STUDIES AND RESEARCH

Three Colors — Blue

The Rhapsody in Blue Hues — Meditations of a Musician

An interpretative study of compositional structures and narrative functions of Zbignew Preisner’s music in the film Three Colors: Blue by Krzystof Kiéslowski.

Three Colors: Blue is actually a musical film, but not in a sense of a movie genre. The film was shot not only after the script but after the score too. Namely, Kiéslowski required of the composer Preisner to compose music on the basis of the film script before the film was shot. So the film narration was not only scripted, but scored in advance. The task of the music was, according to the composer Preisner, »...to picture the film, but wisely. It means that it need not deal with external events we see on the screen, but with what is in people, in actors, and at the same time in ourselves, i. e. audience«, the task of music was »not meant to underline atmosphere and ambience. Krzystof wanted music to have such power as to become a part of the film narrative... Sometimes, when he used my music, there was no need for words and dialogue«. The study traces the powerful and subtle interaction between Preisner’s music and the crucial narrative moves in the Kiéslowski’s film.

Analytical content of the paper: Unbreakable combination: Kiéslowski and Preisner in the »Three Colors«: Blue; Oneiric value of the »Funeral March«; Metadiegesis: sound in mind; Theme in the role of Julie; »Fight« among the theme and the »Funeral March«; Mysterious composer Van den Budenmayer; Mystery of the street musician; The »Concert for the United Europe«; Blue in »Blue«; Hanslick, Kiéslowski and »Three Colors: Blue«; Bibliography

Irena Paulus