This is a pretty ugly cover; maybe it was intentional. You could always look at this cover, but it’s ultimately misleading. While a prominent figure in the story, she has a total of 15 minutes maybe in screentime.
Let’s get this out of the way: White is much worse than Blue. How much worse will ultimately depend on how you interpret the film. Or how much you care about it whatsoever. For me, I zoned out at about the halfway point. There’s just not a lot here to keep my focus on, for a variety of reasons.
There was kind of an expectation that this entry would be funnier than the last. To some extent, this is true—one of the first scenes involve a bird shitting on the male lead’s coat. Cue laugh track. And guess what? Bird shit is white. Symbolism! Outside of this… not much. Some mildly humorous situations and lines delivered in awkward moments, with the rest just being a monotonously gray existence.
While not quite to the same extent, this is also similar to Blue in its plot progression, where one character just does things and the camera follows them around as they do so. In White, it’s more involved, with characters playing a bigger role and the plot more streamlined and easier(-ish) to follow. This isn’t just about being sad, or being happy, or being whatever. It involves a guy, completely down on his luck, attempting to build himself back up into something grandiose. Such is where the film kind of falters for me.
I’ve seen others whom have viewed this complain that it isn’t as thematically apparent as Blue or the incoming Red. I’ve seen others whom have viewed this complain that the central idea is too spiteful or vindictive, and ultimately means little. While I agree with both of these statements to some extent, my major issue was that this was, and I try not to use this often, boring. I hardly cared about any characters, nor did I find them at all relatable, understanding, or impactful. Not to say they’re all garbage, only that they pale considerably in comparison to Blue or, frankly, most other good films.
Unlike Juliette Binoche’s Julie, Zbigniew Zamachowski’s (definitely didn’t copy-paste that name) Karol is a much less intriguing lead. His central problem, at the very beginning, is that he can’t get an erection when with his wife. This leads her to divorce him. Riveting. What follows includes a batch of unrealistic shenanigans that eventually lead to an eventful, unrelenting sequence of odd situations. All the while, Karol continuously looks at the camera as though he has no idea what’s going on.
Not a consequence of poor acting nor is it a particularly poorly told story. Whatever it may be, I just could not connect with it. Some scenes flashed more than others, and I was intrigued by the mysterious man who offered Karol a job near the start. Once the microscope was brought too close, however, he also lost his luster.
I don’t know, I guess “White” is a pretty boring color. There’s definitely a solid amount of white showcased here, whether bird shit or wedding dresses or edited fades to white. Great, but what does that really convey? Purity? Hardly anything here is pure, unless one wants to debate Karol’s statue. Being blank? I guess Karol fits this to some degree. What exactly is the purpose of Karol’s impotence? Lots of things just aren’t clear, despite highlighting one of the most basic colors humanity can identify.
Can’t even bring myself to say anymore: just an overall boring thing that only occasionally brought itself up to the standard set by the prior film. Definitely the low point in the trilogy, unless Red ends up being a horrible film.
Final Score: 5/10
The rating for all other films can be found at Letterboxd.
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The Visualist's Veranda 