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 11 wins & 11 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 | female protagonist | music teacher | opera singer | polish woman | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The text sung by Weronika in the Concert is actually the beginning of the second Chant of Dante's Paradiso: "O voi che siete in piccioletta barca, desiderosi d'ascoltar, seguiti dietro al mio legno che cantando varca, Non vi mettete in pelago, ché forse, perdendo me, rimarreste smarriti. L'acqua ch'io prendo giá mai non si corse; Minerva spira è conducemi Appollo, è nove Muse mi dimostran l'Orse." Dante, Paradiso, II, 1-9.

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Goofs

Slightly after the fortieth minute of the film, Véronique walks in an alley bordered by trees. Some crew members are partly visible behind the trees.

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Quotes

Weronika: Not long ago, I had a strange sensation. I felt that I was alone. All of a sudden. Yet nothing had changed.

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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

References Stalker (1979)

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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

Life, Conscious, Connection, and Death.

The Double Life of Veronique | 10/10

This is an incredibly haunting and poetic work that raises a plethora of questions regarding life, death, and the unexplainable connection that some people share. I was stuck in a sort of trance while watching this, as beautifully photographed scenes seemed to follow one after the other for the film's entirety.

There wasn't a moment that I had lost interest, and the questions posed throughout are some that I found myself thinking about on many different occasions as a child. Do we, perhaps even simultaneously, share the same thoughts, feel the same feelings, and take part in the same actions as another person we have never met? Is it more than instinctual for us to avoid certain things, or act in certain ways? This film spoke to these questions, but of course never answered them. It turns out, I believe, that there are no answers to begin with.

This is the fourth Kieslowski film I've seen, and most certainly the best. Visually, it shares a few things in common with the Colors Trilogy, and Irène Jacob (Veronique and Veronika) was actually the main character in Red. Her acting is extremely good in both films, and the mood she creates in this one is understated, but incredibly graceful. I should mention the music in the film as well, which in addition to being beautifully presented, plays an important role in the connection between the two women. This is one of the best films ever made, presented by a man of great vision who left us far too soon.

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

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,572, 24 November 1991

Gross USA:

$1,999,955

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,175,939

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