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56 out of 67 people found the following review useful: The most beautiful movie I've ever watched, 18 March 2004 Author: chanlone from Hong Kong
I still remember over 10 years ago watching this movie all alone in a theatre with no one else (Monday afternoon or some other week day time). Irene Jacob, the streets of France and Poland, the editing, the love scenes, the plastic ball reflections, and especially the music all are so beautiful that actually made me shivered and stunned.Kieslowski's in another world now. I always worry whether it's possible to watch another movie that struck me so badly. A million thanks to him for showing me the most beautiful film of my life (probably).p.s. this film has only been released in VHS - so ridiculous, a shame of the industry.
47 out of 54 people found the following review useful: Review for The Double Life of Véronique (no spoilers)., 4 January 2005 Author: theantitype from United States
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. Perhaps most lauded for his monumental Three Colors trilogy, Kieslowski first explored themes of duality, synchronicity, and fate in this cinematic reverie. Irène Jacob, also the star of Red, handles a double role as two women cut from the same metaphysical cloth -- the Polish Veronika and the French Véronique. Her presence as both women is at once whimsically childlike and sensually melancholic; relentlessly alluring, it is easy to see why she became Kieslowski's muse. Jacob is perfectly fluid in the shift between characters, an embodiment of ideal femininity, as dreamlike as the tone of the entire film.Actor and director are symbiotic, relying on hazy, autumnal ambiance and mood for narrative, utilizing a subtle minimalist approach to dialogue. This is fine art, unlike heavy-handed Hollywood productions. The tone is consistently ambiguous -- emotionally resonant, to be sure, but beyond a vaguely somber, wistful undercurrent, the movie allows the viewer to fill the "empty space" with his or her own thoughts and feelings. It's a true testament to Kieslowski's mastery, and few films are ever so transcendentally sublime.The lack of this masterpiece's availability on DVD is a sad affair. There are rumors of a release in 2005, but for fans of movies like Amélie hungry for something with a little more depth, The Double Life of Véronique comes most highly recommended -- even if you have to search high and low for a copy on VHS.
52 out of 67 people found the following review useful: Divine, 2 June 1999 Author: anonymous from Spain
Probably the best film of the decade. These are some keywords I think best suit this film: Religious, Fatherhood, Duplicity, Fullness, Sensuality, OffbeatDue to the blasphemous american rants below (I can´t imagine a single movie from the USA in the 90s better than this one, sorry for that), I decided to write about this peculiar film. I think the film is more accessible for european viewers, the same way Dawn by law might be for american viewers (I can´t bear that pretentious american underground movies at all, with cool men swearing all the time, trying to be funny... I can´t identify with most of nineties american characters). There are many american art house films buffs as well, so I can´t say this is a general fact, it´s just my view anyway.Regarding the development of the characters, Tsylia probably couldn´t understand at the beginning of the film how both women are described so poeticly. Weronicka is watching at the stars, while Veronique is watching the leaves fall. I see this is not evident but it says a lot about the two. Weronicka is more spiritual, magical, and Veronique is more practical, more "down to earth". If you cannot see the metaphores throughout the film you will not grasp anything about the development of the characters, that´s for sure. Furthermore, Irene Jacob performance is sublime, you can see on her face so many "difficult to express" sensations, she´s not just a beautiful face as it has been stated below (I can name hundreds of pretty american girls on stupid films, I was shocked to read Irene Jacob is just pretty, couldn´t these people see she´s a valuable actress as well). In any case she´s pretty in the sense Catherine Deneuve is, I mean she´s not the common beatiful woman, you can see by his gestures that she feels alone in the world, that she feels the fullness of life, ... She sometimes seems like an angel in this film (Weronicka).I´m an atheist, but I admit the religious or spiritual feeling of the film engages anyone. The film evokes the idea that gifted people such this soprano singer have a spare part somewhere in the world, the same way the puppetier has a spare marionette for the one he uses most.God is not mentioned but the scenes are revealing: Veronique caresses the bark of a thick tree in the very last scene, which could signify her real father as well, or just the idea of fatherhood.The music is ten out of ten, if you feel nothing while listening to Preisner´s masterpiece, you´d better not say you´re sensitive anymore. This is his best for me alongside with the music for Short story of a killing and Damage soundtrack which sounds cruel and mysterious to me.I can´t think of any other film more precious and lyrical than this one.
40 out of 47 people found the following review useful: The Movie & the Music, 17 June 2002 Author: Hakon Soreide (mail@hakonsoreide.com) from Bergen, Norway
Only a few of the previous comments on this movie has mentioned the use of music. Just like in Trois Couleurs Bleu, the music of La Double vie de Véronique is very indivisible from the film: the visual and the auditive form a united whole and also elements of it are directly part of the story. And when it comes to music made for film, Zbigniew Preisner's powerful score for this one is as good as it gets.When there is little dialogue, it is not just the images and expressions on Irène Jacob's face that tells the story, but also the powerful strains of music intermingled with it.Even with just these elements in place, it would be a movie worth seeing, though obviously a narrative based in little extent on dialogue and with less emphasis on a clear-cut story than your average American movie is unfortunately lost on some of the earlier commentators.And even this seemingly sparingly laid out narrative reveals itself to the careful watcher to be a rich tapestry of symbols, metaphors and hidden meanings. Kiéslowski, just as in his other movies, demands participation of the viewer, and the one who expects passive entertainment has found the wrong film to watch.Krzysztof never liked discussing meaning when it came to his movies, but liked keeping that up to the viewers, and few other directors have ever been able to lay out more food for thought and fruitful interpretation than him.I saw the Three Colours trilogy before seeing Véronique, and the many similarities, both musical and in visual narrative, makes it feel like it almost belongs together with those three to form a quartet. In some ways it has more in common with Blue than Red and White do. Had Juliette Binoche also been cast in the role of Véronique, as I understand that Krzysztof originally had intended, the similarities had been even greater. She was, however, occupied with shooting Les Amants du Pont-Neuf at the time I believe, and so Krzysztof opted for the less experienced Irène. I don't think the film is any worse for it: she is brilliant, and not just a pretty face as some people put it, but a very intelligent and aware actress as anyone who has seen her interview for the Red DVD release should discover if they haven't already.In short: a wonderful film, wonderful music, great acting. But not a movie for everyone.
24 out of 29 people found the following review useful: Beautiful haunting storytelling, 1 December 2003 Author: Greg (ashtonross) from England
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.
20 out of 23 people found the following review useful: On the suffering of Christ., 29 December 2005 Author: buster-crashtestdummy
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
St. Veronica, often called the patron saint of photographers, was, according to legend, one of the women who followed Christ to his crucifixion. At one point she handed the weary savior a cloth to wipe his face on. He did so, and when he handed it back to her, there was imprinted an image of his face on the cloth. The name Veronica, indeed, is a corruption of the Latin "vero icon" - the true image (yes, a contradiction in terms, I know). When Kieslowski's Veronika is unknowingly walking to her death, that is, to the audition that will lead to it, the French Veronique unknowingly photographs her from the bus in the Krakow square, while frantically trying to get snapshots from the ongoing riot.Veronika, of course, ends up straining herself too hard singing, and because of her heart condition, snuffs it while singing those beautiful lines from Dante's Paradisio, about the ascent to heaven. Veronique, in turn, for some reason realizes that she has to give up her own singing career, and, seemingly without a single moment of regret, instead dedicates herself to teaching the music of Van den Budenmaier to untalented, bratty schoolchildren. There is little doubt, after watching the movie, that the Polish Veronika did indeed, somehow, die so that the French Veronique might live.The opening sequence of the movie also contains the outline of Christ's life. Veronika is shown "the star that will start Chrismas Eve" (oh, the horrifically nonsensical astronomy we teach our children... but I digress. ;-) ), and immediately afterwords we are taken to France, where the child Veronique is being told about the leaves of spring. Christmas is the birth of Christ, while spring is the time of Easter, and his suffering and death.So, is this, indeed, Kieslowski's very radical, and breathtakingly beautiful, take on the story of the suffering of Christ? Discuss, class. ;-)
18 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Beautiful/Complex - An Interesting mixture, 29 December 2001 Author: AdFin
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
16 out of 21 people found the following review useful: over-specialization, material and spiritual, 5 May 2006 Author: LibraryUser from Denver
Much of this may be considered spoiler, and is intended for people who have already watched the movie.Weronika (W) of Poland and Veronique (V) of France seem to begin life with identical natures, but develop into extreme opposites: W becomes spiritual in her personality and view of life, attending to the inner and the private; and V becomes material, attending to the outer and the social. At first I saw the same connections I thought the girls see; but later I interpreted events differently from how I think they do. I'll use a few scenes as examples.At her father's place W wakes in a fright with a vague sense that she's not alone in the world, as if some spirit visits her. Later when she sights V in the square, she seems to have an other-worldly experience, as if this other girl is connected to that spirit. I assumed the same connection; but on watching the movie again, I realized that I had barely noticed something obvious in that scene: W is in imminent physical danger of being run over by vehicles and being knocked on the head or arrested by riot police, while V is physically safe and sound on her bus. To have an inner experience on seeing one's double is fine; but at the same time, the sight of her double being safe and sound should encourage W to want to protect her own body and to get out of the square. Instead W reacts in her usual private way, standing in almost a trance as behind her the riot police prepare to move. Run W, run!! As for that other spirit, it is W's way of experiencing and reacting to her chest pains, for which she never seeks medical treatment. But she carefully defends her inner life as she prepares for her concert and tries to avoid her boyfriend Antek. He seems to be of good character, but any love affair can stress the spirit.Beginning with her first scene as a young woman, V vaguely senses some sort of loss in her life. Later the parallel to the scene in the square happens in the hotel room. V vaguely tells the puppeteer Fabbri (F) that she's always sensed there was someone else, and she's always known what to do. When F asks V to tell everything about herself, she promptly empties the contents of her purse onto the bed, then smiles sweetly as he goes through them. When V sees the photo of W that has been in her purse for a long time, V seems quickly to connect the photo with that someone else who has always helped her know what to do, and to connect her sense of loss with the assumed death of that person. I assumed the same connections myself. But after watching again later I paid more attention to some aspects of this scene: we can take the contents of her purse as her private inner self, what little she has of one, which she so willingly dumps onto the bed, and which F goes through in a mocking manner, for example, making her crystal ball disappear - much as in an earlier scene he drives off with the angel-spirit on the side of his van. V's private life is under stress as it always is with a lover, even one of good character, which F lacks. To grieve at the assumed death of someone is fine; but the sight of the photo of her double from inside her own purse should encourage V to look within and to take care of her private self. Instead she reacts in her usual material way, imagining a dead body somewhere, and allowing F to enter her with the sort of mechanical sex one sees in bad pornography. Dig in, V, dig in!! As for the loss V senses, it is her was of experiencing and reacting to the withering of her own private life as she glides superficially and mechanically through the motions of her social life. As for her always knowing what to do, it is due to her own keen attention to the outer world and its social conventions - attention that W clearly lacks, though she tries to be kind to people.(BTW some have supposed that F has mysterious insight into some connection between W and V; but he could base his novel on nothing more than what V does and tells him in the hotel room.)W flourishes spiritually while paying the obvious price for never getting medical help for her heart condition. V flourishes materially and socially, but in the end she seems purely mechanical in going through all the right motions: she moves the puppet of herself while F controls her; she drives her car to dad's place; she operates its power window to reach to the tree; then she runs like a puppet to dad, who has been working wood with his new sophisticated tool. Each girl succeeds in her own way, but also pays a heavy price for being over-specialized.The many parallels between W and V serve as artistic device to compare and contrast them. But connections between W and V, other than each sighting the other briefly, are not required in this interpretation. For each of the girls that sighting is an awful tease, since she cannot realize how easily the other girl can deal with the current situation, in which she is so unaware and helpless herself. Here is a pair of stories: the first is a slight revision that lets each girl survive, and the second brings them together.
14 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Superb! Existential feast of ideas from the Master!, 11 November 2003 Author: tatyana-2 from UK
Kieslowski drives me to hyperbole, but I am not exaggerating when I say that this film is truly one of the best films ever made. It's an exploration of identity, presentiments, relationships (with the "self" and others) and the soul. Such themes could be messed around, but in the hands of such talented people, these so-called "irrationalities" are brought to life with beauty, subtlety and intelligence.The music is amazing, the cinematography is stunning and Irene Jacob is wonderful. This is one of greatest films to explore the idea of the soul - and one of the best films, in general. If you haven't seen it, prepare to be moved by the metaphysical, the mysterious, and the humanity of the piece. If you like the Trois Couleurs trilogy, you'll surely love this too and maybe even feel like you've returned home, to the tree, to life, to the beginning - Kieslowski had the ability to move us all in such ways. Enjoy his beautiful film!
18 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Poetry and Music, 8 January 2003 Author: (lysis@techie.com) from WA, USA
Like Last Year at Marienbad this is a film so beautiful that its worth viewing even if there is no meaning to it. The use of light and shadow is spectacular, the music is divine, and the camera is constantly seeking and finding beauty in every shot.Looking at the postings so far it seems everyone has a different explanation, so I might as well throw mine into the mix. To me Veronique/Weronika are twin angels being manipulated (guided might be a better choice of word) by God (or an abstract Divine) for some unfathomable purpose. Consider the use of the puppeteer as a metaphor for the condition, look at how he says he makes two because they are fragile and break easily (just as Weronika breaks in her concert). Veronique speaks of how she always knows what to do in every situation as if her life is leading up to something. Theres a telling scene about midway through the film where Veronique walks between shadows through a slender path of light her face gazing rapturously at the the sun. Both V's appreciate and reflect the beauty around them: light, shadows, the falling rain, ... highly reminiscent to me of the 'fallen' angels in Wings of Desire.
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