Marathon UpdateThe Double Life of Véronique Random thoughts I had time to reflect on while watching The Double Life of Véronique:
I usually favour films with clear, strong narratives (among other things), so TDLOV may not have been the best movie for me in that regard.
This. In no time at all I had completely lost my footing, unable to tell what it was I was supposed to get from the film besides the amazing cinematography. I should confess the unpopular opinion that I have not liked the films of Krzysztof Kieślowski that I've seen, except for White, his least popular. I got very little from Blue and Red and I really didn't like Decalogue, which is why I put off Véronique for so long.
Getting back to the cinematography, I looked up Slawomir Idziak while the movie unfolded and discovered A) I Love this guy from Black Hawk Down and HP and the Order of the Phoenix. His work reminds me a lot of Bruno Delbonnel, who did Amélie and Half-Blood Prince. It's pretty groundbreaking stuff. B) Sam the Cinema Snob loves him even more.
Sam wrote an excellent review which I think really nails this film. Well worth a read if you want a better idea of what the film is.
This is a great writeup from someone who is obviously very pasisonate about the movie. (It's currently his #8 film of all time.) This passion also helped me to appreciate the film a bit more beyond the pretty visuals. I'm anxious to see how it grows in my mind, and when I'll be hungry to watch it again. Speaking of pretty visuals...
Iréne Jacob, pretty. I know there are better and more intellectual reasons for enjoying a film. And she is a really good actress giving a strong performance. I'm not taking anything away from her talent. However, in this movie it must be said that she is jaw-droppingly stunning. If there was a Top 5 Best Looking in a single movie I'm thinking Kidman in Moulin Rouge, Portman in Closer and Jacob here. I actually didn't care for the nudity. She's too good to lower herself to such a tawdry display. And I've seen Jacob in photos and in Red, but in this film at this time with this haircut... perfect.
Certainly the biggest surprise of the film.
What Sam refers to as Weronika's grand finale. And it happens remarkably early. I thought it was going to be a film about parallel lives, you know with a lot of
cutting back and forth. But this ballsy move turns the whole premise on it's ear.Final Thought: While I realized early this wasn't my kind of film, I actually kind of liked it.
Compared to my Top 100 of the 00'sVéronique would not make my Top 100... on just a first watch.
Next Up:Laura
The Son
Stroszek