Three Colours: White

Kieślowski’s black comedy, the second part of the magnificent Three Colors trilogy, explores a post-divorce relationship in one of cinema’s sharpest love dramas.

When Polish hairdresser Karol is left by his French wife Dominique (Julie Delpy), he suddenly finds himself stranded in Paris—homeless, friendless, and penniless. Reduced to begging in the subway, Karol’s despair soon transforms into a thirst for revenge. Smuggling himself back to Poland, he begins to plot an elaborate scheme to reclaim his pride and settle the score.

The dysfunctional relationship between Karol and Dominique also serves as a biting allegory for the fraught dynamic between France and a newly opened Poland, tentatively finding its place in Europe. Under Kieślowski’s masterful direction, drama and social satire intertwine with sharp, ironic humor.