Double Life Of Veronique

( 9 )

Overview

The Double Life of Véronique is the story of two young women who are -- in some mysterious and irresolvable way -- the same woman leading two different yet interconnected lives. Those familiar with Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's later "Three Colors" trilogy of Blue, White, and Red will recognize his fascination with accidental happenings and chance encounters, as well as Irène Jacob from Red whose performance as both Veronika and Veronique won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival award for best actress. Veronika...
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More About This Product

Overview

The Double Life of Véronique is the story of two young women who are -- in some mysterious and irresolvable way -- the same woman leading two different yet interconnected lives. Those familiar with Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's later "Three Colors" trilogy of Blue, White, and Red will recognize his fascination with accidental happenings and chance encounters, as well as Irène Jacob from Red whose performance as both Veronika and Veronique won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival award for best actress. Veronika and Véronique are born on the same day in 1966, one in Poland, the other in France. They grow up separately, unaware of each other's existence, but with the vague and rarely expressed feeling that they are "not alone." The story begins in Poland, where Veronika like Véronique is a talented vocalist and music student who wins a prestigious singing competition and is given the chance to perform with a local symphony. On the night of the concert, while singing a duet onstage, Veronika loses consciousness and dies. Véronique is emotionally wounded by the loss of her double and decides to end her singing career. The film charts the effect of Veronika's death on Véronique and on her dispassionate and unsatisfying relationships with men, especially her father. She is led to puppeteer and children's book author Alexandre Fabbri Philippe Volter, whose puppet shows and stories are dramatic variants on her own mysterious problem. While looking through photographs of Véronique's trip to Poland, Fabbri discovers a picture of Veronika walking through a student demonstration in Kracow. He shows the picture to Véronique, who intuits the significance of Veronika's perfect likeness to herself.
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Special Features

Audio commentary featuring Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski; Three short documentaries by Kieslowski: Factory (1970), Hospital (1976), and Railway Station (1980); The Musicians (1958): A short film by Kielslowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz; The U.S. ending; Kieslowski - Dialogue (1991), a documentary featuring a candid interview with Kielslowski and rare behind-the-scenes footage from the set of the Double Life of Véronique; 1966-1988: Kielslowski, Polish filmmaker, a 2005 documentary tracing the director's work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Véronique; New video interviews with cinematographer Slawomir Idziak and composer Zbigniew Preisner; A 2005 interview with actress Irene jacob; A booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Romney and selections from Kieslowski on Kieslowski
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide
Polish master Krzysztof Kieslwoski's most ravishing film is an ethereal rhapsody grounded in the resolutely sensual presence of its lead, Irene Jacob. With its oblique story line, cryptic rhyming patterns, and focus on mood and tone, this elusive movie is more poem than narrative. Slawomir Idziak's shimmering cinematography gives the movie a spectral sheen, perfectly conveying the rich and shifting mysteries of coincidence, fate, and human connection Kieslowski explores. The movie bears more than a passing resemblance to Kieslowski's final film, Red, yet another movie that evinces the filmmaker's obsession with fraternity, not to mention Irene Jacob's face. Mostly captivating, Double Life's metaphysical meditation occasionally verges on silly self-absorption; at its worst, the movie's solemn search for profundities could almost be a parody of European artiness. Even at its most dubious though, the movie is unfailingly alluring; its golden, lambent beauty remains rapturous throughout. Lyrical and elliptical, the movie can also be read simply as an ode to its lead: Jacob's Veronique is clearly an idealized projection of feminine perfection, so perfect that Kieslowski had to make two of her. Muse and artist were rewarded equally upon the film's release, as the movie won Jacob a Best Actress award at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival and garnered Kieslowski the best reviews of his career at the time.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 8/9/2011
  • UPC: 715515087315
  • Original Release: 1991

    • Rating:

  • Source: Criterion
  • Region Code: 1
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Language: Français
  • Time: 1:37:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 10,785

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Irène Jacob Weronika/Veronique
Wladyslaw Kowalski Veronika's Father
Aleksander Bardini Orchestra Conductor
Guillaume de Tonquedec Serge
Sandrine Dumas Catherine
Claude Duneton Veronique's Father
Philippe Volter Alexandre Fabbri
Halina Gryglaszewska Aunt
Jerzy Gudejko Antek
Kalina Jedrusik Gaudy Woman
Louis Ducreux Professor
Philippe Campos Nicole Pinaud
Thierry de Carbonniere Professor
Lorraine Evanoff Claude
Alain Frerot Mailman
Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus Jean-Pierre
Youssef Hamid Railway Man
Wanda Kruszewska Lucyna Zabawa
Bernadetta Kus Pauline Monier
Chantal Neuwirth Receptionist
Jacques Potin Man with Grey Coat
Nausicaa Rampony Nicole
Boguslawa Schubert Woman with Hat
Jan Sterninski Lawyer
Dominika Szady Beata Malczewska
Jacek Wojcicki Barbara Szalapa
Technical Credits
Krzysztof Kieslowski Director, Screenwriter
Leonardo de la Fuente Producer
Bernard P. Guiremand Executive Producer, Producer
Slawomir Idziak Cinematographer
Patrice Mercier Production Designer
Krzysztof Piesiewicz Screenwriter
Zbigniew Preisner Score Composer
Jacques Witta Editor
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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The Double Life of Veronique
1. Looking [3:49]
2. Song and Passion [5:46]
3. Train to Kraków [4:19]
4. Protest in the Square [2:26]
5. Audition [4:56]
6. Antek [4:16]
7. The Concert [4:15]
8. "I'm Quitting" [6:26]
9. Marionettes and Violins [5:11]
10. "Hang Up First" [5:00]
11. Helping Out a Friend [6:22]
12. The Puppeteer's Story [5:46]
13. Dad's Fragrances [3:32]
14. Mysterious Cassette [5:08]
15. Following the Clues [7:02]
16. Véronique Flees [4:11]
17. Hotel Refuge [:11]
18. The Contents of Her Life [3:35]
19. Véronique's Double [7:00]
20. The Return [4:12]
Disc #2 -- The Double Life of Veronique
1. Universal Themes [6:37]
2. Editing, Writing, and Casting [7:40]
3. Childhood/Documentaries [10:00]
4. Communication/Close-Knit Group [10:47]
5. Censorship/Collaboration [9:23]
6. Responsibility [8:10]
1. Communist Poland [5:24]
2. Documentary Beginnings [5:20]
3. Moral Concern [6:25]
4. Hope and Disillusion [7:49]
5. Decalogue and Epilogue [5:38]
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Menu

Disc #1 -- The Double Life of Veronique
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
      Color Bars
   Commentary
      Off
      On
      Index
         A Meditation on Filmmaking
         Idziak/Visual Rhyming
         Questioning/Music
         Not Political
         Bardini/Dark Humor
         Zbigniew Preisner
         Van Den Budenmayer
         Intuition and Yearning
         The Puppeteer/Transformation
         A Weak Heart/Clues
         Down-to-Earth/Light
         Metaphysical/Documentaries
         Irène Jacob
         Technology
         Communism and After
         Heightened Perception/Versions
         Unease In Romance
         Enabled to See
         Collaboration/Doubles
         U.S. Ending/Uncertainty
         Color Bars
   U.S. Ending
      Play
   Short Films
      Play All
      Index
         The Musicians (1958)
         Factory (1970)
         Hospital (1976)
         Railway Station (1980)
   Subtitles
      Subtitles: On
      Subtitles: Off
Disc #2 -- The Double Life of Veronique
   Kieslowski - Dialogue
      Play
      Index
   1966-1988: Kieslowski, Polish Filmmaker
      Play
      Index
   Slawomir Idziak
      Play
      About
   Zbigniew Preisner
      Play
      About
   Irène Jacob
      Play
      About
   Subtitles
      Subtitles: On
      Subtitles: Off
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Customer Reviews

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