the coffee and the sugar cube (spoiler free)
Having suffered a deeply personal tragedy, Julie (Juliette Binoche) has pursued a life of anonymity, cut off from the connections of friends and family. In this scene, she has been located, against her wishes, by her friend Olivier (Benoît Régent), who is in love with her. As they talk, a street performer outside starts to play a tune of deep significance linked to Julie’s past. Olivier leaves, and Julie is alone again; the background noises fade, the music comes to the fore, and the camera focuses in on Julie’s espresso. She touches the corner of a sugar cube onto the surface of the coffee, then drops it into the cup.
Kieslowski planned the shot with the cup meticulously, going so far as to find a sugar cube that would absorb the coffee at just the right speed. It was obviously an important component of the film and one that, I feel, operates in several ways.
On the one hand, the shot works to return us to the constrained, isolated world that Julie now inhabits; her eyes see only the cup, her ears hear only the music. Similar close-ups occur throughout the film: the surface of an eye, the fronds of a feather, the notes of a score…
On the other hand, we sense the moment of the coffee and the sugar cube operating as symbol. We sense, perhaps, Julie considering her condition; bitter darkness has permeated her life, and she has given herself over to it. Or, the moment may be symbolic of death itself – life overcome by death and the body lost to it. I’m sure there are many other interpretations!
This, for me, is a powerful media moment: simple yet profound, humdrum yet elegant, forceful yet effortless; one in which image, music, sound and narrative all work together seamlessly.
West Folio 