White is the second part of the Three Colours trilogy that was inspired by the French tricolour and the slogan of the Revolution: blue for liberty, white for equality and red for fraternity. The central protagonist is Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish hairdresser living in Paris and married to the beautiful Dominique (Julie Delpy). Karol has achieved professional and financial success but is a failure in the bedroom. His disappointed wife decides to divorce him and throws him out of the house. Left on the street with no money or documents, Karol meets a fellow Pole who helps him to get to Warsaw in an unusual way. Once home, Karol decides to take revenge on his wife, whom he still loves. After establishing himself as a successful businessman in the new Poland, he fakes his own death, knowing that Dominique will attend the funeral.

The only part of the trilogy that is set in Poland, White is quite different to its companion films. The mystical elements are largely absent in this bitter black comedy which asks whether equality can really exist between people. ‘Nobody wants to be equal, really,’ observed Kieslowski. ‘Everybody wants to be more equal.’