The Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994)

Maybe including all three titles within Krzysztof Kieslowski’s impeccable feat which is his Three Colors Trilogy as a single entry is cheating a little, but they simply must be presented as a unit in order for a spectator to truly appreciate the gravity and intellect of such a work. After his astounding 10 piece study The Dekalog which recalls the Ten Commandments through emphatic short films (A Short Film About Killing being the brightest diamond) , the great Polish auteur formed these three pictures which would see French arthouse filmmaking suddenly explode into the international cinematic market. Each film denotes a colour on the French flag and visualises what that said one represents within the French Revolution – liberty, equality, and fraternity – and Kieslowski manages to pull off such an expansive feat via three beautifully assessed character dramas.

The Juliette Binoche-starring Blue is a deeply traumatic study of a mother who is reeling from the tragic events which took her husband and young daughter. White sees Julie Delpy lead perhaps the most humorous but also grittiest entry as her former Polish husband plots against her after she takes him for all his worth. The concluding chapter Red was the most regarded – earning two Academy Award nominations – which serves as an incandescent meditation on fate and image as Irène Jacob’s tender runaway model finds herself entangled with a former judge who bitterly invades on other’s privacy. Singularly each film is fantastic, collectively they are game-changing. Their natural flow, sublime acting, exquisite pallets and visuals: they aren’t just movies, nor are they merely social-political documentations, they are poetry in motion. Kieslowski passed away in 1996 and never made another film after Red, but he has left such a groundbreaking cultural impact with his works that his name and legacy will forever live on.