Review of The Double Life of Véronique (1991) by Blind P — 24 Mar 2010

My first delve into the works of legendary Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski is the engrossing drama 'The Double Life of Veronique'. When I noticed this film releasing onto blu-ray this week, I decided that since the Three Colours trilogy isn't on blu, I'll start with this one.

The Double Life of Veronique is a film thats separated into two, firstly tells a short story about the life of Weronika, a Polish woman who has a passion and a talent for singing living in Poland, who decides to move to Krakow to look after her Auntie. The second is the story of Veronique who lives in Paris, France and is a music school teacher, who also has a passion for singing but decides to take life down a different route from Weronika. Both girls are totally unconnected and only briefly see each other, both living their lives separately but both sense a bond between them.

The films main question seems to be 'Do we really have control of our life, or is everything pre-determined?' And shows the that all our choices, have different consequences. One thing may lead you down one path, another will take you somewhere completely different. The film also has a subtle romance plot, which untangles all of these questions and puts it at the forefront for the viewer to fully take in. The film is quite deep and quite mesmerizing.

Irène Jacobs, who plays both women is absolutely stunning and gives such a brilliant performance, that I am surprised I have never heard of her before. I must admit, I have a bit of a crush on her now! The musical score for this film is truly haunting and beautifully contructed and with the amazing cinematography seen on screen, it creates a brilliant cinematic experience.

In conclusion, I really liked Double Life of Veronique and the only reason I chose to give it an 80% is I found it slow around the middle and my eyes started to get a bit heavy. I think I'll definitely have to watch this film again and why would I not? Its gorgeous.