The Double Life of Veronique
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''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 ...
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, 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, and the Best Actress Award for Jacob. ''The Double Life of Véronique'' was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film 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 beg ...
, 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, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...
, 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 revealed ...
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 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), 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 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. 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 foc ...
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 ''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 Zbignie ...
'', and Kieślowski would later use colour for a wider range of effects in his '' Three Colours trilogy''. 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, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...
,
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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...
.


Alternative ending

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 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 includ ...
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 d ...
'', 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 ...
'', 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 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).
Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...
of
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
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.


Box office performance

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.


Home media

A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
. 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 Kazimierz Karabasz (; May 6, 1930 in Bydgoszcz, Poland – August 11, 2018) was a Polish documentary filmmaker.
; ''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 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 we ...
. It also includes a booklet featuring essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie, and a selection from ''Kieślowski on Kieślowski''.


Awards and nominations

* 1991 Cannes Film Festival
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 ...
(Krzysztof Kieślowski) Won * 1991 Cannes Film Festival
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 ...
(Krzysztof Kieślowski) Won * 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for
Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
(Irène Jacob) Won * 1991 Cannes Film Festival nomination for the
Golden Palm The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
(Krzysztof Kieślowski) * 1991
Los Angeles Film Critics The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...
Award for Best Music (Zbigniew Preisner) Won * 1991
Warsaw International Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...
Audience Award (Krzysztof Kieślowski) Won * 1991 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Award for ''Best Foreign Film'' Won * 1992
César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...
Nomination for
Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
(Irène Jacob) * 1992 César Awards nomination for Best Music Written for a Film (Zbigniew Preisner) * 1992 Golden Globe Awards nomination for Best Foreign Language Film * 1992 Guldbagge Awards nomination for
Best Foreign Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
* 1992 Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Best Foreign Film * 1992 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film Won In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the
2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...
.


See also

*
List of submissions to the 64th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of submissions to the 64th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was created in 1956 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honour non-English-speaking films p ...
*
List of Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Poland has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film on a regular basis since 1963. The Oscar is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion pictu ...
* Doppelgänger


Notes


References


Bibliography

* *


External links

* * *
''The Double Life of Veronique: The Forced Choice of Freedom''
an essay by Slavoj ŽiŽek at the Criterion Collection
''The Double Life of Veronique: Through the Looking Glass''
an essay by Jonathan Romney at the Criterion Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Double Life Of Veronique, The 1991 films 1990s fantasy drama films Films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski Films scored by Zbigniew Preisner Films set in Kraków Films set in Paris Films set in Poland Films set in France Films shot in France Films shot in Paris Films shot in Poland Films shot in Kraków 1990s French-language films 1990s Polish-language films Women and death Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Piesiewicz Films with screenplays by Krzysztof Kieślowski French fantasy drama films 1991 multilingual films French multilingual films Norwegian multilingual films Polish multilingual films 1990s French films