Space, theme and movement in Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs: Rouge

Dan Yacavone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Defying easy classification in the traditionally opposed terms of ‘realism’ and ‘formalism’, and poised between conventional narrative cinema and more experimental European art-film traditions, Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy is characterized by a deep interpenetration of form and content. This article explores the conjoined camera movement and construction of cinematic space in Kieslowski's Trois couleurs: Rouge. Close visual analysis reveals a number of ways in which the film's dynamic camera presence, together with the movement of actors and the contrapuntal use of objective and subjective points of view, formally dramatizes its thematic concerns with fraternité, conceived as an individual's being-with and acting-towards others in a shared perceptual environment. The film's mise-en-scène, emphasizing spatial relations, linear motion and change is contrasted with that of Trois couleurs: Bleu, which privileges duration, circularity and stasis. Merleau-Ponty 's existential phenomenology provides a theoretical framework within which to situate these features.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)83-94
Number of pages11
JournalStudies in French Cinema
Volume6
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • phenomenology
  • existentialism
  • film theory
  • time
  • Space
  • French Cinema
  • point of view
  • editing
  • Kieslowski
  • Merleau-Ponty
  • camera movement
  • film style
  • film form

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