MovieChat Forums > Trois couleurs: Blanc (1994) Discussion > Was Karol a homosexual? (spoilers)

Was Karol a homosexual? (spoilers)

posted 17 years ago by Invariable Self
14 replies | jump to latest

Aside from the stereotype that Karol was a hairdresser, it seems that his problem was that he was a gay man in love with a woman. First there is his strange inability to consummate his marriage with Delpy. We see he is not impotent because he can function at other times. Also his relationship with the other Pole man borders on being more than just friends, such as when he symbolically tries to shoot him in the heart. His being locked in the suitcase could be a metaphor for being in the closet.

So could the ending of the film mean that equality is established when Delpy is in prison just as he is imprisoned by his own homosexuality?

I.S. Oxford

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-- Fahrenheit 451

[–] konski 17 years ago

Karol wasn't homosexual.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] caddoll 17 years ago

one thing i have noticed is that upon the policemen breaking into the hotel room after dominique and karol had had sex she has to try and speak in another language (in english) at the telephone to ask for her passport.

i think it is also a metaphor for the vulnerable place she's in now.

[–] bub-22 16 years ago

He was learning French during the movie. And that's the reason why his French is better. Being in Poland has nothing to do with "speaking French" properly.

[–] malta54 17 years ago

Bravo,

Your comments are exactly true. I noticed the same things..

[–] co_ca22 17 years ago

No, Karol is not gay.

The fact that Karol is a hair dress is one of the many references to Charlie Chaplin who played a hair dresser in “The Great Dictator”. Even his name Karol Karol is reference to Chaplin

Karol’s sexual impotence in France is Symbol of Poland’s political/economic impotence in Western Europe.

Karol being locked in the suit case has nothing to do with being homosexual. The suitcase is Karol’s coffin and when he emerges in Poland he is not coming out of the closet he is being reborn and is no longer impotent. In fact, you could say he is doing the opposite of coming out of the closet as gay but coming out as a heterosexual man no longer impotent.

As far as Karol almost shooting Mikolaj you read that the wrong way. Mikolaj is the one who saves Karol when Karol hits rock bottom and Karol then pays him back by pretending to kill him which becomes Mikolaj’s rebirth. I didn’t see any indication that they might be sexually attracted to each other.

[–] mathias-ortmann 15 years ago

very true, homosexuality has nothing to do with this movie.

in fact, your readings, "co ca22", are fully correct, and if anything, not identity is the catch-22 in Kieslowski's films, but destiny. the former is a sham (as he constantly makes us see) and in need of re-formation. only the latter can free an idividual to themselves - if they have the courage and strength to accept (well, he was a catholic after all).

also, the theme of rebirth figures quite prominently throughout the trilogy (swimming pool scene in bleu e.g.). films need to be met on their own inherent terms.

[–] murph24 15 years ago

Very true - rebirth is an important element in Kieslowski's work.

And regarding Karol's scene in the subway station with Mikolaj - not only does it lead to Mikolaj's rebirth, but it also plays on Karol's impotence; he was, in essence, "shooting blanks" with Dominique.

Annette Insdorf, who wrote Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema Of Krzysztof Kieslowski (and provides commentary for the trilogy), suggested there was also a subtle connection between the blanks in Karol's gun and the film's title in French - Blanc.

[–] JaneSchmo 15 years ago

My theory about why Karol can't perform in France but can in Poland- he's homesick, a stranger in a strange country, powerless, friendless, lonely, dependent on the mercy of others and treated badly cause he's a Pole (hence his complaint that he's treated badly by the court cause he's a foreigner).

Only in Poland is he someone.

Also, he is depressed in France and clinical depression can lead to a loss of erection or lack of interest in sex.

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[–] mark-1589 11 years ago

The OP's comment proves one thing to me: absolutely any film or story can be interpreted by positing that one of the main characters is gay. I see nothing in this film even remotely suggesting it, and I have the feeling the OP wrote the comment more tongue in cheek, to see if anyone would take him seriously.

[–] SandyR (7347) 10 months ago

There's a thread on the Jaws board conjecturing the shark's sexual orientation.

[–] sherm456 9 years ago

Karol was able to perform with Dominique before they were married; it was only after the marriage that he became impotent. He could play with Dominique as boyfriend/girlfriend, but being a husband changed the meaning of sex for him. Feeling inadequate as a husband, he didn't have it in him to perform his "husbandly duty."

[–] pfr_77 9 years ago

Karol was able to perform with Dominique before they were married; it was only after the marriage that he became impotent

this. It's clearly stated in the beginning of the movie in the courtroom.

[–] cooler56 8 years ago

No, but his brother definitely was.