Red, the final installment in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy, provides a thematic conclusion to these otherwise stand-alone films. Even by itself, it is more thought-provoking and multi-layered than either of the previous films. What I liked about the food for thought Red has to offer (which the whole trilogy has to offer, actually, but which Red communicates the most strongly of the three) is how it is a movie that turns our perception of movies on its ear.

In plot-driven films, it is considered a flaw for chance to affect the course of the story in any critical way. An old staple of storytelling is that the characters should be responsible for actively driving and propelling the story. In Red, Kieslowski shows how this is absurdly untrue to life. In reality, pivotal events are comprised by freakish happenstance all the time; it is not uncommon for unlikely chance events to change the direction of our lives. While this is an old idea, Red illustrates it in a unique, eloquent, and artistic way. The film is not plot driven at all, nor does it adhere to any particular storytelling formula. It is purely character driven, and the events that occur to them, by their sheer unlikelihood, make for a more realistic, more compelling, and less predictable film.