Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

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Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
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

     The Three Colours Trilogy is a famous set of art-house films from the 1990s, made by Polish director, Kryzsztof Kieslowski. This trilogy was 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 third film, Three Colours : Red, is a very unconventional romance starring Irene Jacob as Valentine a young model/university student. Valentine lives in Geneva and has a possessive boyfriend, Michel, who travels constantly for work. He calls her to make sure she is alone and constantly questions her about why she doesn't answer the phone whenever he calls. On the way home one night she runs over a German Shepherd and tries to return her to her owner, retired judge Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who shows great indifference to the dog. After she has the dog looked after by a vet she takes it home herself. One day, when she lets the dog out for a run, the dog goes straight back to its master. During her various visits to the judge's house she realises that he is spying on his neighbours by tapping their cordless phone frequencies. An odd but emotional relationship develops between the older judge and the young model. Another relationship in the neighbourhood between a young lawyer, Auguste, and his girlfriend is played out in parallel scenes.

     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.

     Red is a very interesting film, which brings the whole trilogy together.

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

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 in some scenes but not quite as often as Blue or especially White . Particularly grainy scenes can be seen at 4:20, 21:15, 23:40 or 40:28. There was also one spot at 47:42 where Digital Noise Reduction resulted in some artefacts. The shadow detail was very good considering the age of the film.

     The colour was better than the first two films with the reds being quite vibrant.

     There is some minor shimmer to be seen very occasionally and some mild edge enhancement here and there.

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

     There are no obvious layer changes during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good for a film of this age and budget. The sound was not as striking as on the first two films.

     This disc contains a French 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 speakers.

     The music by Zbigniew Preisner sounds good but I believe its impact was felt more in the other films especially Blue.

     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

       Nothing, nada, zilch.

Menu

        The menu included music and allowed for scene selection.

    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.

    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.

     A major art-house 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 very good for a film of this age.

     The extras sank on a ferry.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall