A Dupla Vida de Véronique

The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

Director Krzysztof Kieslowski is one of the undisputed poets of Cold War and post-Cold War cinema. The movies in his Polish/French trilogy, Blue, White, and Red, are finely tuned, sensitive, imaginative dramas that use mystery, music, psychology and visual fluidity to immerse you in another world that is beguiling and fascinating.

That's exactly what goes on here. It's a stunning movie-making "achievement" in how it pulls off this unique blend of amorphous elements, leading you into the ambiguity of the director's invented world. And into the world (or worlds) of the lead characters, both played by Irene Jacob, a classic kind of restrained French (French-Swiss) actress with a limited range, but within that range she has penetrating beauty and a moving, melancholic aura for the camera, which lingers on her face through much of the movie. Her roles as the two women who are classic doppelgangers--they look alike, have similar talents (singing), and both have heart problems. And they overlap in reality for just a few seconds, with only one seeing the other until later, when the other finds she took a picture of the first.

This is an unashamedly lofty film. It has high art written all over it, but not in the experimental or cutting edge way of independent filmmakers of this time. Rather, it pushes European mainstream film to its most refined limits, not giving up a narrative logic, not giving up musical scoring and photographic pyrotechnics, and not giving up a cast of beautiful people doing beautiful things. In fact, the star, first shown as a child, is looking at the stars in pure wonder, and the beauty of the world is sustaining and truly marvelous for her--and this I think is the life view of the director. That the world is amazing, filled with odd and beautiful coincidences, and is mostly there to be lived and enjoyed regardless.

To some extent, he is both characters, both Veroniques. The allegories of 1980s Europe, splintering under Communism's last few years, have been written about a lot (the Polish Weronika gives herself to her music and dies for it, trapped somehow, the French Veronique is free to reject her talent, travel, and yet, ultimately, end up a puppet to her personal weakness). But the fact is, Kieslowski was both the successful Polish director who died young (though he didn't expect that I'm sure) for his art, and the successful expatriate living a life filled with art and pleasure. He embodied the modern Europe, filled with the heady optimism that led to the love of a new Europe without borders, infinite in its possibilities.

It's worth noting that Communism has just fallen when this movie was made. There is a brief scene (the bus scene with the soldiers) that inserts this with, as usual, elegance. (Note here that he again makes the individual's inner needs more important than the greater politics.) The French Veronique is free to be hedonistic, the Polish version cannot quite do that, though you feel her struggle with what to do with her life as a singer.

All of this is obviously impressive. For its intentions and its inner coherence, the movie is terrific. But it's also starting to feel self-important, a little overblown in both its allegories and even in the basic doppelganger hook that holds it together. It's also a slow movie. If you don't completely drown, happily, in the aesthetics of the film (which would be easy to do), you might find there are little moments made too important, too detailed, too unaware that the audience is getting ahead of the movie and is restless. For me this was in some of the musical segments, in the marionette scenes, and even in the very last moments, which should have blown me out of the water.

Final word. I think it would help to see this film before the Three Colors trilogy, because they are better movies, especially "Blue" and "Red." I have seen "Red" several times, and it also stars Jacob, and I love it completely still. This predecessor is thinner in comparison, but only in comparison to this remarkable director's startling successes immediately after.

Much of this is an adoration of French actress Iréne Jacob by Director Krzysztof Kieslowski; in a sense it is a homage to her, one of the most beautiful actresses of our time and one of the most talented. If you've never seen her, this is an excellent place to begin. She has an earnest, open quality about her that is innocent and sophisticated at the same time so that everything a man might want in a young woman is realized in her. Part of her power comes from Kieslowski himself who has taught her how she should act to captivate. He has made her like a little girl fully grown, yet uncorrupted, natural, generous, kind, without pretension, unaffected. She is a dream, and she plays the dream so well.

The movie itself is very pretty, but somewhat unaffecting with only the slightest touch of blue (when the puppeteer appears by the curtain, the curtain is blue, and we know he is the one, since she is always red). The music by Zbignew Preisner is beautiful and lifts our spirits, highlighted by the soprano voice of Elzbieta Towarnicka. But the main point is Iréne Jacob, whom the camera seldom leaves. We see her from every angle, in various stages of dress and undress, and she is beautiful from head to toe. And we see her as she is filled with the joy of herself and her talent, with the wonder of discovery and the wonder of life, with desire, and with love.

Obviously this is not a movie for the action/adventure crowd. Everything is subtle and refined with only a gross touch or two (and no gore, thank you) to remind us of the world out there. Véronique accepts the little crudities of life with a generous spirit, the flasher, the two a.m. call, her prospective lover blowing his nose in front of her... She loves her father and old people. She is a teacher of children. She climaxes easily and fully. To some no doubt she is a little too good to be true. And she is, and that is Kieslowski's point: she is a dream. And such a beautiful dream.

An actress playing the character twice in a slightly different way has occurred in at least two other films in the nineties: there was Patricia Arquette in David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997) and Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors (1998). It's an appealing venture for an actress of course and when the actress is as talented as these three are, for the audience as well.

Note that as Weronika/Véronique is in two worlds, Poland and France, so too has always been Kieslowski himself in his real life. It is interesting how he fuses himself with his star. This film is his way of making love to her.

Kieslowski died in 1996 not long after finishing his celebrated trilogy, Trois Couleurs: Bleu (1993); Rouge (1994) and Bialy (White) (1994). We could use another like him.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

I still listen to the haunting music that weaves it's way through this film and it never fails to move me. The whole film is almost like a modern day ghost story, following its own logic through the simplest but most effective storytelling techniques, beautifully crafted by a master director. Irene Jacob has never been better than here, and I would recommend it highly.

"The Double Life of Veronique" is also focusing on the connection made between two people like Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy or his heaven,hell and Purgatory.But it is not about two people with a strong bond or two twins.The two girls are not merely soul mates,they're two versions of the same person.Like an old belief that after we die, our body will appear in different circumstances and live a new life.(in here they live two different life simultaneously).

The power of music in Kieslowski's film is inevitable.The scenes are not significant by themselves,the impact of the ideas and images with the powerful music make the film special.Kieslowski well used colors and camera filters to create an ethereal atmosphere which was very helpful in creating the films sense .I think the music and Irène Jacob performance were the most outstanding pieces of the film.

The central question of the film is "Is it just a matter of chance that one thinks and acts as one does?..Is there something as free will?"...It is a question of our lives too.

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