Three Colours: Blue

Failing to find the courage to commit suicide after her husband and infant daughter die in a car crash, Julie (Binoche) decides to build a new, anonymous and wholly independent life. Leaving her country mansion for a Paris apartment, she soon finds that freedom is not as easy to achieve as she hoped. Neighbours seek help and friendship, and doubts about her husband's fidelity inflame jealousy. Most troubling there's the music: Julia can't escape the sounds in her head. Kieslowski's film - the first of three inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution - is an arresting study of notions of individual freedom in the modern world. There's no facile moralising, simply a lucid examination of a woman's state of mind. Binoche responds with her best work to date: quiet, strong, stubborn, and deeply aware that the heart holds mysteries neither we nor those close to us will ever understand.