Three Colors: White

1994 ‘Trois couleurs : Blanc’ Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Polish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to leave France after losing the business they jointly owned, Karol enlists fellow Polish expatriate Mikolah to smuggle him back to their homeland.

Zbigniew Zamachowski Julie Delpy Janusz Gajos Jerzy Stuhr Aleksander Bardini Grzegorz Warchoł Cezary Harasimowicz Jerzy Nowak Philippe Morier-Genoud Juliette Binoche

Alternative Titles

Três Cores 2 A Igualdade é Branca, Trois Couleurs 2, Three Colours: White, 세 가지 색: 화이트, Tres colores, Blanco, 白色情迷

comedy drama mystery

92 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by iana ★★★ 3

if i looked like julie delpy and my husband couldn’t get it up i would divorce him too SHE’S INNOCENT
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★½ 13

The worst in the trilogy is still...pretty good. The ending and theme are probably my favorite parts. I will say, at times the score does feel extremely “generic 90s drama” though. I guess what separates this from the others is just how normal it feels. While Blue and Red emphasize their respective colors and use them to create the tone of the film, this one just feels like a movie where the color white happens to be a theme. In it’s defense, white is harder to emphasize than something like blue or red, but it’s role in the film just felt like an afterthought rather than the main point like the others in the trilogy. But again, when looking at it on it’s own and not as a part of the group, it was a good time.
Review by Lucy ★★★

amy dunne watching this and taking notes: 👀📝
Review by kyle97 ★★★½ 5

White is, to some degree, pale compared to Blue (no pun intended), not just in terms of cinematography, but also in terms of storytelling. Out of the three, I actually think this one has the most interesting premise. A story about a man who exacts revenge against his wife after she dumps him piqued my interest right away. But it was bitter for me to say that Kieslowski’s execution is quite dry. White falls short of its premise and doesn’t live up to the carefully-orchestrated visual narrative of Blue that culminates in a strong cathartic release, which makes it such a satisfying emotional ride.
One of my biggest problems with the film is Kieslowski’s portrayal of Julie Delpy’s Dominique. She’s…
Review by brat pitt ★★★½

i know gone girl came out 20 years later but She still did that first AND better than three colors: white aka gone boy 💀☠️☁️🌬🌫🥚🍚🥛🍽🏐⌨️🖱⏲📡🚽✉️📃📄🗒📰⚪️▫️◽️◻️⬜️💭🗯🏳
Review by Justin Peterson ★★★★ 2

(The Average Joe’s Movie Club Cast)
A story of redemption for a true sad bastard ... but was it worth it?
"I've wanted to lay my head here ... for such a long time."
While many considered White to be the black sheep of Three Colors trilogy, I find it to be a compelling dark comedy exploring the dynamics of a troubled relationship. Ultimately, I admire Karol Karol's ability to pull himself up from rock bottom and make something of himself, despite having to play dirty to get there. And the kick in the ass she gives him does lead to the change in mindset and status that he needed, to get his mojo back.
For much more of my thoughts on White and the rest of the Three Colors Trilogy, click the link to my podcast at the top of this review.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully listening!
Happy movie watching ... Cheers!

Recent reviews

Review by Betomado ★★★★½

La más amable de la trilogía. Conquista por el tono cómico negro. De las tres es la que más aguanta un visionado solo pero se potencializa al verla junto a las otras dos.
El vato que actúa de Karol es un actorazo.
Review by Zig Marasigan ★★★

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s White presents us with a unique take on ‘equality’. Not the equality of race or class but that of marriage – a union between individuals who, under the eyes of the law, are equal.
But Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) doesn’t feel equal at all. His marriage to the beautiful Dominique (Julie Delpy) implodes from a lack of “consummation”. The insecure Karol is a man emasculated, touting a middling hairdressing career and an unsatisfying sex life, even when she admits her love for him.
But White isn’t a tale of sexual ineptitude (although that’s part of Keislowski’s awkward attempt at humor). Instead, it is a dramatic comedy on self-worth and commitment. The dopey eyed Karol thinks himself unworthy of his…
Review by Mooney ★★

You can’t just pull a Gone-Boy and expect me to just accept it what the fuck. Anyway this was boring and I hated the ending :)
Review by MaxKeller ★★★★

Watching the trilogy today, a little disappointed but still had a really good time with this film. Most of it was really enjoyable and the directions it took were great but there was a good 15 to 20 minutes where I was a little uninvested. The direction from Kieślowski was still impressive, the cinematography was good but not as great as Blue. Maybe it’s just me but the best part was seeing Juliette Binoche in the beginning.
Review by Akira_Hitchcock ★★★★½

《白色情迷》不管看幾次，我都覺得Julie Delpy美若天仙...沒有啦，是相當有意思，白色永遠是三色系列中最為調皮有趣的一部，處處充滿戲劇與轉折，主角是那個在《十誡》最後一誡登場的搖滾歌手主角，而飾演卡爾哥哥的Jerzy Stuhr則在奇斯勞斯基早期的《電影狂》就已擔任過主角了。
這次重溫白色還是發現好多有趣之處，光是看奇斯勞斯基是怎麼玩轉類型與男女關係就好過癮，Jerzy Stuhr幾場短暫的演出也好有趣，他飾演的理髮廳哥哥講話故意放慢笨拙的可愛，而卡爾故事的線路更是處處充滿著黑色幽默的巧思，而平等的關聯性也是貫穿正片，是男女關係的不對等、語言國籍上的、財富身份上的，而在白色中奇斯勞斯基感覺也特別設計了幾個物件來推動故事，像是卡爾用來生財的梳子（他後面又把它當成口琴）、那枚甩不掉的法郎最後又跟著假卡爾一起離去、那個代表多米尼克的純白雕像ㄧ到波蘭就被摔碎卻又被拼湊回去，就像卡爾渴望的愛情一樣。
Review by Jasper Loos ★★★★

Equality
And I finish the trilogy with the second one, since I was so short-sighted not to notice the actual order. It doesn't really matter, since all films tell a separate story, but Rouge is a perfect culmination of all the events.
I love how all characters get interwoven in this little universe. Especially the elder woman trying to deposit a bottle. The way the three characters react to this event tells everything about their personalities.
Julie looks and doesn't help.
Karol looks, laughs at her and doesn't help.
Valentine is the only one to go to her and help her.
BEAUTIFUL!
★★★★ = Directing
★★★★ = Narrative
★★★★ = Visuals
★★★★ = Performance
★★★★ = Sound

Ranked: Trois Couleurs - Krzysztof Kieślowski
Review by feli_fel ★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Not as good as Blue in my opinion. Still phenomenal music, and thematically/symbols there's a lot to unpack here (will need to read more about it). I thought the acting was good and I enjoyed the switch between all the languages.
I'm curious how red turns out. The filmmaking in White is still high yet the story loses me a bit. There are some good twists in the plot but this guy really goes all out to get his wife back but we're barely given context of their relationship.
The wedding flashbacks are dreamy and well shot. The relationship between Karol and Mikolaj is the best in my opinion.
Themes: Love and Revenge, Equality
Review by Gabriella ★★★½ 3

Eu amei a pequena aparição da Juliette Binoche! Foi meio como um easter egg.
Eu esperava a Julie Delpy protagonista mas pelo menos fui recompensada com o Karol que é ótimo e acabei até me simpatizando um pouco com ele.
Review by Gregoose ★★

Aux antipodes du premier volet ...