maybe not the best movie to just bring over to someone's house
I am a big Kieslowski fan (he directed the Three Colors trilogy, which I always think is famous just because one of my professors had a big poster of Juliette Binoche's head in his office, and it made an impression on me), and so thought little of suggesting one of his films for watching at my friend Vani's house the other week. After drinking some tea, we popped the DVD in her computer, and I was quite enjoying the film when I noticed that Vani was getting sort of restless. Mostly I noticed when she declared that she wasn't in the right mood for tragic females. I mean, sure, The Double Life of Veronique is probably 90% long, slow, dialogueless shots of Irene Jacob:
Like so. But the soundtrack is amazing, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the premise is intriguing. (Plus, I love to hear Polish and French spoken, and the anonymous early '90s style is delightful). However, I sort of got Vani's point when one of Jacob's characters falls in love with a creepy marionette-ist.
(That's not him, but it serves to illustrate the difficulty of believing that one could fall in love with the man who creates tiny, life-like, dead women at first sight.)
Anyway, there's an extremely uncomfortable sex scene that made me feel as though someday I would read something about Kieslowski being a misogynist and would then have to be embarrassed for loving his films so much, and then an ambiguous ending that I thought meant one thing until I saw the U.S. ending, and then I wasn't sure what it meant.
I'd like to discuss this movie with someone sometime, because I think it's interesting that Kieslowski doesn't care if his message is ambiguous or his plots are tied up. He started out making documentaries, and I think it really shows in his work. Although every set piece, person on film and, really, every color displayed seem to have been meticulously set in place for maximum effect, and the plot of this movie deals with supernatural coincidences, the camera then deliberately goes on to just film as non-intrusive observer.
Probably that doesn't make sense. Here's the short view: overall, this is a movie worth watching, if you like these sorts of movies.
Like so. But the soundtrack is amazing, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the premise is intriguing. (Plus, I love to hear Polish and French spoken, and the anonymous early '90s style is delightful). However, I sort of got Vani's point when one of Jacob's characters falls in love with a creepy marionette-ist.
(That's not him, but it serves to illustrate the difficulty of believing that one could fall in love with the man who creates tiny, life-like, dead women at first sight.)
Anyway, there's an extremely uncomfortable sex scene that made me feel as though someday I would read something about Kieslowski being a misogynist and would then have to be embarrassed for loving his films so much, and then an ambiguous ending that I thought meant one thing until I saw the U.S. ending, and then I wasn't sure what it meant.
I'd like to discuss this movie with someone sometime, because I think it's interesting that Kieslowski doesn't care if his message is ambiguous or his plots are tied up. He started out making documentaries, and I think it really shows in his work. Although every set piece, person on film and, really, every color displayed seem to have been meticulously set in place for maximum effect, and the plot of this movie deals with supernatural coincidences, the camera then deliberately goes on to just film as non-intrusive observer.
Probably that doesn't make sense. Here's the short view: overall, this is a movie worth watching, if you like these sorts of movies.
posted by Tessa at
6:27 PM
3 Comments:
I was actually enrolled in a class all about about Kieslowski, but sadly had to drop all my classes that semester. I've been a fan of his since then and have really wanted to see The Double Life of Veronique for some time, but haven't been able to get my hands on it. Do you own it? I'd love to watch it some day and discuss it as well : )
I don't own it--it was netflixed--but the criterion collection dvd just came out in November, so it should be more widely available now?
awesome, I'll have to put it on my queue!
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