Outdoor Living UK - The Double Life Of Veronique [1992]

There are two women, the Polish Weronika and the French Veronique (both played by Irène Jacob). They have never met, never spoken, and do not know that the other exists. They share the same losses and the same health. Weronika is a singer, and Veronique is taking singing lessons. But their lives and souls are bound together, and their personalities are yin-yang opposites, one practical and one a stargazer.

What is more, each has the strange feeling that she is, somehow, not alone in the world. One night, Weronika dies onstage while singing. Suddenly in France, Veronique is stricken with a strange feeling, and stops taking her lessons. Weronika has died, but she still lives. Soon she begins to explore, searching for the truth about her double life, and a strange puppeteer who somehow is a link between both girls.

"Double Life of Veronique" is one of those rare films that just begs to be analyzed. Is it about being puppets in some enormous scheme of things? About fate? Sacrifice? Love? One woman's soul in two bodies? Political symbolism? Or is it simply about some mysterious dimension of the spiritual? The symbols and metaphors can be unwound any which way, and in the end they all work. Even the ending is ambiguous -- is it happy, or sad?

Krzysztof Kieslowski's direction is impeccable. His use of light and shadow, and the atmospheric music, make "Double Life" practically a work of art. He dots "Double Life" with plenty of little hints about the inner states of the characters. The stars and leaves, for example, hint at the personalities of Weronika and Veronique -- one a dreamer, one down-to-earth. Kieslowski also used a minimalist approach to dialogue, often using pauses and silence that speak louder than the ordinary words.

At times this film seems like a love letter on film to Irène Jacob. Not only is she followed constantly by the camera, but her character is difficult but rewarding. Jacob shines without really seeming to, with the emotion and wonder of a small child in an adult body. Philippe Volter's aura of mystery adds to his excellent acting in his too-brief scenes. Unfortunately, few of the other characters are given much dimension -- the whole focus is on Weronika and Veronique.

This bewitching tale of love, loss, and interconnected souls winds a spell around this film. Interpret it as you will. Kieslowski's "Double Life of Veronique" is exquisite.

The story begins in Poland in (presumably) the early 1990's, where we find the adolescent Veronika singing opera with her school choir. After getting caught in a rainstorm she goes home and makes love to her older boyfriend... so already we have themes of sex, music and the passage into womanhood, three very important factors that will resurface throughout the course of the film. Later in the story, Veronika gets the chance to audition for a highly prestigious opera company... then dies on stage. The story now moves to France where we meet Veronique - an older, though identical incarnation of the Veronika - who works as a music teacher for an elementary school. It is at this point when most viewers begin to become baffled by the strange adjustment of the character, but in reality, no change has occurred. On the night of the audition, Veronika's death is a metaphorical one, and the sense of anxiety conjured by this important event causes her to faint away, thus losing the job.

So, when we meet the same woman some time later she has remained in France and taken the job teaching music at the school. All other events surrounding the 'death' are symbolic and subjective of Veronika/Veronique's guilt and embarrassment (...note the point of view shot from within the grave and its roots in dream-logic). It is only after exploring the world as Veronique and seeking out surrogate father figures (or indeed, lovers) that the character is able to escape into one of her father's picturesque painting and find forgiveness from her family... or so it seems? This is merely one interpretation of the central events of the film, which, along with the later Three Colours Trilogy, demonstrate Kieslowski's interest in subjective realities layered upon various, coincidental narrative view-points. From this, it is easy to see the director's attempt to fill his story with other stories that grow from the central narrative and either depict, or dictate, Veronique's state of mind.

Here we have the themes of the opera, the performance of the marionettes, various confessional monologues, as well as the more conventional ideas of coming of age and growing sexual awareness, alongside the assorted political ideologies at work within the subtext. It's a particularly remarkable achievement, in so much that the director takes us on a cerebral and emotional journey through one woman's psyche without any of us being fully aware of quite what is happening. As a result of this, the film works on multiple levels and, although it might be something of a cliché to point out (lest we forget that a cliché is full of truth... that's what makes it a cliché) but the film offers viewers the chance to interpret the images in situations however they desire, meaning that the overall film will have a different impact on everyone who views it, marking it out as a haunting dream of a film begging to be explored.

This notion is further explored with the use of cinematography - which is spellbinding throughout - with the director and his esteemed cameraman Slavomir Idziak employing all manner of colour tints and strange optical filters (as they had done previously with A Short Film About Killing and would continue on their next project, Blue), to paint both Poland and Paris as strange, gothic, ethereal dreamscapes that manage to convey the character's inner-emotions, as opposed to simply creating a mood. Of course, none of this would be possible without the stunning and intricate performance of Irene Jacob, who, unlike most actresses of her age, is able to exist naturally in two completely different worlds, whilst simultaneously presenting us with two very different characters. The fact that she is able to build such a subtle and invisible symbiosis between the two, whilst leaving the viewer completely oblivious to any broader sub-textual implications, is an astonishing achievement in its self. The Double Life of Veronique remains one of the defining works of European cinema in the 90's and is easily one of the greatest and most iconic films ever created by the late, great Kieslowski.

Irene Jacob, in the bilingual double title role, is luminous, communicating more in a glance or a sigh than pages of dialogue could provide. Suddenly bereft of her feeling of not being alone in the world, she seeks someone else to know her, thinking she may have found that intuitive connection with a mysterious puppeteer, but there is little room for certainty in this imaginative, emotive, philosophical film.

Cinematographically, it is superb, every shot a glowing construction of high art, and the soundtrack goes straight to the heart. I originally saw it in the cinema and was thunderstruck. I WISH they'd release a DVD, as my video tape is wearing thin! I cannot recommend it too highly.

A film to lose yourself in, and to watch over and over again...