fade to black" cuts director Krzysztof Kieslowski uses frequently, I like how it sort of forced us to focus on the music instead. B

White: "Equality" Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) is a Polish man living in France, but is divorced by his wife, Dominique (Julie Delpy) and forced to move back to Poland with no money. He starts to forge a new life for himself, but he has one thing on his mind now: Revenge.

White needs some serious suspension of disbelief at times. A little more than I'm willing to give, unfortunately. I really liked the characters of Karol and his new friend, Mikolaj (Janusz Gajos) and acting wise, they were fantastic. They elevate the story. I wasn't a fan of the ending, mostly because I just don't understand how Karol could still feel the way he did after everything that happened. Blue and Red will probably stick with me for a long time, but I can't see White doing that.  B-

Red: "Fraternity" Valentine (Irene Jacob) is a model living in Geneva. She accidentally runs over a dog one night (don't worry, he lives) and when she tracks down the dog's owner, she finds a retired judge, Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who has taken to wire tapping his neighbors phone calls. They form a unique friendship over his crime.

Red takes a while to get going. I had the strangest sensation while watching this film. It's like I was just idly enjoying it, then it hit me; wow. I really love Valentine and Kern's relationship. I always feel like I can relate to curious characters. Valentine's curiosity is what propels their friendship. There's a subplot with her neighbor, Auguste that I thought was a massive waste of time, though it makes sense at the end, but even that couldn't dampen just how invested I was in Valentine. They talk about love whilst eavesdropping and I felt like I was falling more in love with the film as it went on. A-

I'm glad I got ambitious with this. I can see why this trilogy is so highly regarded from a film making standpoint. You can tell by my ratings what order I'd put them in. I definitely recommend all three.