Véronique is overwhelmed by a deep sadness. Perhaps most lauded for his monumental Three Colors trilogy, Kieslowski first explored themes of duality, synchronicity, and fate in this cinematic reverie. [2] The Double Life of Véronique was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[3]. In Clermont-Ferrand that day, a young French woman named Véronique (Irène Jacob), after sex with her former boyfriend, is overwhelmed with sadness, as if she were grieving. Because of Lin Qiao’s persistence to be with Yan Song, Papa … Both look identical, were born on the same day 25 years earlier, have beautiful singing voices, and heart conditions. Parents Guide. For cinematography analysis I picked movie called "The Double Life of Véronique" (1991). THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VÉRONIQUE is an unforgettable symphony of feeling. As the choir rehearses, Weronika, who is watching offstage, accompanies them in her soprano voice. The puppet acts in The Double Life of Véronique were performed by American puppeteer and sculptor Bruce Schwartz. Back in Clermont Ferrand, she receives a letter containing a shoelace, which she compares to her EKG graph, and a stranger shines light on her using a mirror. Before that takes place, she is in a square and sees -- herself -- boarding a bus. One of his other books is about a shoelace. One protester runs into her, causing her to drop her music folder. While alive, Weronicka slowly becomes aware of her potential through the same type of shared resonance Veronique feels so strongly later in the film. It also includes a booklet featuring essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie, and a selection from Kieślowski on Kieślowski.[19]. Kieślowski had earlier used the idea of exploring different paths in life for the same person, in his Polish film Przypadek (Blind Chance), and the central choice faced by Weronika/Véronique is based on a brief subplot in the ninth episode of Dekalog. In his review in The Washington Post, Hal Hinson called the film "a mesmerizing poetic work composed in an eerie minor key." Jacob, who was 24 when the film was made, has a flawless complexion that the camera lingers near to. Véronique learns that the puppeteer is a children's book author named Alexandre Fabbri (Philippe Volter), whose marionette story was based on his book Libellule & Papillon. The Double Life of Véronique. DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE, THE (Double vie de Véronique, La) ... “Double Life” reflects an intelligent outlook on life, but though superbly directed it’s not without some fuzzy moments of doubt and a leaning for too much arty pretensions. [18], A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection. | She goes to her music teacher announcing her determination to stop singing; her teacher is very disappointed. He uses a rich palette, including insistent reds and greens that don't "stand" for anything but have the effect of underlining the other colors. Angered at being manipulated, Véronique leaves and takes a taxi to a nearby hotel, After checking in, she sees Alexandre, who apparently ran after the taxi. Instrumental Solo in A Minor. Share this: Twitter; — Samovarkov. The two women do not know each other, and yet they share a mysterious and emotional bond that transcends language and geography. Purchase The Double Life of Véronique from Amazon U.K. Purchase The Double Life of Véronique from Amazon U.S . Irène Jacob is incandescent as both Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a … After Weronika holds the last note alone, she meets her boyfriend, Antek (Jerzy Gudejko), and they go to his apartment to have sex. The Double Life of Veronique. It has mostly been the case that this blog does not trade in the review and analysis of classic films, for any number of good and bad reasons. The Double Life of Véronique is one of those films that presents a bit of a challenge for Blu-ray due to its use of heavy colour tinting, which is notorious for taking the edge off of picture sharpness and narrowing the contrast range. Each of us is matched somewhere in the world, by our exact double – someone who shares our thoughts and dreams Véronique is a beautiful young French woman who aspires to be a renowned singer; Weronika lives in Poland, has a similar career goal and looks identical to Véronique, though the two are not related. The film was shot at locations including Clermont-Ferrand, Kraków and Paris.[6]. The movie is about two young women, one named Veronique, one named Veronika, both played by Irene Jacob. The Double Life of Véronique retains the kind of mystery that subsists when the search for meaning and shape is undertaken with the seriousness and pleasure of game playing. The Double Life of Veronique is a film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski with Irène Jacob, Halina Gryglaszewska, Kalina Jedrusik, Aleksander Bardini, Philippe Volter .... Year: 1991. Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film explores the themes of identity, love, and human intuition through the characters of Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a French music teacher. In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert wrote, "The movie has a hypnotic effect. Production Design: Patrice Mercier. The film suggests mysterious connections of personality and emotion, but it was never meant to yield any neat, summary idea about the two women's lives."[10]. That night while driving home, she sees the puppeteer at a traffic light motioning to her not to light the wrong end of her cigarette. Afterwards, the musical director asks her to audition. He thought the film was "divinely photographed" by Slawomir Idziak, and praised Irène Jacob's performance as "simply sublime and thoroughly merited the Best Actress prize at Cannes." Double Life Of Veronique Synopsis Favorite Movie Button Overview; Movie Times + Tickets; Movie Reviews; More. There are also sounds of a car accident and explosion. After retrieving the sheet music, Weronika notices a French tourist taking photos of the protestors—a young woman who looks exactly like her. It becomes clear that Weronika's fate has somehow compelled Véronique to stop singing and avoid the same death. The Double Life of Veronique (1991) Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski Actors: Irène Jacob, Philippe Volter, Sandrine Dumas. The next day, while on a trolley studying the score, Weronika notices her boyfriend Antek following on his motorbike. Krzysztof Kieślowski's international breakthrough remains one of his most beloved films, a ravishing, mysterious rumination on identity, love, and human intuition. In THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE, there are really two Veroniques: one, Veronika, lives in Poland; the other, Veronique, lives in Paris. Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Double Life of Véronique (originally titled La Double Vie de Véronique) might be the best film in the late director's accomplished oeuvre. Kieślowski added four brief shots to the end of the film showing Véronique's father emerging from the house and Véronique running across the yard to embrace him. It could easily be claimed that the finest Kieslowski’s accomplishment is “Three Colors: Blue”, which is breathtaking and won him the Best Film award at Venice Film Festival, or “Three Colors: Red”, which received Oscar nominations in three categories, but here, the reasons will be presented why “The Double Life of Veronique” is not only his best film, but a perfect film. Parkinson saw the film as "compelling, challenging and irresistibly beautiful" and a "metaphysical masterpiece. Some time later at his apartment, Véronique sees Alexandre working on a new marionette with her image. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film, List of submissions to the 64th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, List of Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "Full cast and crew for The Double Life of Veronique", "Filming locations for The Double Life of Veronique", "The Double Life Of Veronique (La Double Vie De Véronique) (1991)", "La Double Vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Veronique) (1991)", "Awards for The Double Life of Veronique", Warsaw International Film Festival-audience award winning films, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Double_Life_of_Veronique&oldid=1017856791, Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from September 2020, All Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Boguslawa Schubert as The woman in the hat, Jacques Potin as The Man in the gray coat, 1991 Cannes Film Festival nomination for the, This page was last edited on 15 April 2021, at 00:13. When Véronique visits her father, he gives her a package addressed to her containing a cassette tape. Unlike most puppeteers who usually hide their hands in gloves or use strings or sticks, Schwartz shows his hands while performing. A Criterion Collection region 1 DVD was released in November 2006 in the United States and Canada, which includes an alternative ending which Kieślowski changed in the edit at the request of Harvey Weinstein of Miramax for the American release. It looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Cast + Crew; Awards Each feels as though she has a “double” somewhere in the world. As The Double Life of Veronique turns more incandescent and disjointed, it becomes clear Kieślowski isn’t interesting in the specific machinations of narrative or the idea of forward momentum, but of hypnotic stasis in a glowing temporal space. Summary: Krzysztof Kieślowski’s international breakthrough remains one of his most beloved films, a ravishing, mysterious rumination on identity, love, and human intuition. Print and download Marionettes sheet music from The Double Life of Veronika arranged for Piano. Summary: Two identical women, both singers, living separate but parallel lives in Paris and Warsaw, find their worlds drawing closer together. The other color, blending with both, is golden yellow, and then there are the skin tones. In scene above the main character (Weronika) sees a woman (Véronique) who looks exactly like her. Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski. The Double Life of Veronique ★★ La Double Vie de Veronique 1991 (R)They say everyone has a twin, but this is ridiculous. Its E minor soprano solo is prefigured in Weronika's final performance.[7]. REVIEWED ON 11/7/2005 GRADE: B+. Irène Jacob is incandescent as both Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a French music teacher. She's a rare combination—a sexy yet soulful actress. Later, while getting dressed for the concert, Weronika presses her face against a window and sees an old woman with shopping bags slowly making her way along the street. They never quite meet, although their paths almost cross one day. Year: 1991. That night during the concert, while singing a solo part, Weronika collapses onstage for the effort and dies of heart failure. Music "by" the Dutch composer plays a role in two other Kieślowski films: Dekalog (1988), and Three Colours: Blue (1993) in which a theme from his musique funebres is quoted in the Song for the Unification of Europe. The Double Life of Véronique. She says that she has always known what to do in life, as if someone who had had the same experience guided her. Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog and The Three Colours Trilogy are also on the list. The cinematography is highly stylized, using color and camera filters to create an ethereal atmosphere; the cinematographer, Sławomir Idziak, had previously experimented with these techniques in one episode of Dekalog, and Kieślowski would later use colour for a wider range of effects in his Three Colours trilogy. Costume Design: Elzbieta Radke. When she's alone, she listens to the mysterious recording of a typewriter, footsteps, a door opening, a train station, and a fragment of music by Van den Budenmayer. One lives in France, the other in Poland. Irène Jacob's voice was overdubbed by Anna Gornostaj for the Polish dialogue. [16], The film was the 50th highest-grossing film of the year with a total of 592,241 admissions in France. Noting that the effect on the viewer is subtle but very real, Hinson concluded, "The film takes us completely into its world, and in doing so, it leaves us with the impression that our own world, once we return to it, is far richer and portentous than we had imagined." They were born on the same day. There she sees Alexandre sitting by himself, as if waiting for her. Synopsis Veronique lives in Paris. The Double Life of Veronique almost feels as if Krzysztof Kieślowski directed a Twilight Zone episode, with more artistic flavorings that are along his style. [1] It won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, and the Best Actress Award for Jacob. | "[13], At the All Movie web site, the film received a 4-star rating (out of 5) plus "High Artistic Quality" citation. In her review in Not Coming to a Theater Near You, Jenny Jediny wrote, "In many ways, The Double Life of Veronique is a small miracle of cinema; ... Kieslowski’s strong, if largely post-mortem reputation among the art house audience has elevated a film that makes little to no sense on paper, while its emotional tone strikes a singular—perhaps perfect—key."[8]. Be the first to contribute! Weronika travels to Kraków by train looking out at the passing landscape through a small clear rubber ball. The Double Life of Veronique: Review and Analysis Two girls are born on the same day in 1968, one in Poland, the other in France. [12], In his review for Empire Online, David Parkinson called it "a film of great fragility and beauty, with the delicacy of the puppet theatre." One is called Weronika and the other Veronique. Synopsis: Veronika lives in Poland. The Double Life is the enigmatic story of doppelgängers: Weronika and Véronique are two young women in Poland and France, both singers, the same … While looking at a proof sheet of photos taken on Véronique's recent trip to Poland, Alexandre notices what he thinks is a photo of Véronique, but she assures him it is not her, that she in fact took the photo—of a young Polish woman carrying a music folder. Two parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide. When they talk, she apologizes for not returning his calls, and Antek tells her he loves her. Original title: La Double Vie de Véronique. Her face is a template waiting for experience to be added. At the audition, Weronika's singing impresses the musical director and conductor, and she is later told that she won the audition. The film has a strong metaphysical element, though the supernatural aspect of the story is never explained. At her aunt's house, Weronika talks about her boyfriend, then meets a friend at a concert rehearsal. They are unaware of each other's existence, yet they each sense a spectral companion. What's remarkable about her performance is how quiet it is; as an actress, she seems to work almost off the decibel scale. Two women—Polish Veronika and French Veronique—are born on the same day in different countries, share a singing talent, a cardiac ailment, and, although the two never meet, a strange awareness of each other. The postage stamp on the envelope leads Véronique to a Gare Saint-Lazare train station cafe where she believes the cassette recording was made. The release includes audio commentary by Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski; three short documentary films by Kieślowski: Factory (1970), Hospital (1976), and Railway Station (1980); The Musicians (1958), a short film by Kieślowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz; Kieślowski’s Dialogue (1991), a documentary featuring a candid interview with Kieślowski and rare behind-the-scenes footage from the set of The Double Life of Véronique; 1966-1988: Kieślowski, Polish Filmmaker, a 2005 documentary tracing the filmmaker's work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Veronique; a 2005 interview with actress Irène Jacob; and new video interviews with cinematographer Slawomir Idziak and composer Zbigniew Preisner. On the way, she passes through Main Market Square, where a protest rally is in progress. The Double Life of Véronique was Kieślowski's first film to be produced partly outside his native Poland. 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