Irene Jacob

CHICAGO – Movies don’t get much more personally influential than Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Blue,” “White,” and “Red,” collectively known as the “Three Colors” trilogy, and recently released in one gorgeous box set from The Criterion Collection. As we all do, I was a bit concerned that perhaps my memory of these films had been enhanced with time, but I found the opposite — they’re even better with age and stand as one of the best film achievements of not just their era but of all time.

CHICAGO – It’s difficult to find a thematic trilogy with a conclusion as triumphant and potent as “Au Revoir Les Enfants.” The 1987 fact-based drama emerged as one of the great masterpieces in the career of Louis Malle, a giant of the French New Wave perhaps best known for his intimate two-character piece, 1981’s “My Dinner With Andre.” His films possess a purity and authenticity unmatched by many of his peers.

CHICAGO – Stanley Kubrick put it perfectly when he said that the great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski found a way to dramatize what other people merely talk about. There’s a reason “The Three Colors Trilogy” had already become a part of a college philosophy class by the time I graduated college in the mid-’90s. With “The Decalogue,” “Three Colors,” and “The Double Life of Veronique,” recently released by Criterion on Blu-ray, the man became a legend. And, as this wonderful edition proves, deservedly so.