The Double Life of Veronica by Krzysztof Kieślowski

By Simone Malacrida

Decades after its release, "The Double Life of Veronica" is wrongly considered an interlude film between Krzysztof Kieślowski's two most famous works. The artistic refinement, the delicate style, the magnificent interpretation of Irene Jacob and the exuberant music of Zbigniew Preisner make, on the contrary, this work completely unique and unrepeatable.
A little jewel that we will try to explore in this book, always keeping in mind the never fully revealed mystery that surrounds this film production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simone Malacrida
• Release date: Oct 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223613619

Simone Malacrida

Simone Malacrida (1977) Ha lavorato nel settore della ricerca (ottica e nanotecnologie) e, in seguito, in quello industriale-impiantistico, in particolare nel Power, nell'Oil&Gas e nelle infrastrutture. E' interessato a problematiche finanziarie ed energetiche. Ha pubblicato un primo ciclo di 21 libri principali (10 divulgativi e didattici e 11 romanzi) + 91 manuali didattici derivati. Un secondo ciclo, sempre di 21 libri, è in corso di elaborazione e sviluppo.

Book preview

The Double Life of Veronica by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Simone Malacrida (1977)

Engineer and writer, he has dealt with research, finance, energy policies and industrial plants.

ANALYTICAL INDEX

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INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 - TECHNICAL SHEET OF THE FILM

CHAPTER 2 – THE IDEA AND THE STRUCTURE

CHAPTER 3 – THEMES AND MEANINGS

CHAPTER 4 – CORRESPONDENCES

CHAPTER 5 – FINDINGS AND SUBSEQUENT EVOLUTIONS

CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The opinions and reflections in this book represent the author's personal ideas and are the result of multiple viewings of the film The Double Life of Veronica (and other works by director Krzysztof Kieślowski).

All this has been integrated with what is present in the Bibliography section, drawing valid ideas from past interviews and analyses.

Decades after its release, The Double Life of Veronica is wrongly considered an interlude film between Krzysztof Kieślowski's two most famous works. The artistic refinement, the delicate style, the magnificent interpretation of Irene Jacob and the exuberant music of Zbigniew Preisner make, on the contrary, this work completely unique and unrepeatable.

A little jewel that we will try to explore in this book, always keeping in mind the never fully revealed mystery that surrounds this film production.

" I'm not entirely sure what this story means. "

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Statement by Krzysztof Kieślowski regarding the film The Double Life of Veronica.

INTRODUCTION

If you try to explore the life and works of Krzysztof Kieślowski, you will find various interviews, online or in paper, books that tell his evolution over the decades and reviews from film critics.

Given this set, the majority percentage (and far above half, I would say at least eighty percent) is dedicated to his cycles or films that make up a series: the Decalogue (made up, in fact, of ten medium-length films) and the Color Trilogy (consisting of three films).

This is quite normal, as these are the best known and most famous works, especially compared to what was produced before 1988 (i.e. before the Decalogue) and confined within the Polish artistic and expressive space.

Documentary productions, or even some films such as Without End or Blind Destiny, were confined to the confines of the socialist system and barely distributed abroad, often even without dubbing.

In all of this, however, there is a lack.

And not of little importance, I would say fundamental.

There is little or nothing even from the film which is placed chronologically halfway between the Decalogue and the trilogy.

Such a film is The Double Life of Veronica.

Over time, a wrong idea, as widespread as it is inconsistent, has crystallized.

That is, this film is nothing but an interlude, a pause between much more complex efforts as it is part of cycles.

A kind of exception, to be treated as such.

Thus the space dedicated to this work has gradually decreased.

This book was born as an attempt, perhaps unrealistic, to restore the film in question to its central position.

In conceiving a trilogy of essays on Kieślowski's films, of which the first can only be linked to the Decalogue and the last to the color trilogy, the second, that is, this one, is internally dedicated to The Double Life of Veronica.

This kind of reparation for a wrong suffered is, in reality, in line with what happened historically.

As soon as it was presented, the film met with unparalleled success for Kieślowski's works and inaugurated a trend and fashion.

This is how it was seen in the early 1990s and this is how we will present it in this book.

If the subsequent works (those of the trilogy) have overshadowed the film, it is not the task of this analysis, which has the intention of bringing the hands of the clock back to the two-year period 1990-1991, albeit with the eyes and today's experiences.

To tell the truth, if one were to look in retrospect in a completely free from opinion, the importance of The Double Life of Veronica immediately catches the eye.

Without the idea and creation of this film, there would have been no trilogy, neither because of the choice of actresses, nor because of the role of music, nor because of the availability of a European and no longer Polish production.

Therefore, the film is a fundamental building block, a piece without which it would have been impossible to continue further.

In reality, the importance of the issues addressed and the way in which they were exposed are evident regardless of future developments.

In other parts, the film makes sense internally, without necessarily having to seek links with the past or the future (links which, incidentally, exist and are of a significant nature).

At first glance, the work revolves around two large pivots.

Irene Jacob's interpretation and Zbigniew Preisner's music.

This is not enough.

Without superb cinematography and the profound meanings of the screenplay, the whole thing would have remained an exercise in style.

Instead, the story takes on intricate and mysterious facets, probing eternal and insoluble questions deep within.

Are we alone in the world?

What relationship exists between us and others?

What would our future be like if we were fully aware of our choices?

Is there a Destiny that moves us like puppets or are we free?

What are the mutual influences of feelings and how is a non-conflictual and truthful relationship established?

Is there anything beyond our senses, our intuition, our imagination and our ideas?

The director does not give definitive answers to all these questions.

There is no solution, much less The Solution.

There is no ending, no fixed point.

So how can we live and how can we bear the weight of existence?

Going beyond the first impression, scratching the surface and bringing the person back to the centre, Veronica's double life speaks to the soul of every human being.

In another form and under other circumstances, universal questions are projected onto the screen.

It's the man (or woman, in this case) at the center of everything.

It is the investigation into human nature that interests the director and this is implemented through the artistic tools of cinematography.

Images, lights, colors, sounds, words, dialogues, actions.

Unlike a book, in which