THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE

In THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE, there are really two Veroniques: one, Veronika, lives in Poland; the other, Veronique, lives in Paris. Both look identical, were born on the same day 25 years earlier, have beautiful singing voices, and heart conditions. Each feels as though she has a “double” somewhere in the world. Veronika captures the first half of the film, visiting her aunt in Krakow, winning a singing competition, then dying during an impassioned performance. On the same day as her death, the story switches to Veronique who was earlier in Krakow before boarding a French school bus. She manages to take a picture of Veronika through the window as the bus pulls away. The Parisian portion of the film is quite ethereal. Veronique, feeling grief, gives up her singing and takes up with a writer of children’s books.

Polish Director Krzysztof Kieslowski weaves contrived metaphysical tidbits into the story showing the parallels in the women’s lives. The idea of the “doppelganger,” or someone out there who is paralleling one’s existence, hangs heavy over THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE. However, the explicit sex scenes and graphic nude shots of Veronique make this movie an unrated but still a NC-17 film.