Review In A Nutshell:
White tells the story of a male Polish hairdresser, Karol, who was left by his wife, Dominique, with nothing. He deals with this loss by going back to Poland and rebuilding himself.
The first I noticed when going through this film was how light it all felt, all the weight that I felt on the director's previous film, Blue, were mostly lifted. I wasn't so much disappointed with the change in tone as there are many moments in this film where the plot and narrative benefited from it, but I was underwhelmed by Kieslowski's execution. The director couldn't seem to make me feel comprehensively invested to the protagonist, as I personally felt he wasn't explored enough and the intentions of the character wasn't truly clear to me throughout.
Thankfully I enjoyed the journey that the protagonist has taken, as we get to see him start off on the bottom of the world, figuratively speaking of course, and building himself up slowly to becoming a respectable and "fulfilled" man. He doesn't reach this stage without playing dirty of course, Karol is still a normal human being and would do whatever he can in order to get ahead, but it was handled in such a way that we don't think less of him. I saw this rebuilding as just a constructive coping mechanism towards the tragic loss he just suffered, and I think in a way all of what he has made for himself was all for her or at least something to prove to her. During the film's third act, we can see that he is still in pain and even though he could get anything he wants there is still a void in him that hasn't been filled, and that is love. It was her love that he has always wanted, and he blames himself for not being able to show and prove that to her during their marriage. For Karol, content doesn't come from wealth, respect and fame, it comes from Dominique.
The film's photography was also a major change from the first film of the trilogy. Colors seem to be warmer, and the color seems to dominate a lot of the film's images, possibly enforcing the idea of purity and beauty. It connects really well with the film's plot and narrative, making certain situations coming off as comically charged rather than dire, giving us a glimpse of how the film would feel during its resolution. The score also was change from the previous film, switching from the grand and dramatic tone to something much lighter and sharper. I found the score to be effective, particularly during the moments where the film wants us to feel sorry for Karol or when he examines or thinks about his one true love, Dominique. We are able to understand his fascination with her, and the music helps support that.
Zbigniew Zamachowski plays the film's protagonist, Karol. He was wonderful in the role, though it wasn't at the same level of amazing as Binoche in Blue. The actor was able to manipulate my feelings towards the character, with one moment feeling highly sorry then the next moment feeling proud of what he has become. He was able to change the appearance of his exterior while keeping his internal qualities the same. Julie Delpy was also pretty good in the role, but it would have been better if she was given a bit more screen time; then again this is Karol's story, not hers.
White may not be a step up as I hoped it would be from Blue, but it's still a great piece of work from Kieslowski. Hopefully Red would be at least just as good as this, if not better.
