The Double Life Of Veronique Details

A visual poem

Strange and rather beautiful, filmed with Kieslowski's characteristic attention to detail, and carried off wonderfully by Irene Jacob at the heart of the film.

Her emotional sensitivity and sheer heart-melting loveliness make the shift from Polish Weronika to French Veronique work seamlessly, when it could easly have been a spectacular failure.

The film's dream -like narrative - full of contradictions, loose ends and mysterious connections that never quite make sense - is well-suited to the enigmatic subject matter, though it probably won't suit everyone's tastes.

If you're looking for a belting good story with a logical development, look elsewhere. Veronique will only work for you if you approach it as poetry rather than as narrative - as a poetic exploration of a young woman's inner world(s). The film is littered with metaphor and visual symbolism, but it is not a film with a mystery that can be 'solved' in any rational way.

You could view 'The Double Life Of Veronique' as a curious prelude to the 'Three Colours trilogy', or you could study it the better to understand why it doesn't quite achieve the perfection of those three wonderful films. Or you could simply enjoy it as a fascinating artwork in its own right.

In spite of its flaws it is, as Jacob herself observes in an interview on the bonus disc of this package, one of those films that really seems to take people on a journey.

[Highly rated reviewer]

excellent intelligent and engrossing

This is a lovely well made intelligent film and i love the directors work so i may be slightly predujiced.

If you are a fan of world cinema and love a well scripted dialogue delivered by great actors then this is one for your list - you will not be dissapointed.