The Double Life of Véronique [La Double Vie de Véronique] **** (1991, Irène Jacob, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Halina Gryglaszewska) – Classic Movie Review 8718

Director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s 1991 drama The Double Life of Véronique [La Double Vie de Véronique] is a beautifully played, compassionately told, intriguingly written tale of two identical women – one French, the other Polish – whose lives cross and become mysteriously linked. Véronique and Weronika have never met, but they both have talents for music, worries about their lovers and a weak heart.

If the material is thin for a major art movie and mystifyingly elusive, Irène Jacob gives it substance in both roles and Kieslowski directs with assurance and a feel for mood, place and that elusive spiritual dimension.

Jacob won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991, and Kieslowski won the FIPRESCI Prize and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

Also in the cast are Wladyslaw Kowalski, Halina Gryglaszewska, Kalina Jedrusik, Aleksander Bardini, Jerzy Gudejko, Janusz Sterninski, Philippe Volter, Louis Ducreux, Claude Duneton, Lorraine Evanoff and Guillaume de Tonquédec.

The Double Life of Véronique [La Double Vie de Véronique] is directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, runs 97 minutes, is made by Sidéral Productions, Studio Tor Production, Le Studio Canal + and Norsk Film, is released by Sidéral Films (1991) (France), Miramax (1991) (US) and Gala Film Distributors (1991) (UK), is written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, shot by Slawomir Idziak, produced by Leonardo de la Fuente, scored by Zbigniew Preisner and designed by Patrice Mercier.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8718

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