The Double Life of Veronique [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski Krzysztof Kieslowski

Overview

In this off-beat fantasy, the life of a beautiful French woman is mirrored by that of a Polish woman. The two were born on the same day in their respective countries. They look exactly alike and their lives follow an eerily similar course. Though they never meet, each is dimly aware of the other and of the effect they have upon each other's lives.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/01/2011
UPC:	0715515067713
Original Release:	1991
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	10,027

Special Features

Restores high-definition digital transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack; Audio commentary featuring Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski; Three short documentaries by Kieslowski: Factory (1970), Hospital (1976), and Railway Station (1980); The Musician (1958), a short film by Kieslowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz; The U.S. ending; Kieslowski - Dialogue (1991), a documentary featuring a candid interview with Kieslowski and rare behind-the-scenes footage from the set of the Double Life of Véronique; 1966-1968: Kieslowski, Polish Filmmaker, a 2005 documentary tracing the director's work in Poland, from his days as a student through the Double Life of Véronique; Video interviews with actress Irene Jacob, cinematographer Slawomir Idziak, and composer Zbigniew Preisner; Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Romney and selections from Kieslowski On Kieslowski

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Irène Jacob	Weronika / Véronique
Philippe Volter	Alexandre Fabbri
Sandrine Dumas	Catherine
Halina Gryglaszewska	Aunt
Aleksander Bardini	Orchestra Conductor
Wladyslaw Kowalski	Veronika's Father
Jerzy Gudejko	Antek
Jan Sterninski	Lawyer
Claude Duneton	Le père de Véronique
Louis Ducreux	Professor
Lorraine Evanoff	Claude
Guillaume de Tonquédec	Serge
Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus	Jean-Pierre
Alain Frerot	Mailman
Thierry de Carbonnieres	Professor
Chantal Neuwirth	Receptionist
Nausicaa Rampony	Nicole
Boguslawa Schubert	Woman with Hat
Jacques Potin	Man with Grey Coat
Philippe Campos	Nicole Pinaud
Dominika Szady	Beata Malczewska
Jacek Wojcicki	Barbara Szalapa
Wanda Kruszewska	Lucyna Zabawa
Bernadetta Kus	Pauline Monier
Youssef Hamid	Railway Man
Kalina Jedrusik	Gaudy Woman
Zbigniew Preisner	Composer

Technical Credits

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Krzysztof Piesiewicz

Krzysztof Kieslowski	Director,Screenwriter
Leonardo De La Fuente	Producer
Bernard P. Guiremand	Executive Producer
Krzysztof Piesiewicz	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Polish master Krzysztof Kieslwoski's most ravishing film is an ethereal rhapsody grounded in the resolutely sensual presence of its lead, Irene Jacob. With its oblique story line, cryptic rhyming patterns, and focus on mood and tone, this elusive movie is more poem than narrative. Slawomir Idziak's shimmering cinematography gives the movie a spectral sheen, perfectly conveying the rich and shifting mysteries of coincidence, fate, and human connection Kieslowski explores. The movie bears more than a passing resemblance to Kieslowski's final film, Red, yet another movie that evinces the filmmaker's obsession with fraternity, not to mention Irene Jacob's face. Mostly captivating, Double Life's metaphysical meditation occasionally verges on silly self-absorption; at its worst, the movie's solemn search for profundities could almost be a parody of European artiness. Even at its most dubious though, the movie is unfailingly alluring; its golden, lambent beauty remains rapturous throughout. Lyrical and elliptical, the movie can also be read simply as an ode to its lead: Jacob's Veronique is clearly an idealized projection of feminine perfection, so perfect that Kieslowski had to make two of her. Muse and artist were rewarded equally upon the film's release, as the movie won Jacob a Best Actress award at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival and garnered Kieslowski the best reviews of his career at the time.