La Double vie de Véronique (1991)
Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski

Film Review

Anyone who was impressed by Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs trilogy will appreciate this earlier film, which is made in a very similar vein.  It also features the captivating Irène Jacob, who won the best actress award at Cannes in 1991 for her role in this film.   It is a baffling yet thoroughly absorbing work, anchored more firmly in the twilight zone of the paranormal  than in the real world.

Kieslowski takes a simple idea - the notion that each one of us has an identical twin somewhere in the world - and fashions a haunting and poetic tale of seemingly endless profundity about it.  The film appears to have the simplicity of a children's fairy tale, yet, if you look closer, layers and layers of detail become apparent.

The amber-drenched photography, the sweeping camera movements and the recurring symbols (for example, the pedestrian crossing) all serve to give the impression that we are experiencing a dream, or, at least, we are looking at reality through a distorting prism.  Because it feels like a dream, there is no need to explain what we see - indeed any attempt and trying to make sense of the narrative would be a futile exercise.

Like much of Kieslowski's work, La Double vie de Véronique is less about telling a story than providing an experience.  Somewhere between ghost story and a traditional romance, the film manages to latch onto the spectator's senses without feeling the need to justify itself.  At one level, it is a magnificent abstract work of art; at another, it is a captivating piece of cinema which leaves a lasting impression.

Film Synopsis

Weronika is a young concert singer who lives in Poland with her father.  One day, she glimpses a woman on a coach who looks exactly like her.  A short while later Weronika dies suddenly of a heart attack whilst giving a concert recital.  Meanwhile, her double on the coach, Véronique, has returned to Paris, where she works as a music teacher and takes singing lessons.  For no apparent reason, Véronique is suddenly prompted to give up her singing career.  Soon after, she watches a marionette performance, in which a young woman dies and come back to life as a butterfly.  She then receives a mysterious phone call from a stranger and unexpected items through the post.  Feeling she is in love without knowing why, Véronique pieces these clues together and meets up at a station café with the marionette player, Alexandre.  He tells Véronique of a story about two young identical women born on the same time, living miles apart.  One of the women dies, and the other lives, inexplicably sensing her loss...