Toward the end of my senior year of high school, I became numb to art. Despite being involved in the fine arts scene at my school, I stopped enjoying art personally, and my relationship with art became purely functional — one based on sense rather than sensibility. I didn’t appreciate it like I once did when I took art history courses or played the clarinet and piano. Over time, I began overanalyzing art as something systematic without considering its emotional aspects.
I began to only use original soundtracks as background music for studying. My top artists and songs on Spotify did not represent music that moved me. For instance, my 2022 Spotify Wrapped consisted of songs composed by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Nicholas Britell for movies and shows like “The Social Network” (2010), “Tenet” (2020), “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) and even “Succession” (2018).
However, I eventually discovered the late Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski and his “Three Colours” trilogy toward the end of my first year at Emory University. At the time, I was trying to watch more media to improve my French vernacular, so I asked my mom what films she would recommend for me to observe how French people naturally speak. I didn’t know any of the movie titles she suggested, but she said one actress’ name I recognized: Juliette Binoche. After clumsily clicking the first movie that appeared with a quick Google search, I watched “Three Colours: Blue” (1993), starring Binoche. It is the first installment in Kieślowski’s film trilogy, a collection of three individual movies representing the symbolic colors of the French flag: blue, which stands for liberty; white, which represents equality; and red, which symbolizes fraternity.
While watching “Blue,” I quickly became mesmerized by Kieślowski’s ability to seamlessly combine an impactful score and beautiful cinematography while concurrently exploring moving themes such as grief and fate.
“Blue” convinced me to see the rest of Kieślowski’s last two films: “Three Colours: White” (1994) and “Three Colours: Red” (1994). Although “Blue” and “White” are remarkable in their own ways, “Red,” Kieślowski’s last film before he died in 1996, truly opened my eyes. I began to realize that powerful art does not need to be complex to be great if it can evoke deep emotions in a viewer or listener.
“Three Colours: Red” follows Valentine Dussaut (Irène Jacob), a part-time runway model and university student who accidentally runs over a pregnant dog with her car. The dog’s owner and the other main protagonist, Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), is a retired judge who spends his time eavesdropping on his neighbor's cell phone conversations.
Valentine and Joseph may seem different at first — the former is young and full of life, while the latter is old and cynical due to past failures. However, the film follows a circumstantial chain of events that eventually intertwines them. In the movie, Kieślowski uses random encounters to demonstrate that little moments can turn into platonic relationships exceeding age differences and love. Ultimately, “Three Colours: Red” presents the idea that fate, destiny and metaphysical forces connect people.
The first time I saw this movie, I did not feel the need to analyze its philosophical allusions or technical achievements. I simply surrendered to feeling the film. Kieślowski’s use of red color gradients and lighting to convey themes of passion, love and rhythm read like visual poetry. For the first time in years, I was not trying to find the meaning behind every little scene and dissect the movie intellectually — instead, I let the film move me emotionally.
I ultimately connected to the main characters’ yearnings for true connection amid their struggles with superficial and empty relationships. As “Three Colours: Red” progressed, Valentine and Joseph’s predicaments in the film reflected my own relationship with art. I saw how in analyzing art, I prioritized technical analyses over sentimentality and began to question how one should balance viscerally appreciating art’s beauty while also considering the medium’s technical aspects.
If I could dedicate this film to anyone, it would be to my younger self who had forgotten how to truly feel art. While putting it into words is difficult, watching “Three Colours: Red” was a transformative experience. The film rekindled my belief that enjoying art should not be an intellectual analysis but an open, vulnerable experience. It also made me discover a piece of myself lost in a world that often values practicality more than warmth.
Clement Lee (he/him) (24Ox, 26B) is majoring in Business with area depths in Information Systems and Operations Management and Business Analytics. He is originally from Strasbourg, France, but now resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Outside the Wheel, Clement enjoys watching movies, running long distances and playing golf. You can find him leisurely reading Marcel Proust's, "In Search of Lost Time" on the Quad.
