Minutes for FORL3160 6/19/02

Class began by breaking up into small groups and discussing questions for the movie Blue by Kieslowski. Afterward, the class discussed the questions.

     The first question concerned the use of coincidence in the film and to find examples of where it is used in the film. Some of the examples discussed were when the main character was locked out of her house, this led to her relationship with the prostitute. When she refuses to sign the petition to have the prostitute evicted, this leads to her showing her gratitude by inviting her to the bar to show her gratitude. Being in the bar leads to her seeing the clip on the TV, which leads to the woman learning of the affair by her husband. There is a scene where she looks through some photographs and by chance misses an opportunity to learn about the affair at that time.

     It was discussed that movies are based on coincidence. These random events are what drive the plot. The story is a random chain of events where one thing leads to another. That is how plot develops.

     The next question asked to identify scenes that had no connection to anything else in the movie. One of the scenes discussed was when an elderly woman puts a bottle into a trashcan. It was pointed out that many of the characters in these scenes were connected to scenes in the other movies in the trilogy, Red and White. It was also pointed out that many times these scenes are put there by the director to give a sense of realism. Our lives are full of random events. Also, it could be simply because the director can. There is a scene of a close up of the main character’s eye. It is such a powerful image that it forces the viewer to look for meaning.

     The next question concerned the scenes where there is a blacking out and returning to the same scene. Some of the possible purposes for the scene brought up by the class were, To refocus the viewer on the scene, to slow time, to give some insight into the character, and to give a sense of the character blocking out what the scene is addressing.

     It was pointed out that it was perhaps an attempt at exploration of music and visual on the part on the director.

     The next question concerned the use of music in the film. It brought up the issue of how much the main character contributed to the music composed in the story and how much was her husband’s.

     The final question concerned the concept of liberty and how it was used in the film. When the main character finds liberty, she finds it in nothing. Being free of all her pain meant having no attachments. However, She will always be connected to the memory of her dead husband through the music they composed together. She must reintegrate her life with the other characters. The one character she sees as free is her mother. The only reason she is free is because she has no memories, she has dementia. The main character can never be free because she will always have her memories. The main theme of the movie is that liberty is real only within confines of our connections with others.

After the discussion, the class watched clips from the movie No End by the same director.  This is a Polish film made shortly after Martial law was declared as a result of the Solidarity movement. Papers from the third freewrite were returned.