Original Title
La double vie de Véronique
Genre
Drama
Director
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Countries
France, Polish, Norway
Cast
Irène Jacob, Halina Gryglaszewska, Aleksander Bardini, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Jerzy Gudejko, Philippe Volter, Janusz Sterninski, Sandrine Dumas
Storyline
As Weronika dies (Irène Jacob) in Poland, the life of Véronique, who looks just like her but lives in France, seems to take a turn.
Opinion
After loving Kieślowski's Three Colors trilogy and finding out he was the director of Dekalog (I saw Dekalog: One in high school and I loved it but I didn't know the title and that was driving me insane), I knew I had to watch The Double Life of Venorinque. And just like I thought, it was a superb film.
The story to this is simply amazing. It is about two identical women, living in two different countries. They never met and yet they share this incredible and mysterious mental and emotional connection that influences one more than the other. While it isn't very strong with Weronika, the connection fully influences Veronique's life which is truly fascinating.
Through that story, Kieślowski wonderfully and deeply explores the theme of identity and he raises some interesting and deep questions about the existence and definition of self. He explores the human experience and the idea of one's soul trapped in another body.
The Double Life of Veronique doesn't only provide food for thoughts. The film is also visually breathtaking. Other than the stunning cinematography by Slawomir Idziak, the film can truly benefit from a magical use of two colours, red and green. They tie in with the Christman theme at the beginning of the film, but, most important, they represent Weronika and Veronique. They are complimentary, just like the lives of those two women. Also, the music by Zbigniew Preisner is evocative and inspiring, and fit the film to perfection.
And then there is Irène Jacob. Her performance is superb. She is able to portray very well both Weronika and Veronique, and all of their differences. While the first is cheerful and spiritual, the second is more melancholic and practical.
The story to this is simply amazing. It is about two identical women, living in two different countries. They never met and yet they share this incredible and mysterious mental and emotional connection that influences one more than the other. While it isn't very strong with Weronika, the connection fully influences Veronique's life which is truly fascinating.
Through that story, Kieślowski wonderfully and deeply explores the theme of identity and he raises some interesting and deep questions about the existence and definition of self. He explores the human experience and the idea of one's soul trapped in another body.The Double Life of Veronique doesn't only provide food for thoughts. The film is also visually breathtaking. Other than the stunning cinematography by Slawomir Idziak, the film can truly benefit from a magical use of two colours, red and green. They tie in with the Christman theme at the beginning of the film, but, most important, they represent Weronika and Veronique. They are complimentary, just like the lives of those two women. Also, the music by Zbigniew Preisner is evocative and inspiring, and fit the film to perfection.
And then there is Irène Jacob. Her performance is superb. She is able to portray very well both Weronika and Veronique, and all of their differences. While the first is cheerful and spiritual, the second is more melancholic and practical.
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