Blue, white and red are the three colors of France’s national flag. The blue stands for liberty, the white for equality and the red for fraternity. These words inspired the colors, in turn inspiring Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski to direct his “Three Colors” trilogy, which is arguably the greatest trilogy in cinema history.

“Blue” tells the story of Julie (Juliette Binoche), a woman who’s dealing with the deaths of both her husband, a famous composer, and her young daughter. The film follows Julie along, witnessing all of her attempts at everything from suicide to romance.

In this first film of the trilogy, Kieslowski and cinematographer Slawomir Idziak demonstrate their abilities with a camera. This film is full of reflection, utilizing mirrors, windows and even a remarkable shot off of Binoche’s eyeball. At one point, we hear a vibrant chorus as the camera tracks her finger following the bars on some sheet music, only to hear the music come to a screeching halt when she tosses the sheets into the back of a garbage truck.

“White” is the more humorous film of the trilogy. It focuses on Karol Karol, a Polish man fresh from a divorce and living in France. Broke and living on the street, Karol wants nothing more than to return home to Poland and start a new life. Through strange occurrences, Karol ends up packed into a friend’s suitcase and thrown onto a plane headed for Poland. Things get wild when the suitcase arrives, only to be stolen by thieves who beat Karol to a bloody pulp. Karol finally awakens, opens his eyes to see the landscape of Poland, smiles and says, “Jesus, home at last.”

Though this may not be a laugh-out-loud gutbuster, this is a dark comedy. Kieslowski has a knack at making people laugh, even if it is at a character’s expense.

“Red” is the best film of the trilogy, with a plot that is almost indescribable. At its heart, it’s about communication and a little about fate. Remember the first time you met that special person in your life? Now think back, was that really the first time you met that person? What if you crossed paths with that person before, or maybe countless times?

All these questions that pop into mind are the hidden gems of this film. Like life, “Red” is at times completely unpredictable. Kieslowski has the audience asking questions without demanding answers.

So, why are these three films relevant today? It turns out that Kieslowski wasn’t telling the truth when he said “Red” was the last film he would ever make. He was working on a second trilogy, “Heaven”, “Hell” and “Purgatory” when he suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 54.

The project was taken over by German director Tom Tykwer, who received huge acclaim for his film, “Run Lola Run.”

I had the opportunity to see an early screening of “Heaven” at the Galway Film Fleadh, in Galway, Ireland. Instead of the quick, rapid cuts of “Lola,” Tykwer hangs on to emotion with longer shots. He uses train tunnels and silhouettes as metaphors, something Kieslowski was famous for. After the screening, Tykwer talked about how he had no plans to make a full trilogy, and that he considered “Heaven” to be all three ideas poured into one film. After seeing Tykwer’s efforts, one can be sure that Kieslowski would be proud.