MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The Double Life of Veronique is the story of two young women who are -- in some mysterious and irresolvable way -- the same woman leading two different yet interconnected lives. Those familiar with Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's later "Three Colors" trilogy of Blue, White, and Red will recognize his fascination with accidental happenings and chance encounters, as well as Irene Jacob (from Red) whose performance as both Veronika and Veronique won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival award for best actress. Veronika and Veronique are born on the same day in 1966, one in Poland, the other in France. They grow up separately, unaware of each other's existence, but with the vague and rarely expressed feeling that they are "not alone." The story begins in Poland, where Veronika (like Veronique) is a talented vocalist and music student who wins a prestigious singing competition and is given the chance to perform with a local symphony. On the night of the concert, while singing a duet onstage, Veronika loses consciousness and dies. Veronique is emotionally wounded by the loss of her double and decides to end her singing career. The film charts the effect of Veronika's death on Veronique and on her dispassionate and unsatisfying relationships with men, especially her father. She is led to puppeteer and children's book author Alexandre Fabbri (Philippe Volter), whose puppet shows and stories are dramatic variants on her own mysterious problem. While looking through photographs of Veronique's trip to Poland, Fabbri discovers a picture of Veronika walking through a student demonstration in Kracow. He shows the picture to Veronique, who intuits the significance of Veronika's perfect likeness to herself. ~ Anthony Reed, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 (Vistavision)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: Eng
• Features:
  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • Audio commentary by Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski
  • Three short documentary films by Kieslowski: Factory (1970), Hospital (1976), and Railway Station (1980)
  • The Musicians (1958), a short film by Kieslowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz
  • The U.S. ending
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • 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 Veronique
  • 1966-1988: Kieslowski, Polish Filmmaker, a 2005 documentary tracing the filmmaker's work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Veronique
  • New video interviews with cinematographer Slawomir Idziak and composer Zbigniew Preisner
  • A 2005 interview with actress Irene Jacob
  • A booklet featuring essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie and selections from Kieslowski on Kieslowski

AWARDS

• Cannes Film Festival

•     Won Best Actress - 1991 (Irène Jacob)

• Golden Duck

•     Won Best Polish Film - 1991

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Foreign Language Film - 1991

• Independent Spirit Awards

•     Nominated Best Foreign Film - 1991 (Krzysztof Kieslowski)

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Music Score - 1990 (Zbigniew Preisner)

• National Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Picture - 1990

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1991

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

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

• Director:

  Krzysztof Kieslowski

• Producer:

  Leonardo de la Fuente

• Screenwriter:

  Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz

• Cinematographer:

  Slawomir Idziak

• Composer (Music Score):

  Zbigniew Preisner

• Editor:

  Jacques Witta

• Production Designer:

  Patrice Mercier

• Executive Producer:

  Bernard P. Guiremand

REVIEW:

• 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. ~ Elbert Ventura, Rovi