Day 10: “White”

Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski 1993
The second in Kieslowski’s "Three Colors" series, “White” is more plot-driven than “Blue,” and in spots resembles something James M. Cain could have written. A French woman (Julie Delpy) divorces her Polish hairdresser husband ( Zbigniew Zamachowski) because he cannot consummate their marriage. He loves and desires her but just can’t get his engine started in bed. He returns to Poland (in a truly black-comic scene, he arrives illegally at the airport in a large suitcase, which is promptly stolen. Although the thieves are none too happy when they open the case, Zamachowski is so pleased to be back in Poland that he doesn’t mind getting beat up). The hairdresser becomes a wealthy man in his post-Communist homeland and uses his riches to exact revenge on his wife. But this really is less about revenge than it is about his love for her—and, in the end, her love for him. An intriguing film.