la double vie de veronique

I first heard about "The Double Life of Veronique" through New York Magazine; the Fall 2007 Rodarte gift bag contained a DVD of the 1991 Kieslowski film. I finished watching it last night after moving it to the top of my Netflix queue. I couldn't stop thinking about what a lovely film it was and I became nostalgic for the film classes that I took during my undergraduate days.

The film stars Irene Jacob, winner of the Cannes 1991 Best Actress award for her performance as Veronique and Veronika. Born at the same time 20 years ago in Poland and France; Veronique and Veronika are identical in every way, yet share neither mother nor father. They grow up to lead eerily similar lives and both have the feeling that they are not alone. The movie shows the auteur as voyeur, with Kieslowski at his best, coddling the lovely Irene Jacobs with his camera as she wanders breathlessly and dreamingly through Krakow and Paris. Both Veronique and Veronika are aware of their beauty yet they navigate their respective worlds in a child-like way, removed from the everyday. They are so conscious of it that the world around them molds into an aesthetic ideal. Their presence lends a magical tinge to the most common of situations, as if they are the characters in a story book. Perhaps the movie is similar to "Amelie" in some ways yet more despondent. It has an evanescence and seductiveness and that makes "Amelie" look like the saccharine cute-fest that it is.

If you didn't need more reason to see the movie, here are some stills. Couldn't you just stare at Irene Jacob the whole day?