The death of her husband and daughter caused Julie, who had just woken up in a hospital bed, great grief. The human life has become irrelevant to Julie, who has lost all her thoughts. Blue is a cold tone, the tone of the whole film as its name, even the music can also be said to be blue.
Blue of the Red, White and Blue Trilogy” is a film directed by French director Krzysztof Kieslowski, starring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Riguente, which won the Golden Lion, Best Cinematography and Best Actress at the 50th Venice International Film Festival in 1993. The story of Julie (Juliette Binoche), who has been quietly supporting her husband’s creative career and caring for her five-year-old child for years, is shattered by a car accident. The death of her husband and daughter causes Julie, who has just woken up in a hospital bed, to grieve. She wanted to die, but after being discharged from the hospital, she felt the desire to return to the world, and she burned her husband’s music scores to make clear her determination to isolate her past. Life in the world was no longer relevant to Julie, who had lost all hope. However, the reality becomes more cruel and makes her think about her attitude towards life. Meanwhile, her husband’s friend publishes the remnants of the manuscript he left behind in the media, claiming to finish the song. This incident accidentally let Julie know that the song was related to a woman. The woman, who was pregnant with her husband’s flesh and blood, had passed away, but left the living with endless torture and pain. After going through some things, Julie finally gains freedom of mind and has the courage to welcome a new life and a new relationship, and her life begins to transform. Blue is a cool tone, the whole film’s tone as its name, even the music can be said to be blue.
The composer of “Blue” was born in 1955 in Bielsko-Biała, a small town in southern Poland, and majored in history and philosophy at university. Although he never received a formal musical education, he was Kieslowski’s most important partner in his directorial career, including the television series The Decalogue (1989-1990), the film The Double Life of Veronique (1991. He has composed the scores of nearly 20 important film and television productions in his life, including the TV series The Decalogue (1989-1990) and the film The Double Life of Veronique (1991, also known as Two Lives).
Theme songs
There are three theme songs in the film, namely the Sad Theme, the European Carol Theme and the Olivier Theme.
First of all, the music of the sad theme appeared in the scene of Julie alone in grief, after learning that her husband and daughter died, the heroine in a long period of time, are in the vortex of sadness difficult to extricate themselves, she will often go swimming in the pool, she will be alone crying, sad music and the picture at this time feelings consistent, resulting in sound and picture counterpoint, music to set the main character’s sad and melancholy emotions.
Then again, the European carol theme song is a posthumous work of Julie’s husband, but also a metaphor for the past that Julie wanted to escape even more after discovering that her husband was cheating on her, but walking along the roadside, Julie inevitably heard the piper blowing, a setting that also implies that she is in a situation where there is nowhere to escape, and the sad past will envelop her for a long time.
The third Olivier theme song comes later in the film, after Julie has decided to work with her husband’s friends to complete the European carol, symbolizing Julie’s return to freedom and the imminent start of a new journey in life.
Sound and picture treatment
First of all, there is a sudden influx of music in the film, and when the music appears, it is accompanied by blue and black screen processing, for example, when Jolie and her husband’s friend work together, the camera is defocused, and the illusory blue color occupies the screen; when each theme song is reproduced at the end of the film, it is also done with defocus and black screen processing.
Furthermore, the general characteristics of the music in the film are two.
1. the music is short, abrupt and set in four or eight incomplete bars, only a few phrases at a time, the music is fragmented but loud, quite deafening, so that the audience can not ignore and be brought into it.
The music has a point, and it appears when the characters appear. The ebb and flow of the music contains the ups and downs of the characters’ fate, and the music is presented in its entirety at the end, indicating the characters’ inner transformation, their release of the past and their yearning for the future.
The music setting of the film conceals many secrets, and this classic film is no exception. Through the music, we can hear the theme it is trying to express, and “Blue” can be heard.