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Three Colours: White

1994 film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ933437 ↗
Source-derived summary

Three Colours: White (French: Trois couleurs: Blanc, Polish: Trzy kolory: Biały) is a 1994 arthouse psychological comedy-drama film co-written, produced and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. White is the second in the Three Colours trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals, following Blue and preceding Red. The film, like its precedent and succedent, received widespread critical acclaim and was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards.

White is about equality, with the film depicting Karol Karol, a shy man who, after being left by his wife in humiliating circumstances in Paris, loses his money, his residency, and his friends. As a deeply ashamed beggar in Paris, Karol begins his effort to restore equality to his life through revenge.

Plot

At a Paris divorce court, Polish barber Karol Karol is pleading with the judge. Karol, through an interpreter, is made to understand that his wife Dominique does not love him as he was unable to consummate the marriage. The divorce is granted, and Dominique hands Karol a suitcase with his possessions before driving off. Karol loses access to his bank account, his passport, and ownership of a salon he and Dominique owned jointly. Karol breaks into the salon to sleep, but is discovered by Dominique the next morning.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Three Colours: White” as 1994 film by Krzysztof Kieślowski. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1994—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Three, Colours and White can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1994 film by Krzysztof Kieślowski. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q933437. The first chronological checks are 1994.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Three Colours: White”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Three Colours: White primary sources, Three Colours: White archive and Three research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Three Colours: White”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Three Colours: White” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.