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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994)

Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994)

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Released 25-Apr-2012

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio
Rating ?
Year Of Production 1994
Running Time 91:52
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Krzysztof Kieslowski
Studio
Distributor
Icon Entertainment Starring Zbigniew Zamachowski
Julie Delpy
Janusz Gajos
Jerzy Stuhr
Aleksander Bardini
Grzegorz Warchol
Cezary Harasimowicz
Jerzy Nowak
Jerzy Trela
Cezary Pazura
Michel Lisowski
Philippe Morier-Genoud
Piotr Machalica
Case ?
RPI ? Music Zbigniew Preisner


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The Three Colours Trilogy is a famous set of arthouse films from the 1990s, made by Polish director, Kryzsztof Kieslowski. This trilogy were his last works before his death in 1996. The trilogy has been released as a set of Blu-rays here in Australia by Icon Entertainment. This local release has the films spread over two Blu-ray discs, Blue on its own disc, with White & Red on the second disc. The trilogy has also recently been released on Region Free Blu-ray by Artificial Eye in the UK and as a Criterion edition on Region A in the US. Both of those have the films across three Blu-ray discs, although this does not necessarily mean the transfers are different. Actually, based on online screens shots, I think these Blu-rays are probably sourced from the same digital masters as the other editions. I will cover how the versions compare in the region comparison section of the box set review. For now, let me just tell you this is a bare bones edition with only the films whereas both the other major releases are packed with extras.

     The second film, Three Colours : White, is a black comedy which focuses on the story of Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish hairdresser who has moved to Paris after marrying Dominique (Julie Delpy). She is divorcing him, frustrated by his lack of ability to consummate the marriage. After the court case he decides to head back to Poland, via quite a strange mode of travel. Here he begins to rebuild his life, while also trying to work out how he can get Dominique back.

     Rather than me banging on about how meaningful this film is, I would suggest that you refer back to the plot synopsis/essay written by SeanA in our review of the DVD release of this film back in 2001. He has a lot to say on the subject and his analysis is well worth reading.

     I know SeanA disagrees with this view in his review, however, I think this is the weakest of the three in the trilogy despite being quite a fun black comedy. I also think this film has aged quite badly compared to the other two.

     Regardless, you are probably mostly interested in the technical specifications anyway, so see below.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is in a different class to previous DVD releases but of course does not challenge recent blockbusters in terms of its ability to show off your system. As I mentioned above this seems to be the same transfer as is used on other international releases.

     The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p encoded using AVC.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the film and significantly better than previous DVD releases. Clarity is affected by film grain at times which becomes quite bad in some scenes such as at 3:20, 21:30, 34:15 or 43:02 but I suppose this is preferable to lots of Digital Noise Reduction. This is worse than Blue in terms of grain. The shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was not overly vibrant but certainly better than the DVD. Due to the bright colour scheme there is some light colour bleeding at times.

     There is some minor shimmer to be seen very occasionally and one spot of aliasing on a striped shirt.

     There are subtitles in English which come on automatically but can be switched off. They were clear and easy to read.

    There is no obvious layer change during playback.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is excellent for a film of this age and budget.

     This disc contains a French (& Polish) soundtrack in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The 5.1 coding does not really make a big difference and it sounds more like a 3.1 to me.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Effects were also very clear with lots of separation across the front and rear speakers.

     The music by Zbigniew Preisner sounds marvellous on this transfer, filling the room (although most sound comes from the front speakers).

     The surround speakers were only used for very mild atmosphere.

     The subwoofer was well used supporting the music.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

 

       Nothing, nada, zilch.

Menu

        The menu included music and allowed for scene selection.

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     In terms of the movie itself, this release seems to utilise the same masters as overseas releases, however, as a set this local release is bare bones compared to other releases. I will cover the major differences in the box set review.

Summary

     A major arthouse film from the 1990s makes its way to local Blu-ray.

     The video quality is very good for a film of this age, especially compared to the DVD versions, which were diabolical. The audio quality is excellent for a film of this age.

     The extras went back to Poland in a suitcase.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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