Three Colors: Red

"The invisible thread of destinies."

1994 1h 40m FR

🙌

7.9

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

100

METACRITIC

⭐

8.1

IMDB

★7.9TMDB · 1,610🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes●100Metacritic★8.1IMDB · 116,330

DramaMysteryRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep it. But the two form a bond when she returns to his house and catches him listening to his neighbors’ phone calls.

“The invisible thread of destinies.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Irène Jacob
Valentine
Jean-Louis Trintignant
The Judge
Frédérique Feder
Karin
Jean-Pierre Lorit
Auguste
Samuel Le Bihan
Photographer
Marion Stalens
Veterinarian
Teco Celio
Bartender
Bernard Escalon
Record Dealer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Krzysztof Kieślowski
Writers: Krzysztof Kieślowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Agnieszka Holland
Languages: French
Countries: France, Poland, Switzerland

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Poland, Switzerland.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Three Colors Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, shot by Piotr Sobociński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Zbigniew Preisner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jacques Witta shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Irène Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant and Frédérique Feder carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The invisible thread of destinies.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Krzysztof Kieślowski directs. Piotr Sobociński behind the camera. Zbigniew Preisner scores. Jacques Witta cuts. Produced in France, Poland, Switzerland. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

132 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 3 countries: France, Poland, Switzerland.
3Part of the "Three Colors Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, shot by Piotr Sobociński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Zbigniew Preisner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jacques Witta shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Irène Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant and Frédérique Feder carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The invisible thread of destinies.".
9IMDB entry: tt0111495 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "infidelity", "judge", "isolation", "shadowing".

The technical file

Cinematography: Piotr Sobociński
Original score: Zbigniew Preisner
Editing: Jacques Witta
Production design: Claude Lenoir
Costume design: Corinne Jorry
Makeup / hair: Nathalie Tanner
Sound: Jean-Claude Laureux
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $4,127,033
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Three Colors: Red (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 100/100
IMDB rating: 8.1/10 · 116,330 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 3 Oscars. 19 wins & 27 nominations total

Part of

Three Colors Collection

Three Colors is a film trilogy who’s colors make up the films and the three colors of France – Blue, White and Red. With the colors meaning – freedom, equality and brotherliness.

Also by

Krzysztof Kieślowski

Stills · wallpapers

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Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2023-02-10
★ 7/10
A very good ending to Kieslowski's trilogy. This is the last film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's “trilogy of colors”, and focuses on the unusual friendship between a young and beautiful catwalk model and an elderly retired judge who entertains himself by listening, illegally and without no one knows, the telephone conversations of the neighbors. Why? Out of sheer cynicism. He is a man alone, bitter and unhappy. What follows is a trip in which both characters will go through very similar situations. The film continues to have notable points in terms of cinematography, sets and costumes. As in the previous films, the title color is present in all scenes and is persistently part of the sets and props. Despite being elegant, the music is intense, almost a prop for the scene, and contributes to the overall harmony of the work. As in the previous films, the duo of central actors is responsible for an interpretive tour de force, which is absorbing and impressive: Irene Jacob is an excellent actress, but it turns out to be Jean-Louis Trintignant who stands out the most. The script is quite interesting, for the way it explores the cynicism of the judge's character, and for the way it addresses interpersonal relationships, the honesty and sincerity of love and relationships, the application of the law and the moral and philosophical consequences of judgments. humans. There are some details that are a little unbelievable, like how the judge's character evolves from someone resentful and intractable to a more human person in a short period of time. However, it is a film that is really worth it.
CinemaSerf2023-05-15
★ 7/10
Aspiring model "Valentine" (Irène Jacob) is driving home one evening when she runs over a dog. Luckily, it's not seriously injured and after a trip to the vet she repatriates it with the "Judge" (Jean-Louis Trintignant). A quick look around his home though and she realises that he is a snoop! He listens into all the private conversations of his neighbours, records their chats and their peccadillos - all of which is, of course, illegal. Caught between her disgust at his behaviour and her gradually developing affection for the man (and the dog) she finds herself in a bit of a catch-22 scenario. How will that play out when someone reports him to the gendarmerie and his own court appearance looms? Their's is not the only relationship we see here, and using "Valentine" as a conduit, we are exposed to a couple of other people whose issues with loyalty, trust - and fidelity - are there for us to observe and to challenge. Of the three of these entertaining Kieslowski films, I probably preferred "White" - but this is a close run thing. This is quickly paced with humour and pith in the writing and featuring a strong and amiable performance from an on-form Jacob. I did not love the conclusion - even if it did serve to pull the threads together with the previous two films, but if you can see all together in one (marathon) go then I think you cannot fail but to be entertained in a thought-provoking fashion by these stand-alone but interconnected themes of humanity and personality.