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
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:

Kieslowski originally wanted Andie MacDowell to play Veronique.

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

Divine

Probably the best film of the decade. These are some keywords I think best suit this film: Religious, Fatherhood, Duplicity, Fullness, Sensuality, Offbeat

Due to the blasphemous american rants below (I can´t imagine a single movie from the USA in the 90s better than this one, sorry for that), I decided to write about this peculiar film. I think the film is more accessible for european viewers, the same way Dawn by law might be for american viewers (I can´t bear that pretentious american underground movies at all, with cool men swearing all the time, trying to be funny... I can´t identify with most of nineties american characters). There are many american art house films buffs as well, so I can´t say this is a general fact, it´s just my view anyway.

Regarding the development of the characters, Tsylia probably couldn´t understand at the beginning of the film how both women are described so poeticly. Weronicka is watching at the stars, while Veronique is watching the leaves fall. I see this is not evident but it says a lot about the two. Weronicka is more spiritual, magical, and Veronique is more practical, more "down to earth". If you cannot see the metaphores throughout the film you will not grasp anything about the development of the characters, that´s for sure. Furthermore, Irene Jacob performance is sublime, you can see on her face so many "difficult to express" sensations, she´s not just a beautiful face as it has been stated below (I can name hundreds of pretty american girls on stupid films, I was shocked to read Irene Jacob is just pretty, couldn´t these people see she´s a valuable actress as well). In any case she´s pretty in the sense Catherine Deneuve is, I mean she´s not the common beatiful woman, you can see by his gestures that she feels alone in the world, that she feels the fullness of life, ... She sometimes seems like an angel in this film (Weronicka).

I´m an atheist, but I admit the religious or spiritual feeling of the film engages anyone. The film evokes the idea that gifted people such this soprano singer have a spare part somewhere in the world, the same way the puppetier has a spare marionette for the one he uses most.

God is not mentioned but the scenes are revealing: Veronique caresses the bark of a thick tree in the very last scene, which could signify her real father as well, or just the idea of fatherhood.

The music is ten out of ten, if you feel nothing while listening to Preisner´s masterpiece, you´d better not say you´re sensitive anymore. This is his best for me alongside with the music for Short story of a killing and Damage soundtrack which sounds cruel and mysterious to me.

I can´t think of any other film more precious and lyrical than this one.