The Double Life of Véronique (1991)

Two parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don't know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.

Director:

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Writers:

Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz

Stars:

Irène Jacob, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Halina Gryglaszewska

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Irène Jacob	...	Weronika / Véronique
Halina Gryglaszewska	...	La Tante
Kalina Jedrusik	...	La femme barjolée
Aleksander Bardini	...	Le chef d'orchestre
Wladyslaw Kowalski	...	Le père de Weronika
Jerzy Gudejko	...	Antek
Janusz Sterninski	...	L'avocat (as Jan Sterninski)
Philippe Volter	...	Alexandre Fabbri
Sandrine Dumas	...	Catherine
Louis Ducreux	...	Le professeur
Claude Duneton	...	Le père de Véronique
Lorraine Evanoff	...	Claude
Guillaume de Tonquédec	...	Serge (as Guillaume de Tonquedec)
Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus	...	Jean-Pierre
Alain Frérot	...	Le facteur

Storyline

Two parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don't know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.

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Plot Keywords:

doppelganger | opera singer | female protagonist | subjective camera | recital | 

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Taglines:

Each of us is matched somewhere in the world, by our exact double - someone who shares our thoughts and dreams.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Music | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for scenes of sexuality

Details

Country:

France Poland Norway

Language:

French Polish Italian

Release Date:

22 November 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Double Life of Véronique

Filming Locations:

Lycée Amédée Gasquet - Rue Jean-Baptiste Torrilhon, Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,999,955

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sidéral Productions, Canal+, Zespol Filmowy "Tor"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #359.

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Goofs

When Weronika is at the window of the bus, she holds some papers up to Antek, who is on a motorcycle. The angle she's holding the papers at alternates from perfectly straight to slightly askew as the shot alternates repeatedly from back to front.

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Quotes

Alexandre Fabbri: [kissing Veronique's forehead when she's lying upside down on his bed] Let's check and see if we're still bad for each other.

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Alternate Versions

The American version features a different ending: in the original, Véronique drives to the house where her father is still living and pauses outside to touch a tree. He realizes that she's outside and raises his head from the bench where he's working. The American version features one minute of additional footage showing the father stepping outside the house, calling his daughter, and Véronique running into his arms. Kieslowski shot the additional sequences after the film's premiere at the New York Film Festival in 1991 at the insistence of Harvey Weinstein, who at the time was president of the film's US distributor, Miramax films.

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Connections

Referenced in Version extendida (2005)

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Soundtracks

Verso il cielo
Music by Zbigniew Preisner
Text from Dante Alighieri (as Dante)
Performed by Wielka Orkiestra Polskiego Radia Katowice (as Le Grand Orchestre de la Radio et Télévision Polonaise de Katowice), Chór Filharmonii Slaskiej (as Choeurs Philharmonique de Silésie), Elzbieta Towarnicka (soprano) and Jacek Ostaszewski (flute)
Conducted by Antoni Wit

User Reviews

Review for The Double Life of Véronique (no spoilers).

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.