La double vie de Véronique (1991)

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 | Protest March | Choir | Avant Garde | Female Nudity

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
Youssef Hamid	...	Le cheminot / Railwayman
Thierry de Carbonnières	...	Le prof / Professor
Chantal Neuwirth	...	La réceptionniste / Receptionist
Nausicaa Rampony	...	Nicole
Boguslawa Schubert	...	La femme au chapeau / Woman with hat
Jacques Potin	...	L'homme au manteau gris / Man with grey coat
Nicole Pinaud
Philippe Campos
Beata Malczewska
Dominika Szady
Barbara Szalapak
Jacek Wójcicki
Lucyna Zabawa
Wanda Kruszewska
Bernadetta Kus	...	Pauline Monier
Pauline Monier
Anna Gornostaj	...	Weronika (Polish voice) (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Katarzyna Gajdarska

Directed by
Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writing credits
Krzysztof Kieslowski		(writer) &
Krzysztof Piesiewicz		(writer)

Produced by
Ryszard Chutkowski	....	executive producer: Poland
Leonardo De La Fuente	....	producer
Bernard-P. Guiremand	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Zbigniew Preisner

Cinematography by
Slawomir Idziak

Film Editing by
Jacques Witta

Casting by
Margot Capelier
Caroline Castelain

Production Design by
Patrice Mercier

Costume Design by
Laurence Brignon
Claudia Fellous		(as Claudy Fellous)
Elzbieta Radke

Makeup Department
Iwona Maria Karpinska	....	makeup artist
Jolanta Stachecka	....	makeup artist
Agnès Tassel	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Brigitte Chaussade	....	unit manager
Wlodzimierz Dziatkiewicz	....	unit manager
Pierre-Yves Ferrandis	....	unit manager
Christine Gaymay	....	unit manager
Thibault Leflaive	....	unit manager
Gérard Monier	....	unit manager
Laurent Salotti	....	unit manager
Ryszard Straszewski	....	production manager
Daniel Szuster	....	production manager: France
Krzysztof Zanussi	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Teresa Violetta Buhl	....	assistant director
Maria Czartoryska	....	assistant director
Pascale Dallet	....	assistant director
Serge Dupuy-Malbray	....	assistant director (as Serge Dupuy Malbray)
Pascal Mounier	....	assistant director
Griegorz Okrasa	....	assistant director
Jacques Reboud	....	assistant director

Art Department
Marie José Arnautin	....	painter
Pascal Aubin	....	painter
Benoît Barouh	....	assistant decorator
Magdalena Dipont	....	set dresser
Halina Dobrowolska	....	assistant production designer
Emmanuelle Dubarry	....	painter
Sébastien Duvernet	....	painter
Marie Mercier Bourboulon	....	set dresser (as Marie Bourboulon)
Sylvie Salmon	....	set dresser
Gilles Ségurel	....	property master
Laurent Tesseyre	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Michèle Catonné	....	sound editor
Roger Di Ponio	....	sound
William Flageollet	....	sound mixer
Jack Jullian	....	foley artist
Jean-Pierre Lelong	....	foley artist
Patrick Lemaire	....	cable person
Mario Melchiorri	....	foley artist
François de Morant	....	sound
Didier Pêcheur	....	sound
Patrice Séverac	....	post-synchronization engineer
Edith Vassard	....	sound editor

Stunts
Ryszard Janikowski	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marek Arkusinski	....	lighting technician
Muriel Coulin	....	assistant camera
Roland Dondin	....	lighting technician
Jean-Claude Gage	....	lighting technician
Patrick Gasché	....	lighting technician
Dariusz Grywacz	....	lighting technician
André Haidant	....	grip
Henryk Jedynak	....	assistant camera
Monika Jeziorowska	....	still photographer
Zygmunt Lewandowski	....	grip
Rafal Okyne	....	lighting technician
Andrzej Paluszynski	....	dolly grip
Kazimierz Pawlak	....	lighting technician
Miroslaw Sas	....	grip
Albert Vasseur	....	grip

Casting Department
Catherine Maloubier	....	extras casting: France

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tomasz Kowalski	....	assistant dresser
Henryk Puchalski	....	assistant dresser
Wojciech Wolniak	....	assistant dresser

Editorial Department
Aïlo Auguste-Judith	....	assistant editor (as Aïlo Auguste)
Michele D'Attoma	....	assistant editor
Urszula Lesiak	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Elzbieta Towarnicka	....	musician: soprano
William Flageollet	....	score mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Frédéric Cabaud	....	administrator
Sandrine Canaux	....	location manager
Alejandro de la Fuente	....	production advisor
Ewa Gawlowska	....	assistant interpreter
Anna Ignatiuk	....	production assistant
Lucile Joly	....	production assistant
Lucille Joly	....	production secretary
Ruben Korenfeld	....	production advisor
Anna Kowalska	....	administrator
Jacek Kucharski	....	stage manager: Poland
Elizabeth De La Fuente	....	production advisor
Greta Lahaje	....	production advisor
Marcin Latallo	....	polish dialog adaptation
Stan Latek	....	assistant to director
Raymond Parizer	....	production advisor
Colette Pedanou-Bernasconi	....	administrator
Christine Raffa-Catonné	....	script supervisor (as Christine Raffa)
Euzebia Rubaszewska-Kocwin	....	production assistant (as Euzebia Rubaszewska)
Bruce Schwartz	....	puppet maker
Ewa Sikora	....	production assistant
Agniesca Skawinska	....	production assistant
Elzbieta Slupinska	....	production assistant
Jolanta Stec	....	production assistant
Cécile Tostivint	....	administrator
Józef Tutaj	....	production assistant
Machef Wojtulewicz	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Sidéral Productions
• Zespol Filmowy "Tor"
• Norsk Film
• Canal+

Distributors

• Sidéral Films (1991) (France) (theatrical)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Ibero Films Internacional S.A. (Spain)
• Look Filmes (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Miramax Films (USA) (subtitled)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (video)

Other Companies

• Audio 24/25  foley
• Audio 24/25  sound material
• Auditorium de Saint-Cloud  auditorium
• Cinécam  camera equipment provided by
• Cinégrip  grip equipment
• Ercidan  titles
• I.V.T.  subtitle composite
• Narodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia w Katowicach  orchestra (as Le Grand Orchestre de la Radio et Télévision Polonaise de Katowice)
• Studio Philippe Sarde  auditorium
• Transpalux  lighting
• Tri-Track Sync  post-synchronisation

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:

References Un chien andalou (1929)

Soundtrack:

Verso il cielo

Beautiful/Complex - An Interesting mixture

The above statement works not only as an honest description of the film, but also of the character (or characters) portrayed by Irène Jacob. The Double life of Véronique is not a film that allows easy description, it doesn't seem to fit in to any genre or category, it is a film that must be experienced under it's own terms, as a serious, hypnotic work of art. Director Kieslowski sets up the odd dreamlike atmosphere right from the start, using mirror reflections and odd camera distortions to show us the bizarre way that Veronique/Veronika sees the world around her. The use of sepia printing also gives the film an odd distilled look, taking us right out of any "real" reality, giving each of the frames something special. The problem this creates is that it takes away any real connection we have with the characters, we never really feel anything for them or are even that concerned for their outcomes, Kieslowski moves his actors around his "stage" in the same way the marionettes are manipulated in the film, but the film works on such a subtly hypnotic level I don't think that Kieslowski ever wanted us to feel part of this world. Kieslowski follows Veronique/Veronika through Paris and Poland, intimately probing her with close, hand-held camera, the cinema-verite effect of this making the viewer feel almost like a voyeur, following the women's every movements and encounters. The Double Life of Veronique is a film that definitely deserves to be seen and requires multiple viewings if we are to get everything out of it's complex, pre-destined narrative. A film full of beautiful images and haunting moods that you'll remember long after, if only there had been a little more focus on the characters I would certainly give it a 10. Maybe my next viewing will lift its marks. 8/10