La Double Vie de Veronique is a tale about two identical women living separate lives in Poland and France. Weronika (Irene Jacob) is a singer in Poland. In her hometown, she has a doting father and a boyfriend who is hopelessly in love with her. She decides to visit her aunt in Krakow and, while there, auditions for a singing position at a modest opera house. All are impressed with her voice. Oddly, she mentions to her father that she doesn't feel alone, sensing that there is someone in the world with whom she is connected. Not long after that, she spots a woman who could be her twin sister. Before she can reach the woman, the twin boards a bus and vanishes. During her first performance, she dies on stage.
Veronique (Irene Jacob) is making love when she begins to weep, sensing she has lost something. She is a music teacher in Paris and, by coincidence, her students are playing the very piece that Weronika sang as she died. After attending a performance by a puppeteer, Veronique finds herself both stalking, and being stalked by, the puppeteer. Toward the end of the movie, the puppeteer sorts through some photos that Veronique took while she was in Poland. One photo is of Weronika, whom the puppeteer mistakes for Veronique. Veronique is reduced to tears upon seeing the picture.
The first half of the movie is in Polish and the second half is French. Following along with the subtitles, I likely missed some subtleties in the film but still enjoyed it. The movie is engaging but strange. I kept thinking there would be a big reveal that they were twin sisters who were separated at birth, especially since both seemed to suffer the same heart ailment. Nope. Irene Jacob is the movie and she carries it magnificently. First she is the joyous and naïve Weronika and then the cosmopolitan Veronique. One of two films in which Jacob collaborated with Polish director Krzystztof Kieslowski. Though an acclaimed director, this is thus far the only movie of his I have seen. I may need to check out his Blue, White, Red trilogy.
No comments:
Post a Comment