Three Colors: White 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Three Colors: White 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 6, 2023

Krzysztof Kieślowski's "White" (1994) arrives on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Zbigniew Zamachowski and Julie Delpy; behind the scenes documentary; two documentary films by Krzysztof Kieslowski; and a lot more. In French and Polish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) is a Polish immigrant living in Paris. He is extremely poor, possibly impotent, and without papers. His beautiful French wife, Dominique (Julie Delpy), wants a divorce because, among many other reasons, their marriage was "never consummated".

But Karol refuses to divorce Dominique, so to punish him she sets her beauty salon ablaze and sends the police after him. While hiding in the subway, Karol then meets another Polish immigrant (Janusz Gajos), a jaded professional poker player that has made enough and is getting ready to retire, who offers to help him go back home.

In Warsaw, Karol begins working in his brother's hair salon. Soon after, a happy client suggests that if Karol wants to earn more he should start working as a bodyguard for her brother, a cocky young man who owns a currency exchange bureau. A few days later, Karol is given a gas pistol and instructed how to walk and talk so that he looks like a real bodyguard.

Not only does the new job prove as good as advertised, but it quickly awakens Karol's business instincts and he decides to take advantage of a seemingly perfect opportunity to make a big chunk of money quickly. After he reconnects with the man from the subway, the two become business partners and begin importing and exporting anything that they can get for a good price, from frozen bananas to Chinese knock-off merchandise.

Eventually, Karol puts together a brilliant revenge plan. With the assistance of his business partner, he manages to bring his wife to Poland, frame her just as she did him in Pairs, and have her arrested by the local authorities. However, her misery makes him realize that he is still madly in love with her.

Like Blue, White tells a multi-layered story about a unique transition. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Poland has regained its freedom but Poles have discovered that they do not know what to do with it. Unsurprisingly, the mafia has taken over the country, started reshaping it, and forced many Poles to look for a better life abroad.

Karol has ended up in France, a free and prosperous country, a true democracy. But he has quickly realized that the people living there are not all equal, and those like him, the poor immigrants, are possibly even not allowed to be equal. This is why he returns home, where he could give his wife a dose of the same inequality he has endured thanks to her.

As was the case with Blue, a single color permeates the entire film. Here it is white, which symbolizes equality, the second of the three French national symbols. A stunning score by Zbigniew Preisner again complements the visuals.

Three Colors: White 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of White is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. It is included in the Three Colors 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray box set. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. The Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

UPDATE: I have received a market copy of the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray box set. The Blu-ray disc presents the older version of White, from the original three-disc Blu-ray box set, with the older color timing. I have provided some additional screencaptures from the Blu-ray disc that is included in this box set.

The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this release:

"The new 4K restorations of all three films (Blue, White, Red) were undertaken by MK2 at Hiventy in Joinville-le-Pont, France, using the 35mm original camera negatives. The restoration of Blue was supervised by director of photography Slawomir Idziak; the restoration of Red was supervised by cinematographers Piotr Sobocinski Jr. and Michael Sobocinski, sons of director of photography Piotr Sobocinski; and an archival 35mm theatrical print was used as a color reference for White. The 5.1 surround soundtracks were created from the 35mm magnetic tracks."

Please note that some of the screencaptures in this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures #1-28 are from the 4K Blu-ray disc of White.
Screencaptures #30-40 are from the Blu-ray disc of White.

Criterion released the Three Colors trilogy on Blu-ray more than a decade ago, in 2011. Each release was sourced from masters that were prepared even earlier. The three films were recently redone in 4K and this box set introduces the new 4K makeovers in native 4K. The 4K presentations can be viewed with HDR and Dolby Vision. I viewed White with Dolby Vision.

The new 4K makeover of White is extremely disappointing. In fact, it is the worst 4K makeover in the Three Colors box set. Why? The 4K makeover of White does not have proper white, or proper variations of white, which is the key color that gives the film its identity. There are very large areas of the film that quite simply look bizarre. For example, there is a key sequence with a flashback from the wedding that always had an 'airy', very beautiful white appearance, but now it looks creamy yellow(ish). (See screencapture #1). Much of the outdoor footage is modified with strange ranges of creamy yellow and green as well. (See screencapture #3). This is not how White is supposed to look. In the theater, White always had a unique appearance that blended cold grays, browns, and of course the prominent color white. This new color grade erases entire ranges of unique native nuances and completely destroys the film's native identity. It is as bad as the one that was created for the 4K makeover of Le Cercle Rouge. Of course, this is extremely disappointing because as far as I could tell the rest of the 4K makeover is marvelous. On my system, delineation and clarity were often spectacular. Depth was also very impressive, but there were a few areas where the new color grade appears to have destabilized the native dynamic range of some darker visuals. The surface of the visuals is immaculate as well. Grain exposure and stability, in particular, are vastly superior to those of the previous Blu-ray release of the film, so on a bigger screen the difference in quality is often quite striking. A very, very frustrating 4K makeover.

Three Colors: White 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on the 4K Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. The Blu-ray disc has two standard audio tracks: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

I thought that the quality of the lossless 5.1 track was outstanding. On my system, Zbigniew Preisner's score sounded fantastic and the dialog was as healthy as it could have been. The Blu-ray release has a very good 2.0 track as well. I encourage you not to automatically discard it. Compare the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks and see which one you like better.

Three Colors: White 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for White. In Polish and French, with optional English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• On White - a video essay written and narrated by film critic Tony Rayns. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080p).

• Kieslowski's Cinema Lesson - in this segment from 1994, the Polish director discusses the opening scene from White. In Polish, with imposed French subtitles and optional English subtitles. (11 min, 1080i).

• Zamachowski and Delpy - in this video interview, Polish actor Zbigniew Zamachowski and French actor Julie Delpy recall their collaboration with director Krzysztof Kieslowski on White. The interview was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2011. In Polish and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (19 min, 1080p).

• Krzysztof Piesiewicz - in this video interview, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, cowriter of the Three Colors trilogy and politician, discusses his collaboration with director Krzysztof Kieslowski and the complex themes of his films, the socio-political climate in Poland during the 70s, 80s, and the transition period after the fall of the Iron Curtain, etc. The interview was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2011. In Polish, with optional English subtitles. (22 min, 1080p).

• The Making of "White" - in this behind-the-scenes featurette, director Krzysztof Kieslowski discusses the production history of White, its unique color scheme, the strange relationship between comedy and drama the film nurtures, etc. In Polish, with imposed French subtitles and optional English subtitles. (17 min, 1080i).

• Two Documentaries - two documentary films by Krzysztof Kieslowski. The first focuses on a group of ballerinas, the second chronicles an interesting survey. In Polish, with optional English subtitles.
  
  -- Seven Women of Different Ages (1979). (17 min, 1080i).
  -- Talking Heads (1980). (15 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - an 80-page illustrated booklet featuring Colin MacCabe's essay "A Hymn to European Cinema"; Nick James' essay "Blue: Bare Necessities"; Stuart Klawans' essay "White: The Nonpolitical Reunifications of Karol Karol"; Georgina Evans' essay "Red: A Fraternity of Strangers"; excerpts from Kieslowski on Kieslowski (1993), a book-length interview with the Polish director conducted, edited, and translated by writer Danusia Stok; and interviews with the cinematographers of Three Colors - Slawomir Idziak, Edward Klosinski, and Piotr Sobocinski, which first appeared in a September 1993 special edition of the French magazine Telerama devoted to the trilogy.

Three Colors: White 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The new 4K makeover of Krzysztof Kieslowski's White is extremely disappointing. Julie Delpy has a powerful voice, so hopefully when she sees what was done with White she would speak up. Other people should speak up, too. The Three Colors trilogy has an incredible reputation and for many good reasons, so the three films in it need to be preserved and seen as Kieslowski created them. White is included in the Three Colors 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray box set, which streets today.

UPDATE: I have received a market copy of the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray box set. The Blu-ray disc presents the older version of White, from the original three-disc Blu-ray box set, with the older color timing. So, if you purchase the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray box set, you will have the original presentation of White as well. Because of the inclusion of the older version of White, the overall score of our review has been updated.