Year: 1991
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Country(s): France/Poland
Languages(s): French/Polish
The film involves two doppelgangers played by Irene Jacob; Weronika who lives in Poland and Véronique who lives in Paris. They don't know each other in the slightest. Weronika gets a place in a music school, works hard, but collapses and dies on her first performance. At this point, Véronique's life seems to take a turn and she seems to be greatly affected by the death of somebody she never knew.
Kiewslowski's film is a strange and poetic journey through the lives of two strangers. Themes of duality, synchronicity, and fate are filmed in utmost sincerity and seriousness, while maintaining an enchanting dream-like atmosphere. It's a film that needs to be re-watched many times because it is not straightforward. which may not please some viewers, but I don't think it suffers from that quality. The Director makes a seemingly complex film that makes us want to understand more about each character.
Visually the film is stunning. The striking cinematography gives us many beautiful shots while drawing us into Veronique's wondrous world. The camera gets us lost in the surreal quality of the film, while exposing a number of motifs present. The score plays a significant role in understanding both characters and can help in revealing the connection between both characters. Interestingly enough Kieslowski gives The Double Life of Veronique enough ambiguity to let the audience come up with their own interpretation of the film, while not frustrating us.
In conclusion, though I have not seen every film Krzyszstof Kieslowski has made, I intend on seeing them all very shortly. He has tremendous talent which is very present in The Double Life of Veronique. Though I don't recommend it as an introduction to his work, see Three Colors first, it certainly is a surprising film that will make you smarter about Cinema. Praise it! 5/5
Charlie,
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you first of all for your incredibly concise and very terse description of the film. For someone who has seen it three times and still sees it as a semi-abstract piece (which in some ways it is) but without any kind of narrative structure, your description is the best I have heard. This description is a necessary tool to be able to have adequate ground to further realize the expansive mysteries of the film. Now that I feel I have a grasp on what the heck is happening I feel I want to go back to allow myself the very freedom you describe, to come up with my own sensibilities about the emotive, psychological, spiritual choices that the characters make as we witness their lives extemporized in an existential drama that knows no limits or has no rules and whose possibilities are for the viewer to contemplate. The film to me is very much like the ball that Veronique, or was it Weronika, holds up to the light as she speeds along in the train. The light is absorbed in and within the orb all is form and shape and color in its purity, just as the elements of the film come together and elements of emotion, psychology and spirituality are released in a state of purity.