(France/Poland 1991 98m) DVD1/2
Aka. La Double Vie de Véronique
Four Colours: Yellow
p Leonardo de la Fuente d Krzysztof Kieslowski w Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz ph Slowimir Idziak ed Jacques Witta m Zbigniew Preisner art Patrice Mercier, Halina Dobrowolska
Irène Jacob (Weronika/Véronique), Halina Gryglaszewska (aunt), Kalina Jedrusik (gaudy woman), Aleksander Bardini (orchestra conductor), Philippe Volter (Alexandre Fabbri),
One would be forgiven for thinking that Kieslowski had premonitions of his death, a feeling I had ever since I noticed the use of the number 270641196 in Three Colours: Blue (see the essay from that film for an explanation). I deliberately avoided watching this earlier Kieslowski film again after first seeing it in 1991 because I wanted to wait for a suitable DVD version to be released. It was a decision more than vindicated. For what over a decade ago seemed too perplexing and puzzling, now seems almost prophetic, and I shall try my best to explain what I mean. The tagline is not ill-used; the colour yellow permeates the entire film, from first to last it seems to be shot in a magical light that is not only symbolic but almost transcendental. Could it be possible that it and the later trilogy were, in actual fact, a quadrilogy?
Two young women, each called Veronica, both suffering from heart trouble, both with styes in their eyes, both with a passion for music, live in different cities, one in Poland, one in France. One day, the Polish girl sees her double board a bus in a town square, and the girl on the bus unknowingly takes a picture of her double. Soon after, the Polish girl dies of heart failure in the middle of a recital, and at virtually the exact moment that she is being buried, while in the middle of love-making session with her boyfriend, the French double feels a tangible but inexplicable feeling of loss.
Irène Jacob in Kieslowski's sublime masterpiece
One could read it that the Polish girl had disrupted the cosmic balance by seeing her double, and hence she had to die. But only in retrospect is one aware of a synchronicity beyond the movie itself, but to Kieslowski’s life. Jacob continually wears red, as if looking forward to her playing the lead in Red; the musical connection carried forward into Blue; when Véronique carries wind chimes across the school playground one instantly recalls the one memento that Binoche’s character kept in the later film; in addition to which there is the old lady seen by both women, once carrying heavy bags of shopping, once walking through a garden with a stick (looking forward to the bottle lady in the later trilogy), and the continual shots of a burned out car which, when put together with the final shot of Jacob touching a tree through her car window, adds up to the accident that takes the lives of Juliette Binoche’s husband and child in the very next scene of his film career, the opening to Blue. On another level, the musical connection goes further, as Preisner’s score not only closely resembles that for the later Blue, and that in 1999 Preisner wrote a piece in memory of Kieslowski, entitled “Requiem for a Friend”. Add to this Kieslowski’s announcement at Cannes in 1994 that Red would be his last film, before then saying weeks before his death (like Weronika, of heart failure) that he had written a final work, a trilogy about Heaven, Hell and Purgatory (later filmed by other directors). All of which is only appreciable both after the release of the later trilogy, and after the master’s death. It’s as if Veronica, in both forms, is Kieslowski himself, and that, aware of his own mortality, just as the spirit of Weronika lived on in Véronique, his spirit would live on in the visions of different directors. Those films, as it turned out, would not quite be the worthy tribute they should have been, but proof once more that he really was one of a kind and, to this writer’s eyes, the greatest film-maker of the last thirty years. Not to overlook Idziak’s photography or Jacob’s radiant, sensual yet pensive performance, her beautiful face (indeed, her whole body – the film has more nudity than other Kieslowski films) radiating an inner warmth, bathed in a golden glow. Like Jacob, the film is not merely enigmatic, baffling or even ambiguous, but an epiphany.
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Writers/Founders
I like Irene Jacob, and I agree that this movie is exceptional and quite challenging. I think Mr. Fish has really captured the things that matter the most in this film. I am not sure if it’s better than “Red” or “Blue” but it might be.
Such wonderful observations here, Mr. Fish. I find that all of The Master’s later work is filled with this sense of impending doom. Veronique and the trilogy are all mournful yet radiant. From my perspective, they are some of greatest films made.
I cannot agree more with your statement that Krzysztof Kieslowski is the best filmmaker of the last thirty years. Bravo!
Now here is a truly great movie, that I value high myself. Allan Fish has so much knowledge and he is quite an addition to your staff, as he is most eloquent. Look forward to more of his work!
….Kieslowski is certainly a genius, and his work deserves this kind of insightful attention. I have read Mr. Fish’s work on the network, and he is a major asset to the site, Sam. The opening sentences of that final paragraph are buffo.
Thanks for the kind comments Frank and Philip. I Can’t be that bad then.
When I first saw The Double Life.. I was most confused. But years later I watched it again and it seemed like a completely different movie. I will say that it looks as beautiful as it’s main player, and it never leaves the memory. The writer has really penned a great piece.
I wish you guys the best with your terrific new movie website. This great film is deserving of the headliner space–it is a haunting study of doublegangers and in all ways a very challening film.
I remember Kieslowski as the director of that (is it none?) chapter work, which inluded sections of killing and love. He is a master.
I have not seen this movie, but I am reminded of Patrice Leconte’s L’Homme du train (2002), where the themes of synchronicity, the ying and yang of being, and destiny are also explored.
I love this film. The music alone makes it great.
I saw that Leconte film Mr. D’Ambra speaks of here, and I think he’s on to something here.
Yes, there is certainly a hint of Leconte’s film, for sure. Thanks Tony, glad I’m not the only one to be mad about the film – ACF
Oh yes! I am a big big fan of this movie and it’s director. I remember thinking about “The Double Life of Veronique” for weeks after I first saw it. And I agree the music was sublime. This is really a great review of it.
[…] watched The Double Life of Veronique. Kieslowski has said all his films are the same film. This is certainly true of Three Colours and […]
Allan, I’m interested in getting this….is there a difference between the US or UK versions of the dvd?
No, I got the Artificial Eye as it was the first out and is superb. The Criterion isn’t really much better as a print, but is probably the greater package.
Bobby j:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews20/the_double_life_of_veronique_dvd_review.htm
should aid in your decision.
“Could it be possible that it and the later trilogy were, in actual fact, a quadrilogy?”
The better word to use would be “tetralogy”, I think. Or “quartet”. The only place I’ve ever seen the word “quadrilogy” is for the boxed set of the “Alien” movies (which would’ve been better left as a trilogy anyway). Still, an interesting thought.
Wow, 15 comments I thought, that’s fast! (Especially since this went up early and caught me at least by surprise – the timing not the choice, which, as I hinted, I had to see coming by now…)
Still you’ve already nabbed 2 so even with the lack of suspense you’ve got us hooked (and another Bob sighting in several days, a trademark one too no less…)
I’ll throw in the random stats that I already had ready:
1. USA, with 22 (including1 co-production)
2. UK, with 10 (including 1 co-production)
3. France, with 8 (including 2 co-productions)
4. Spain, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Hungary, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong – with 1 each; Belgium & Russia – with 1 co-production each
North America had 23 films, Europe had 21 films (UK with 10, West with 10, East with 2), Asia had 3 films, Oceania 1.
This brings the total of directors’ films to…
Kubrick/Bergman/Hitchock, 7
Rivette, 6
Kurosawa/Tarkovsky/Bresson/Bunuel/Hawks, 5
Peckinpah/Ozu/Lean/Wilder/Scorsese/Kieslowski, 4
Coppola/Truffaut/Godard/Welles/Ray/Resnais/Mizoguchi/Ford/Ophuls/ Powell & Pressburger/Sturges, 3
Also, there were (by my count) 5 miniseries/TV movies and 3 animated films, the most since the 40s or 50s. However, that aside, it was a much more homogenous list than usual, with America simply dominating the countdown. European art films filled in most of the remainder, and I was sort of surprised to see less films from outside Europe/USA, given that this was a decade in which many Third World or emerging Asian countries expanded cinematically.
As for myself, I’ve seen 22 of the films on the list, the same as the 70s, more than in the 80s, and less than in the 60s.
The 00s list should be fun as it’s pretty hard for the U.S. to dominate that countdown (unfortunately for us). However, the silents are going to be a treasure chest…200 films in all when you count the nearlies. I plan on using it as a last-minute guide before I kick off my own canonical exercise, which will wait until I’ve had a chance to catch up with Allan’s choices for the pre-1930 era.
CONGRATS MOVIEMAN-YOU GUESSED CORRECTLY! As I said in a previous comment, knowing Allan from reading him every day, this choice was obvious. He tried throwing a few curve-balls, but his love for this director is so apparent I would have been shocked if this one came any lower than No. 1. Allan confirms something that I and Sammy have been screaming for over ten years now; KEISLOWSKI WAS THE DIRECTOR OF THE DECADE! His work is sublime yet movingly powerful like a dream you cannot remember only to sneak up on you in waking moments in pieces and leave you wondering if you’d bveen there or done that before. I prefer BLUE, but its a small quip. No list of this decade, I feel, is complete without these three masterworks (RED, BLUE and DOUBLE LIFE). THIS IS ONE OF ALLAN’S 10 BEST ESSAY’S! PERIOD
As of now I’ve only seen Blue & Dekalog. I like Kieslowski – interestingly enough, he’s the “stereotypical art film director” in a lot of ways – probably the most influential on European art cinema of the past 20 years. To me he’s kind of the summit of that somewhat dubious “genre”. His work, from what I’ve seen, seems to take itself pretty seriously, to be structured around big ideas, and to take a very cool approach – nothing flamboyant (which is not to say the work is plain – Blue and Dekalog both had definite “looks” – in the case of the latter film, several given the different DPs, though still united around a common aesthetic).
As a rule, my favorite “great films” combine aspects of the high and low, art and entertainment. Not that Kieslowski’s films are enjoyable, but that definitely fall former into the former category. But all great filmmakers are rule-breakers in a sense, and Kieslowski proves the exception to my own preference. Very eagerly awaiting both this and Red, which I may pre-empt the rest of the 80s list for (after finishing Berlin Alexanderplatz of course).
One thing I’ve said in both my comments for ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ was Kieslowski’s uncanny ability to make cerebral, artistic films so damn watchable and entertaining. The two that most fit this description the most is ‘the Double Life of Veronique’ and ‘Red’ (the two you’ve never seen). I believe you will be changing your (granted only somewhat) lukewarm accusations of Kieslowski being predominately a pretentious art house director.
It’s weird to me to also see someone call him ‘stereotypical’ in ANY sense of the term, describing anything. He’s a unique master of the highest order.
I have to agree with Jamie, anyone who finds Kieslowski stereotypical might as well give up and go home now, cinema is not for them.
Well, you missed my point then. At first glance, he hits all the notes and sets the template for “stereotypical art film director” but he goes much deeper and transcends the category. Such is inevitable for a filmmaker who appears to have had a deep and lasting impact on European art cinema for the past two decades.
Read more carefully, guys – my comment was obviously in praise of the Pole. It’s not “lukewarm” so much as an admission that Kieslowski, superficially, would not be my cup of tea but as a great filmmaker he transcends that prejudice. I already like what I’ve seen (though some segments of Dekalog struck me as weaker than others on first viewing).
And Jamie, watch any number of short films/student films/European art films of the past 20 years, they are about 7 times out of 10 in the Kieslowski mold, while not up to his caliber. In a sense, I’m saying he CREATED the steretype, which is never a bad legacy for a filmmaker (i.e. he’s influential). But to not recognize this stereotype – really??? I’d say, along with Tarantino’s personal style, it’s been the most imitated aesthetic of the past two decades. AGAIN, since everyone seems to be jumping to conclusions: that’s not a bad thing! And in saying the film’s are not “entertainment” I don’t mean to suggest that they are not enjoyable.
But you got me Allan, after the thousands of films I’ve seen and loved and the diverse taste I have (in some ways, more diverse than yours Allan though I don’t pretend to have seen nearly as many films) I need to give up on cinema because my praise of Kieslowski was not slobbering enough…
Sheesh.
Sorry if my words seemed harsh MM, that was never the intent. I see your points clearer now, though I still disagree… I don’t think there can ever be a ‘stereotype’ art director–the idea you use is of an art film I could see there being a stereotype in place, but I think it’s a combo platter of Kieslowski, Wenders, Fassbinder, Tarkovsky, Tarr, and Godard mixed into one. So we just have a slight variation on this, no biggie.
I hoped my post didn’t rile any feathers, I was merely trying to state that I think ANY reservation you have with Kieslowski (if any– as I tried to make that clear when I said ‘(granted only somewhat) lukewarm’) with cease to exist after you’ve seen ‘Red’ and ‘the Double Life of Veronique’ that’s all. I (again) apologize if you see this as harsh, I think it’s fair enough; as I don’t understand one making proclamations on a directors style when perhaps his two most important films from a style standpoint remain unseen. It’s akin to me arguing things about Tarantino (used since you referenced him) having admitted I’ve never seen ‘Pulp Fiction’ and the ‘Kill Bill’ films.
Hope this explains my points better.
Jamie, no worries, the defensiveness was mostly in response to Allan’s hyperbole. I don’t think many art films follow the trails blazed by Fassbinder, Tarkovsky, Tarr, and Godard, sadly. They are usually less bold, less fiery (and less otherwordly than Tarkovsky – still have not seen any Tarr, sadly). That is, I think, in part a legacy of Kieslowski, but again it’s worth repeating: he justifies his own aesthetic with the excellence of his work. It’s the mode of expression he needs to express his vision and he makes it work beautifully from what I’ve seen. So if I express reservations about this “style”, very loosely defined, and its impact it’s not in terms of his own work.
I disagree with the Tarantino analogy in asmuch obviously I’ve missed two crucial works here, but it’s more akin to Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, I think – Dekalog is easily the most famous and most celebrated of Kieslowski’s films. Not to say it’s the best but I think it’s fair to speak, tentatively, about his approach after seeing that work – especially given that it’s 10 hours long (i.e. about as long as Tarantino’s total output).
To the extent I have reservations, it’s more due to the influence and to a certain extent the cult. I did see an interview with Kieslowski with the Polish press where he came off as somewhat arrogant and pushy, so perhaps that’s played into the image in my mind, but I really like what I’ve seen of his work so I don’t think it’s swayed me too negatively. As for the influence, I still maintain that Kieslowski – with others, of course – set the template for the modern art film (including most short and student films I’ve seen) being more restrained, slower-paced, quieter, focusing on a certain middle-class milieu (though, given the dire straits of Iron Curtain life, Dekalog obviously veers to the lower end of this spectrum). Kieslowski makes it work, and work as well as the great work of any other director so I don’t begrude him the preconditions of his work. It is not my favorite template, however, I miss the heady exuberance and passion of the 60s art cinema, and when someone as masterful as Kieslowski is not at the helm, which is usually the case, I think it leads to less interesting results than . That’s all I’m trying to say. Red and Double Life of Veronique will certainly expand my understanding of the director and perhaps shift my overall perception of his work, but I don’t think it will change my opinion of what his impact will be, particularly given that Dekalog is his most famous work and Blue his most ubiquitous (seriously, when you go to a rental store or library that has only a few foreign films, it’s almost always one of them). And based on viewing those films, alongside countless numbers of artistically-inclined shorts in particular, I find the influence indelible.
MM good post, many good points.
My selection of Tarantino works was mainly for the style of the two films I mentioned. I think they best show the ‘Tarantino style’, the way he handles visuals, dialogue, film grammar, plot structure, and music. The same goes for ‘Red’ and ‘Double Life’ in terms of Kieslowski’s career. Sure, I agree ‘Decalogue’ may be his best, but from a purely stylistic view these two films best show (to me) how Kieslowski conceived films and filmmaking (grammar, music, ect). I also think after you see them (and I expect to hear your thoughts on them damn-it!) you will totally see what I mean. I suppose our difference on the Tarantino selections is close enough for our points to match. I guess as long as the ‘Kill Bill’s are mentioned I’m fine (I consider those the most ‘Tarantino’ of his films– it’s him pretty unchecked).
As for your opinions of Kieslowski being altered (even just a little) on his prickish, arrogant behavior, I must first say I’ve never seen the clip, and secondly that I never try to judge filmmakers (or artists in general) on there behavior outside their work. Nothing in Kieslowski’s films would lead me to believe anything other then that he was an intellectually gifted, sensitive person aware of others around him. That’s all I can–and will go on. After all if I paid attention to real lives I probably would never want to see another Tarantino. Now if an artist’s output starts reflecting arrogance or contempt for an audience then I would judge that artist accordingly. I believe going your route would perhaps limits my overall scope (and I say this admitting that I refuse to watch children’s films like Pixar, Dreamworks ones ect. So I’m certainly not perfect).
That and if Kieslowski is arrogant, he clearly had reason to be…
Woah – way after the fact! I agree with you on judging Kieslowski or anyone on the basis of the personality, let alone their personality as exhibited in a half-hour interview on what may have been a bad day for them or whatever. Hence the mention of seeing him in that light, and it perhaps influencing any reservations I had, was more or less a mea culpa. (As for context, it was him berating Polish jouranlists for not doing a good job – at discussing film I think; he compared them harshly to the French press. For all I know he may have been correct, but they were all so deferential towards the revered filmmaker that I felt rather sorry for them. I believe the interview was post-communism, though if it was pre- my sympathies would probably shrivel. Anyway, not really here or there, but I think it was gleaned from the Dekalog disc if you want to check it out. At any rate most of my favorite filmmakers are jerks in one respect or another!)
I did see Red & Double Life of Veronique and both more or less confirmed the impression I had of him setting the template for future art films. After re-viewing Blue as well, I’d say that Dekalog to me is his masterpiece, for some of the reasons Stephen mentioned below – I’m more sympathetic to the Three Colors trilogy than Stephen is, but I do see it inclining less towards pretentiousness/preciousness than the French films (the elaborate reveals at the end of Red – the cameos on the ship and particularly the judge’s backstory – felt somewhat contrived to me though I enjoyed the atmosphere of the film quite a bit). I liked Veronique, but it needs another view as the impression it made is now kind of hazy to me months down the line.
I have a confession to make too: while it’s clearly the slightest of the bunch, I enjoyed White the most! Largely for the reasons Margaret mentions below; it’s just nice to see Kieslowski have a bit of fun.
Obviously I got a bit defensive above, but I can see looking back that my tone did betray a bit of skepticism of Kieslowski. Here’s how I’d put it: I readily acknowledge him as a master director and love the atmosphere he brings to his films, the style, the mood. But I do have some problems with the storytelling at times. Perhaps Dekalog works best for me because it places his storytelling in a framework which best balances gestures towards realism and a tendency towards allegory.
Not to re-open this whole discussion again, just figured I’d mosey past and update.
For me, as time went on, Kieslowski’s films felt heavier and heavier. They became more symbolic and claustrophobic and less free. His later works are more generically arty and more self-conscious.
The Dekalog, which I believe the greatest achievement in Cinema, has a confidence to tell a story simply without illustration and annotation. It’s language is simple and devastating. La Double Vie de Veronique is verbose and it’s impact muffled.
Watch out, Stephen – Allan is loading up his transatlantic bazooka…
Lol. The trouble is I’m in the UK too, so who knows what damage he could with that thing at close range.
“Its language is simple and devastating”–Yes. I think RED is Kieslowski’s greatest work, but there are segments in the Dekalog that are unmatched for power. For example, there’s one moment in the first one, “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me,” that I can never forget, and wish I could: the father has been frantically searching at night for his missing son, and then we see (as he does) the shattered hole in the ice of the pond, and men lifting out the drowned child, and the crowd who had been watching silently falling to their knees in the dark. You are changed after watching Kieslowski’s world…which is really our world, seen through very clear eyes.
“You are changed after watching Kieslowski’s world…which is really our world, seen through very clear eyes.”
Wow. That’s exactly right but I’d never thought of it in such succinct and poetic terms.
Funny, I thought the first Dekalog was the least successful of all of them when I first saw it. I will have to revisit. (I recall my favorites as being the brutal Thou Shalt Not Kill and, oddly enough, the seemingly minor but somehow deeply evocative one in which the woman kidnaps her child.) One of my favorite things about the movie is how each film is photographed differently, by a different cinematographer no less, yet somehow they are ineffably united. It’s kind of a test case of the auteur theory!
After Allan watched the Artificial Eye DVD of VERONIQUE upon release almost two years ago, he confided in me that he saw it as the best film of the 90’s. (BTW the AE DVD and the Criterion, both of which I own – Allan owns both too – are equal in their excellence) It was a new-found position, as he had not listed it as high in a prior e mail poll. But these are the re-assessments that we all have (I can’t say how may times I’ve altered my own sentiments) and they are inform by repeated and studied viewing. All told he was most consistent with his original choices from the e mail poll, more than any decade, and it appears few were surprised. But this was a superlative countdown, that again raises increduality that such a venture could be successfully completed. The writing of essays for every choices is really a miraculous achievement.
Oh and yes, VERONIQUE is a masterpiece. Of this there can be no question.
“But these are the re-assessments that we all have (I can’t say how may times I’ve altered my own sentiments) and they are inform by repeated and studied viewing”
My sentiments often change too but I think this is more to do with perspective (when I come out of watching a film my reaction to it is far stronger than long-faded assessments of films seen five years ago) and other films I’ve seen in the intervening period which shift the goalposts and alter the image of film as a whole like a new piece to a jigsaw you thought was completed. I mean A Matter of Life and Death made me like Porco Rosso more. Often it’s impossible to explain why thinks fall in and out of favour.
“Oh and yes, VERONIQUE is a masterpiece. Of this there can be no question.”
Damn. Looks like I’m going to have to move it up my list then 🙂
That’s a very fine point there Stephen, having to do with perspective!
Oh, the irony!
Sam, having checked out DVD Beaver, I’m torn between the Criterion and the AE; the latter is supposed to have a greenish hue that was the intention of the film-makers and that seems to have been boosted out of the image by those Criterion folks. Did you notice any differences and if you had to choose between the two editions, which one would you choose?
Bobby, Criterion should not have removed that hue, as far as I can ascertain. I’ll looked at them both a number of times, once side to side so to speak, and even though I am a huge Criterion supporter, I believe I would give the slightest of edges to the AE. And it would be your natural choice in any case.
Oh and any ribbing, serious or in jest of Movie Man is out of order. The Man’s eternal adoration of the countdowns, his continuous respect for this massive venture, and the work he compiles for all the statistical breakdowns speak for themselves. On a personal level, if I received such flattering treatment, I’d be on a plane to Massachusetts to thank him in person!
I also read his long submission this morning under our 30’s poll thread and enjoyed it immensely. But Movie Man doesn’t want to be patronized by me or anyone else. A tip of the cap would be enough.
Thanks, Sam, you are too kind. Keep in mind as well that my patronizing and celebration of the countdown and the site is not only a tribute to Allan, but to your own incomparable skills at stimulating discussion, building a community, and expressing your own opinions and perceptions articulately and artfully.
And Movie Man, your words to me there are deeply appreciated!!!! Thanks very much.
Your essay matches the radiance of the film, Allen. I completely agree with you that Kieslowski is the best, the most masterful director of the last thirty years. When you said that Kieslowski almost seemed to anticipate his own death, I feared that you were right. I’ve even been told (by a Polish woman writer) that in a way he orchestrated it; but whether this is just literary gossip, or a fact, I don’t know. She said that he had reached a state of desperate exhaustion after creating the Trilogy. His heart problems were well known. Famous surgeons from all over the world had offered to perform his operation. He said he trusted his state-appointed Polish surgeon–and of course he died. She said this is the way a very well-bred Pole, who is considerate of his family, commits suicide. If it’s true, what a bleak choice, easily deserving an ELEVENTH Dekalog (which would have to be renamed!) segment.
Although Veronique is a fascinating movie, I’d put it lower than any in the Trilogy (including White, which has so far been unfairly overlooked.) I’ve always had the feeling that Kieslowski was still trying out certain theories and ideas in this film, and that what we’re really charmed by is Jacob’s extraordinary performance.
Margaret this is Sam, not Allan, but I will assume Allan’s persona for a minute here and thank you profusely for your classy compliment and typically magnificent response here. As Sam, I also agree with both of you on Kieslowski’s contemporary pre-eminence.
White was in the nearlies, Margaret, superb, but not up to Veronique, Blue or Red.
Personally I think that White never got the respect of the others because it’s sometimes very funny–as in Karol’s outsmarting the thugs in his land-grab scheme. Some viewers saw this as light, or slight. But I savor Kieslowski’s lighter moments, because they don’t happen all that often! Also, it’s hard not to watch the injustices Karol Karol suffers in the beginning and not be rooting for him as with sheer brains, craftiness and chutzpah he fights his way back. After all, Equality is pretty important too!
Yeah, sort of ties in to what I was saying about why Kieslowski could be seen as the archetypal art film director; that’s another thing Godard and his generation had going that art films don’t seem to engage in quite as much: humor…
It is interesting that White always get put down. I haven’t seen it or Red; I’ll be watching Red soon in honor of Allan’s countdown, by (after what will probably be a break in my Netflix schedule) I should watch White and re-watch Blue. This whole discussion and Allan’s reviews have really put me in the mood for Kieslowski. I’d say I’m more excited about receiving these discs than I’ve been for any Wonders choices so far. Good stuff…
While this wouldn’t really be my choice for top film of the decade it’s not a selection I quarrel with either. It’s visually one of the more seductive films in the history of cinema, narratively one of the more entrancing. As I suggested earlier there is nonetheless a certain obscurantism to it but I happily absorb it with this particular work.
Whoa… 3rd Kieslowski in the top 10. All the later movies are kind of unexpected. But what a brilliant series it was. One top review after another. Superb effort, Allan.
Thanks for all the fish, Mr. Fish!
Kieslowski said in his book, Kieslowski On Kieslowski edited by Danusia Stok, that he was filming the same film all his life. He was just trying to get closer & closer. So, in The Double Life Of Véronique, Weronika is heard singing to the music of the (fictitious) eighteenth-century Dutch composer, Van den Budenmayer, music that is also hummed by the girl with the heart condition in Decalogue 9. Kieslowski would often use undeveloped ideas from earlier films to use in later films. So he used the colour Red to signify memory & connection in both The Double Life Of Veronique & Three Colours Red. On the subject of colour, Slawek Idziak used a huge sheet of amber cellophane over his lens hood for The Double Life Of Véronique. So, the puppeteer seems to be driving a green van rather than the blue one that it actually is. Finally, Kieslowski used to say that if, in the editing room, he noticed a scene was explaining to the audience that ‘this means that’, he would cut it out without hesitation. So, for example, for Scene 17 shot in the Rynek Growny square of Krakow, where the protestors shout out “Communists – to Siberia!”, throw a Molatow cocktail & a Police car is seen bursting into flames, Kieslowski cut it out from the final version. There was need to keep it in because another car, outside the Brasserie Alize cafe in Paris, is going to be heard bursting into flames by Véronique on her Walkman when she is playing the puppeteer’s cassette tape in her apartment & the connection can be readily made by the audience to the earlier scene. If you do decide to visit Poland in the near future, pass a glance at my site because I will be publishing a post about the train scene where Weronika looks at a village & an old church passing by, through a clear plastic ball. The view Weronika sees from the train is the same one as that seen in the picture on her bedroom wall that her father had drawn.
I remain, &c.
Alexander Dyle
My comment should have read ‘There was no need to keep it in…’
My apologies. A.D.