Blue is a true treasure of a movie. The story of a woman’s path through grief, sorrow, and self-discovery which ultimately leads to joy can be quite complicated for a film to take on, yet through Krzysztof Kieslowski’s direction, along with contributions from cast and crew, it is done quite smoothly to end up a splendid film.
The film is a record of Julie de Courcy’s (Juliette Binoche) path from anguish to joy. The film displays the back and forth steps taken when continually avoiding, dodging, and ignoring the pain and grief held inside for lack of self-acknowledgment. During her continual attempts at pushing pain away, that thing called “life” starts playing its dirty tricks by throwing chaos at the individual until there’s no choice other than to confront the ailment which lies deep inside.
In Blue, there’s a full picture of why the house of repression can only stand for so long. Slowly, but surely, death permeates your existence to cause you to ask questions ... what is life’s purpose? ... who am I? Blue vividly shows Julie de Courcy's path to true freedom, a life that is real, and one she can call her own.
The steps through the grey zones of grief are shown in Blue as I’ve never seen it done. Binoche’s performance holds the audience captive through this painful walk, brilliantly conveying the healing and ultimately resulting in the making of a masterpiece.
A famous musician once said, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Slaying dragons within our past, Blue ties the audience into Julie’s denial. By ignoring her emotions, Julie comes close to death’s call. Sitting in a Paris café, far from her farm, life exists only in others. Life’s intentions amount to sugar cubes soaking up her morning coffee, day by day. Julie is gone. There's nothing but a hollow shell sitting there, the only remains of her past life a blue chandelier belonging to her daughter.
Through the difficult, dreary steps of de Courcy in Paris, the film shows us that this path has the opportunity to lead to joy. We feel alive as she begins to ask friends for help, returns to the farm and reaches out to others; by confronting issues and facing her emotions held deep inside, Julie de Courcy shows us the beauty of the masterpiece her life becomes.
Article comments