Three Colors: Blue

Krzysztof Kieślowski said the liberty of the trilogy’s first film is emotional rather than social or political. Shooting began on 7 September 1992 and finished that October. What Julie destroys is not just any music: her husband’s unfinished score, commissioned for a piece on European unity at the end of the Cold War. Olivier kept a copy, so the work returns; Julie finishes its last section with him and agrees to be credited. In the completed piece a chorus and solo soprano sing in Greek, the words from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. One knot ties the film to the rest of the trilogy: Julie walks into a courtroom hearing the divorce of Karol, the hero of the second film. Zbigniew Zamachowski and Julie Delpy each appear briefly there. At the 50th Venice festival the film shared the Golden Lion with Robert Altman’s Short Cuts; Juliette Binoche took the Volpi Cup for best actress and Sławomir Idziak the Golden Osella for cinematography. At the 19th César ceremony on 26 February 1994 it won actress, sound and editing, and lost best film and best director. A good fit if you want a story of grief that makes sound and music carry the memory. Not for anyone expecting events to advance as a clear chain.