Subject: Film review: Red Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 11:20:30 UTC From: ""B. Sue Blair"" Red --- This, as you know from Krish's ravings, is the third film in the Kieslowski Blue, White, Red trilogy. I call this 'The film of inadequate males' or 'Two lawmen and a babe'. All action in the film is driven by women, particularly our hero Irene Jacob who plays a fashion model. The males consist of a musty judge, a young lawyer, and 'the boyfriend'. The action and humor in this film are subtle and flow quite well with the 'lush cinematography'(tm). The scenes with the boyfriend (we never see the guy) are very well done. So well done, that they reminded me of my ex; little did I know that the fucker learned French :). Basically, he is the jealous type and this overshadows his actions so much that if he does care about Jacob's feelings, it is unapparent. He calls Jacob frequently in the evening and always asks 'Are you alone?' 'Why did it take you so long to answer the phone?' Proper responses would be 'How was the shoot?', 'Damn kids', 'I would get gum out of your keyhole anytime, baby'. But no, he responds 'Are you quite certain that you're alone?' The audience audibly groans and wonders when Jacob is going to ax this tiresome load. The scene where the young lawyer finally discovers the 'truth' (which is quite obvious to everyone but him) is reminiscent of the scene in White where the ex-wife is screwing her new lover while talking to her ex-husband on the phone. The lawyer's chick has stopped calling. She hasn't written. What does it mean? Sherlock, instead of buying a clue-bus token, scales the outside of her building to peer into the bedroom to see her getting a rigorous pork injection. I would think that Kieslowski was a misogynist having being fucked over by evil chicks if Jacob did not take on angelic proportions in this film; but let's not talk about his personal problems. The scenes between Jacob and Trintignant (the musty judge recluse) are charming. He breaks out his vehicle (god knows how long it has been mouldering in his garage) to see her in a fashion show. When she says it will be televised, he states that he really must go out and buy a TV. Just when he is coming out of his shell, the blow falls; the look on his face could not have been done better. There are some amusing scenes. We see Karol Karol, our tenacious hero from White, being dragged incoherently from the shipwreck. I did not see Blue, but there were probably some Blue shipwreck survivors as well. The only criticism I could make of this film is that the parallels between the judge and the lawyer are a bit heavy-handed at times. They both have dogs. Jacob has a thing for dogs, but let's not go there. The judge was fucked over by a chick and lost it from there; the young lawyer is newly fucked over. During exam time, both men dropped a textbook on the ground and the page that it opened to contained a question that was later on an exam. If the audience has not smelled the beans a-fryin' by now, they need to hightail it out of there and buy a Forrest Hump ticket. (I can't really say that, since I haven't seen Hump yet. I'll review it if I see it at the $1.50 megaplex). Given everything, I like White better, though I think this is a matter of personal preference regarding the feel of films (since White and Red both have a different feel), rather than White being a superior film. I tend to like films that are gritty and raw-edge in terms of action, emotion, and presentation (and films with a sick sense of humor). I believe that is why I like Reservoir Dogs better than Natural Born Killers, though they should both be seen. I simply must review those as well in my copious spare time.