The Frame

from the pen of Jandy Stone

The Double Life of Veronique

By Jandy • Oct 23rd, 2007 • Category: Capsule Reviews •

If Krzysztof Kieslowski didn’t win my award for MOST BEAUTIFUL FILMS EVER with the Three Colors trilogy, he’s definitely got it now that I’ve seen Veronique. Every single shot of this film is absolute perfection. In fact, every moment of the film is absolute perfection. The colors, the framing, the reflections, Irene Jacob’s face, everything. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful films, but this is the most gorgeous one yet…every single ordinary object is imbued with extraordinary wonder. And the music, oh, the music. With Blue, the music was the main thing that kept me engaged with the plot. Here, the music is what ties the film together, and it’s even more successful. Oh, plot. Right. Irene Jacob plays Weronica, a Polish girl, as well as Veronique, a French girl. The film is playing with concepts of doubling–the girls don’t ever meet, and they aren’t the same person or separated twins or anything like that, but they do share some sort of mystical/spiritual connection. Don’t ask me exactly how that works, but it makes for a very intriguing meditation. And even if you don’t get the plot, did I mention it’s TOTALLY GORGEOUS? Mark me down as a Kieslowski fangirl.
Superior

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Jandy is a twenty-something recovering academic (English literature), she now devotes more of her time to catching up on film studies on her own, as well as being a music junkie, gamer girl, and TV addict.
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  • rot
    Yeah I was aiming for beauty as something distinct from lust, although wired as I am that is sometimes hard to accomplish. It is an interesting thing to try, I suppose it doesn't need to be limited to any one kind of form, but find the particular images that evoke transcendental beauty for you. That frame of Cabiria makes me cry every single time it happens, thats magic.

    Regarding out prettying Veronique, I gotta go with Malick (who I believe uses a different cinematographer on every film he does) and yet every film is gorgeous, the most iconic being perhaps Days of Heaven.
  • Thanks, Mike! I'm hopefully going to revisit Veronique soon, and maybe I can come up with something more coherent to say about it this time than "OMG SO PRETTY," but hey. Sometimes that alone is worth saying, and I haven't seen any film since that out-pretties Veronique.

    I did see that post, but I didn't click through because I was at work at the time and took note of your nudity warning. Then I forgot to go back and look at it. Great choices. I especially loved that you included Guiletta Masina in Nights of Cabiria - she's the perfect example for me of someone who isn't necessarily traditionally beautiful, but has such a wonderful face and persona that you fall in love with her anyway. I rewatched La Strada recently and thought the same thing.
  • rot
    damn you got taste, Jandy! Not sure if you caught my post on Row Three called 'Captured Beauty' it was a bunch of choice visuals from film that I feel embodies beauty through the female form, and Irene Jacob's face pressed against the glass was included.

    Great site by the way, content and design.
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