The Double Life of Veronique (The Criterion Collection)
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Actor: Aleksander Bardini, Halina Gryglaszewska, Irène Jacob, Kalina Jedrusik, Wladyslaw KowalskiBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Polish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of The Double Life of Veronique (The Criterion Collection)
DVD Review: One of the Most Beautiful, Deep, Enlightening, Haunting Movies Ever Made
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read through most of the reviews on this page. The majority of the Amazon reviewers pretty much gave a detailed and thorough summary and review of "The Double Life of Veronique", so I don't need to be redundant or rehash what these reviewers have written. The main reason why I'm writing is because I feel that Krzysztof Kieslowski was one of the most important, talented, deep, creative, artistic, soul-searching director geniuses of all time. If I had to travel back in time, I would want to meet and have conversations with Krzysztof Kieslowski, President Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, etc. Kieslowski's films have made a major impact on my life. His films have always brought great comfort to me because he felt things so deeply and saw symbolism in a lot of things like I do. In my humble opinion, the best films in the world are the kinds that make you feel deeply emotional from beginning to end and that make you think days, weeks, months, years after the movie ends. "The Double Life of Veronique" was released in the U.S. in late 1991 when I was a freshman at an undergraduate university. I have seen artistic and thought-provoking films such as the films I saw when I took a Soviet Cinema class in college and viewed movies such as Mikhail Kalatozov's "The Cranes are Flying", Andrei Tarkovsky's "Solaris", "Stalker", and "Andrei Rublev", Sergei Eisentein's "Battleship Potemkin", and Sergei Parajanov's "The Color of Pomegranates". From that Soviet Cinema class, my favorite was Sergei Parajanov's "The Color of Pomegranates". Parajanov's film was an extraordinarily different and artistic cinematic experience. You have to feel, think, and see the symbolism in Parajanov's films. And I once had a boyfriend who said he didn't get it and said he was bored with "The Color of Pomegranates", even though I was the opposite, and thought it was a surreal experience to watch the film. You can't have a short attention span when you watch films like this. I like films that have symbolism and that make you pay attention to details from beginning to end. And you need to pay attention from beginning to end with Krzysztof Kieslowski's films. Kieslowski is my favorite director of all time because he uses every element to make you feel haunting, deep, intense emotions. I've never seen a director incorporate light, symbolism, music, objects like he does. I really do believe that this man is the most clever director. Everything means something when you watch his films. My sister and I love watching his work. "The Double Life of Veronique" impacted me so much that I bought the star rubber ball that Irene Jacob uses in the film when I was in college. Who knew that you can view the world in a different way with a star rubber ball? Who knew that Veronique would see the same buildings that Weronika saw through her star rubber ball? I can't repeat how genius Kieslowski was! It's like he thought about every scene and every prop and object he used, yet it looks so effortless at the same time. I've never seen a director put so much thought into things yet made it look so easy and like it was meant to be. After watching "The Double of Veronique" or any of Kieslowski's films, you'll never look at children's books, shoelaces, cigar boxes, cassette tapes, puppets, ring, old people walking on the street carrying bags or recycling stuff, flashes of light, or music in the same way. For anyone who has the Zodiac sign of the Gemini like me, "The Double Life of Veronique" holds special meaning. I relate to both the Polish Weronika and the French Veronique. There's a weak, fragile side to me and a stronger side to me. Right now, I'm going through some health problems, so I'm experiencing the Polish Weronika side now. Weird as it sounds, I've always felt that there was somebody else, another part of me, that was stronger and had more luck health-wise on the other side of this Earth. Even though it's tragic what happened to Weronika, her life being cut short with her heart problems, the other "twin", Veronique goes to check her heart problems in the Cardiology Department. While Weronika works hard and realizes she is suffering from heart problems she continues to sing until she dies unexpectedly while Veronique seems to sense something and uses caution and says she no longer wants to sing. The scene where Veronique stretches the shoelace on top of her ECG/EKG (heart rate) page was genius. That one scene was "symbolic" of the tie she had with Weronika - Weronika's heart failed, while Veronique's didn't. Some people have luck on their side, and some people don't. And this film perfectly illustrates that. This film provides much comfort to me because it's like Kieslowski is telling us that we all are going to die whether young or old. We see the young Weronika die, and we see the old person walking on the street (In my opinion, Kieslowski's awareness of death approaching). In summary, we need to come to terms with the luck of the draw and the fate that has been handed to us. And that even though you have died (the Polish Weronika), a part of you (the French Veronique) lives on and the world goes on. It's because of Kieslowski that I have come to terms with some of the bad luck that happened to me at a young age which affected my health. Kieslowski's films have taught me to learn to have more peace in my life and to not fear the bad things in life. Kieslowski's films have truly taught me to not fear death and mortality. Yes, that's how amazing and important Krzysztof Kieslowski was. Irene Jacob does an excellent job in this film playing the dual roles. And Zbigniew Preisner does an amazing job with the music as usual. I love how Kieslowski has worked with Irene Jacob and Zbigniew Preisner in more than film. It shows how loyal and trusting he was. I truly believe this world would be a much better place if more people watched Kieslowski's "Three Colors Trilogy", "The Decalogue" series, and "The Double Life of Veronique". I can't repeat enough how genius and awesome Kiewslowski was! If my memory is correct, when I saw the movie "Blue", Juliette Binoche's character moves out of the house, and carries a box that is holding the blue glass ceiling fixture from her daughter's room, and the box says "Blanco", meaning the color "White", which was the next film in the trilogy. In the movie "Red", the old, retired judge lives alone and made the wrong romantic choice when he was younger. The young judge in the movie is going on the same path as the old judge by falling for the wrong woman and fate intervenes and he is with the right woman, Irene Jacob. The old, retired judge then finds some peace seeing the young judge with the right woman. In a way, you can find parallels in "Red" and "The Double Life of Veronique". Life didn't turn out perfect for Weronika or the old, retired judge, but there is peace found when better luck and better choices are made from Veronique and the young judge's side. In a way, you feel complete when you watch Kieslowski's films. He shows you what it's like on both sides of the spectrum. He shows you what it looks like to take one path and what it looks like to take the other path. Anyways, I strongly and highly recommend "The Double Life of Veronique" and any film that Krzysztof Kieslowski has ever made. I really mean it when I say that you're really missing out if you haven't watched or bought one Krzysztof Kieslowski film. I have truly become a better human being knowing that Kieslowski had true empathy and understanding about humanity and the true, deep, important meaning of life. For instance in "Red", the young, Irene Jacob, works in the end harmoniously with the old, Jean-Louis Trintignant. You see Irene Jacob help an old person recycle in "Red". In a way, Kieslowski was sending the message that both the old and the young can help and learn from each other. And I feel that many people will truly become enlightened human beings after watching any of Kieslowski's films.
Description of The Double Life of Veronique (The Criterion Collection)
Krzysztof Kieslowski?s international breakthrough remains one of his most beloved films, a ravishing, mysterious rumination on identity, love, and human intuition. Irène Jacob is incandescent as both Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a French music teacher. Though unknown to each other, the two women share an enigmatic, purely emotional bond, which Kieslowski details in gorgeous reflections, colors, and movements. Aided by Slawomir Idziak?s shimmering cinematography and Zbigniew Preisner?s haunting, operatic score, Kieslowski creates one of cinema?s most purely metaphysical works: The Double Life of Véronique is an unforgettable symphony of feeling.Filled with reflective surfaces and vivid colors, The Double Life of Véronique marks one of Krzysztof Kieslowski's most haunting films. Just as the director divided his time between his adopted France and his native Poland, the story involves two unrelated women who look exactly alike (both played by Red's Irène Jacob, who won the best actress award at Cannes).
The Polish Weronika, a classical singer with a heart condition, collapses during a performance, after which Kieslowski turns his gaze to the French Véronique, a music teacher who shares the same ailment (much like Kieslowski, who died after cardiac surgery in 1996). Véronique's life follows a similar track, while her affection for Alexandre (Philippe Volter), a puppeteer, suggests the working relationship between the actress and the filmmaker. It's Alexandre, after all, who draws Véronique's attention to the existence of her double (through a photograph she took on a trip to Krakow). In that sense, Kieslowski plays with art as much as identity. Instead of explaining the connection between the characters, he lets the mystery serve as its own reward.
In her commentary, Annette Insdorf (Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski) outlines the reasons she finds the film so metaphysically rich, from the insights into Kieslowski's background to Sawomir Idziak's inventive cinematography. Other extras include interviews with Jacob, Idziak, and composer Zbigniew Preisner; a featurette; a profile of the director; the alternate ending (which feels extraneous); three shorts (the best is 1980's "Railway Station," in which Kieslowski presents a throng of commuters from the perspective of a security camera operator); and an additional short ("The Musicians") about a band of factory workers by his instructor Kazimierz Karabasz. Kieslowski admired this heartfelt portrait for the way it expressed "the human need to create." --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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