La double vie de Véronique (1991)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski (writer) &
Krzysztof Piesiewicz (writer)

Release Date:

22 November 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Each of us is matched somewhere in the world, by our exact double - someone who shares our thoughts and dreams

Plot:

Veronika lives in Poland. Veronique lives in Paris. They don't know each other. Veronika gets a place in a music school...

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Krakow Poland | Female Nudity | Choir | Bus

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Irène Jacob	...	Weronika / Véronique
Halina Gryglaszewska	...	La Tante
Kalina Jedrusik	...	La femme barjolée
Aleksander Bardini	...	Le chef d'orchestre / Conductor
Wladyslaw Kowalski	...	Le père de Weronika / Weronika's father
Jerzy Gudejko	...	Antek
Janusz Sterninski	...	L'avocat / Lawyer (as Jan Sterninski)
Philippe Volter	...	Alexandre Fabbri
Sandrine Dumas	...	Catherine
Louis Ducreux	...	Le professeur / Professor
Claude Duneton	...	Le père de Véronique / Father of Véronique
Lorraine Evanoff	...	Claude
Guillaume De Tonquedec	...	Serge
Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus	...	Jean-Pierre
Alain Frérot	...	Le facteur / Postman

Also Known As:

Podwójne życie Weroniki (Poland)
Podwojne zycie Weroniki (Poland)
The Double Life of Veronique (USA)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

France | Poland | Norway

Language:

French | Polish | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:S | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Germany:12 (f)

Filming Locations:

Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Company:

Sidéral Productions

Trivia:

The text sung by Weronika in the Concert is actually the beginning of the second Chant of Dante's Paradiso: "O voi che siete in piccioletta barca, desiderosi d'ascoltar, seguiti dietro al mio legno che cantando varca, Non vi mettete in pelago, ché forse, perdendo me, rimarreste smarriti. L'acqua ch'io prendo giá mai non si corse; Minerva spira è conducemi Appollo, è nove Muse mi dimostran l'Orse." Dante, Paradiso, II, 1-9.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Weronika is at the window of the bus, she holds some papers up to Antek, who is on a motorcycle. The angle she's holding the papers at alternates from perfectly straight to slightly askew as the shot alternates repeatedly from back to front.

Quotes:

Weronika: What else do you want to know about me?
Antek: Everything
Weronika: [picks up her purse and gently dumps the contents on the bed in front of him]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Pól serio (2000)

Soundtrack:

Verso il cielo

Review for The Double Life of Véronique (no spoilers).

Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Double Life of Véronique (originally titled La Double Vie de Véronique) might be the best film in the late director's accomplished oeuvre. Perhaps most lauded for his monumental Three Colors trilogy, Kieslowski first explored themes of duality, synchronicity, and fate in this cinematic reverie. Irène Jacob, also the star of Red, handles a double role as two women cut from the same metaphysical cloth -- the Polish Veronika and the French Véronique. Her presence as both women is at once whimsically childlike and sensually melancholic; relentlessly alluring, it is easy to see why she became Kieslowski's muse. Jacob is perfectly fluid in the shift between characters, an embodiment of ideal femininity, as dreamlike as the tone of the entire film.

Actor and director are symbiotic, relying on hazy, autumnal ambiance and mood for narrative, utilizing a subtle minimalist approach to dialogue. This is fine art, unlike heavy-handed Hollywood productions. The tone is consistently ambiguous -- emotionally resonant, to be sure, but beyond a vaguely somber, wistful undercurrent, the movie allows the viewer to fill the "empty space" with his or her own thoughts and feelings. It's a true testament to Kieslowski's mastery, and few films are ever so transcendentally sublime.

The lack of this masterpiece's availability on DVD is a sad affair. There are rumors of a release in 2005, but for fans of movies like Amélie hungry for something with a little more depth, The Double Life of Véronique comes most highly recommended -- even if you have to search high and low for a copy on VHS.