''The Double Life of Veronique'' (french: La double vie de Véronique, pl, Podwójne życie Weroniki) is a 1991
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993
–1994) ...
and starring
Irène Jacob
Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film ''The Double Life of Vero ...
. Written by Kieślowski and
Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz (; born 25 October 1945 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish lawyer, screenwriter, and politician. From 1991 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011 he was a member of Polish Senate. He was the head of the Ruch Społeczny (RS) or S ...
, 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. The two women do not know each other, and yet they share a mysterious and emotional bond that transcends language and geography.
''The Double Life of Véronique'' was Kieślowski's first film to be produced partly outside his native Poland.
It won the
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (french: Prix du Jury Œcuménique) is an independent film award for feature length films shown at major international film festivals since 1973. The award was created by Christian film makers, film critics and ot ...
and the
FIPRESCI Prize
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
at the
1991 Cannes Film Festival
The 44th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1991. The Palme d'Or went to ''Barton Fink'' by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
The festival opened with ''Homicide'', directed by David Mamet and closed with ''Thelma & Louise'', directed by Rid ...
, and the
Best Actress Award for Jacob.
''The Double Life of Véronique'' was selected as the Polish entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
64th Academy Awards
The 64th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1991 in the United States and took place on March 30, 1992, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles begi ...
, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Plot
In Poland in 1968, a little girl is shown the stars in the winter sky. In France, a little girl is shown one of the first leaves of spring.
In 1990, a young Polish woman named Weronika (
Irène Jacob
Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film ''The Double Life of Vero ...
) is singing at an outdoor concert with her choir when a sudden downpour causes the singers to rush for cover. After Weronika holds the last note alone, she meets her boyfriend, Antek (Jerzy Gudejko), and they go to his apartment to make love. The next day she asks her father to tell Antek she is leaving to be with her sick aunt in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
. Mentioning that lately she feels that she is not alone in the world.
Weronika travels to Kraków by train and meets up with her aunt, she later contacts a local friend who she meets up at her choir practice. As the choir rehearses, Weronika accompanies them in her soprano voice off-stage. Afterwards, the musical director asks her to audition. Overjoyed, Weronika rushes home with the sheet music. While walking through a square in the midst of a protest, Weronika notices a French tourist taking photos of the protestors—a young woman who looks exactly like her. Weronika smiles as she watches her double board the tourist bus that soon pulls away.
At the audition, Weronika's singing impresses the musical director and conductor, and she is later told that she won the audition. While heading home after the audition, Weronika suffers a mild cardiac arrest but she recovers. The next day, Weronika reunites with Antek. That night during the concert, while singing a solo part, Weronika collapses onstage and dies of a heart attack.
In
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...
, France that same day, Véronique (Irène Jacob), a young French woman and Weronika's double, becomes overwhelmed with grief after having sex with her boyfriend. She later goes to her music teacher, telling him she's quitting the choir. The next day, at the school where she teaches music, Véronique attends a
marionette
A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or reveale ...
performance with her class about a ballet dancer who breaks her leg and then turns into a butterfly. She then leads her class in a musical piece by an eighteenth-century composer, Van den Budenmayer—the same piece performed by Weronika when she died. 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. Later she is awakened by a phone call with no one speaking, only a choir singing the music of Van den Budenmayer. Véronique visits her father the next day, where she reveals she is in love with someone she doesn't know, and that recently she felt that she lost someone from her life. Back in Clermont Ferrand, she receives a package containing a shoelace, which she compares to her
EKG
Electrocardiography is the process of producing an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a recording of the heart's electrical activity. It is an electrogram of the heart which is a graph of voltage versus time of the electrical activity of the hear ...
graph, and a stranger shines light on her using a mirror.
Véronique learns that the puppeteer is a children's book author named Alexandre Fabbri (
Philippe Volter
Philippe Volter (23 March 1959 – 13 April 2005) was a Belgian actor and director. Born Philippe Wolter to theatre director Claude Volter and his wife, actress Jacqueline Bir, Volter began his career in Brussels in 1985.
He made many stage ...
), who based the marionette on one of his books and has written another about a shoelace. In the coming days, Véronique reads several of Alexandre's books. When Véronique visits her father, he gives her a package addressed to her containing a cassette tape. She listens to the tape, which contains the recordings of a typewriter, footsteps, a door opening, a train station, and a fragment of music by Van den Budenmayer. There are also sounds of a car accident and explosion. The postage stamp on the envelope leads Véronique to the
Gare Saint-Lazare
The Gare Saint-Lazare (English: St Lazarus station), officially Paris-Saint-Lazare, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It serves train services toward Normandy, northwest of Paris, along the Paris–Le Hav ...
train station in Paris. She goes to a cafe in the station where she believes the recordings were made, and sees Alexandre. He tells her he's been waiting for her for two days, that he's working on a new book, and that he sent her the packages as a kind of experiment to see if she would come to him. Angered at being manipulated, Véronique leaves and checks into a nearby hotel. She runs into Alexandre, who asks for her forgiveness, and she brings him up to her room, where they both fall asleep. During the night, they confess their feelings for each other.
The next morning, while talking to Alexandre, Véronique says that she feels that "I was here and somewhere else at the same time" and that someone has been guiding her life. Véronique proceeds to show Alexandre the contents of her handbag, and he comes across 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. She then sees the picture, realizing that it was Weronika in the picture. Véronique is overwhelmed and breaks down crying as Alexandre comforts her. It becomes clear that Weronika's fate has somehow compelled Véronique to stop singing and avoid the same death.
Some time later at his apartment, Véronique sees Alexandre working on a new marionette with her image. When asked about the purpose of a second identical marionette, Alexandre explains that he needs an additional puppet in case one becomes damaged. He shows her how to work the one marionette while the double lies lifeless on the table. Alexandre reads his new book to Véronique about two women, born the same day in different cities, who have a mysterious connection. Later that day, Véronique arrives at her father's house, stops at the front gate, and reaches out and touches an old tree trunk. Her father, who is inside the house, seems to sense her presence.
Cast
Production
Filming style
The film has a strong metaphysical element, though the supernatural aspect of the story is never explained. Like the later ''
Three Colours: Blue'', it showcased Preisner's musical score as a major plot element, crediting his work to the fictional
Van den Budenmayer
Zbigniew Preisner (; born 20 May 1955 as Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski) is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis as ...
. The
cinematography
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
is highly stylized, using color and camera filters to create an ethereal atmosphere; the cinematographer,
Sławomir Idziak
Sławomir Idziak (; born 25 January 1945) is a Polish cinematographer and director who has worked on over forty Polish and foreign films. He is especially known for his collaboration with director Krzysztof Kieślowski as well as Ridley Scott and ...
, had previously experimented with these techniques in one episode of ''
Dekalog
''Dekalog'' (, also known as ''Dekalog: The Ten Commandments'' and ''The Decalogue'') is a 1988 Polish drama television miniseries directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbigniew P ...
'', and Kieślowski would later use colour for a wider range of effects in his ''
Three Colours trilogy
The ''Three Colours'' trilogy (french: Trois couleurs, pl, Trzy kolory) is the collective title of three Psychological drama (subgenre), psychological drama films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski: ''Three Colours: Blue'' (1993), ''Three Colour ...
''. 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''.
Filming locations
The film was shot at locations including
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...
,
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Alternative ending
A
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
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
Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films inclu ...
of Miramax for the American release. 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. The final image of the father and daughter embracing is shot from inside the house through a window.
Music
The film was scored by Zbigniew Preisner. In the film his music is described as being by Van den Budenmayer, a fictitious 18th-century Dutch composer created by Preisner and Kieślowski for attributions in screenplays. 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''. Its E minor soprano solo is prefigured in Weronika's final performance.
Puppetry
The puppet acts in ''The Double Life of Véronique'' were performed by American puppeteer and sculptor
Bruce Schwartz
Bruce D. Schwartz (born 1957) is an American puppeteer and sculptor. By extension, he is also a mimic, storyteller and clown. He is using a technique where, unlike most puppeteers, who usually hide their hands in gloves, or use strings or sticks, ...
. Unlike most puppeteers who usually hide their hands in gloves or use strings or sticks, Schwartz shows his hands while performing.
Reception
Critical response
''The Double Life of Veronique'' received mostly positive reviews. 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."
In his review in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', Hal Hinson called the film "a mesmerizing poetic work composed in an eerie minor key." 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." Hinson was particularly impressed with Jacob's performance:
In her review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Caryn James wrote, "''Veronique'' is poetic in the truest sense, relying on images that can't be turned into prosaic statements without losing something of their essence. 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."
In his review in the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', Roger Ebert wrote, "The movie has a hypnotic effect. We are drawn into the character, not kept at arm's length with a plot." Ebert singled out Sławomir Idziak's innovative use of color and cinematography:
In 2009, Ebert added ''The Double Life of Veronique'' to his
Great Movies
''The Great Movies'' is the name of several publications, both online and in print, from the film critic Roger Ebert. The object was, as Ebert put it, to "make a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema."
''The Great Movies'' was p ...
list. Krzysztof Kieślowski's ''Dekalog'' and ''The Three Colours Trilogy'' are also on the list.
In his review for ''
Empire Online
''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989.
History
David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other titles ...
'', David Parkinson called it "a film of great fragility and beauty, with the delicacy of the puppet theatre." 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." Parkinson saw the film as "compelling, challenging and irresistibly beautiful" and a "metaphysical masterpiece."
At the ''All Movie'' web site, the film received a 4-star rating (out of 5) plus "High Artistic Quality" citation.
At ''About.com'', which specializes in DVD reviews, the film received 5 stars (out of 5) in their critical review.
At ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', the film received 3 stars (out of 5).
gave the film five stars out of five. On the aggregate reviewer website ''Rotten Tomatoes'', the film received an 84% positive rating from critics based on 31 reviews.
The film was the 50th highest-grossing film of the year with a total of 592,241 admissions in France.
In North America the film opened on one screen grossing $8,572 its opening weekend. In total the film grossed $1,999,955 at the North American box office playing at a total of 22 theaters in its widest release which is a respectable result for a foreign art film.
. 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
; ''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
. It also includes a booklet featuring essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie, and a selection from ''Kieślowski on Kieślowski''.
.