The Double Life Of Veronique

I originally saw Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Double Life of Veronique (1991) when it was released theatrically, but I did not remember it well. I now see that is because the film is enigmatic, there isn't a clear story line. I have recently watched Criterion editions of his other masterworks- The Dekalog and The Three Colors Trilogy, so I thought that I should also re-watch this classic. Irene Jacob, the lead of my favorite Kieslowski film Red, plays the French Veronique and Polish Weronika-two women who are essentially doubles of each other, women who are gifted singers. It was conceived from one of The Dekalog episodes in which a young girl is having an operation to strengthen her heart in order to allow her to sing in concerts. This film is notable for the green filters used by the master cinematographer and frequent Kieslowski collaborator, Slawomir Idziak. Music also plays a central role in this film, as in many of his other films, and the musical score was done by another frequent collaborator, Zbigniew Preisner. In fact there are songs by Preisner's musical alter ego Van den Budenmayer, a fictitious Dutch composer whose "work" surfaced in subsequent projects. The Criterion treatment includes: a restored high-definition digital transfer, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, audio commentary featuring Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski, three short documentaries by Kieslowski: Factory (1970), Hospital (1976), and Railway Station (198The Musicians (1958), a short film by Kieslowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz, Kieslowski Dialogue (1991), a documentary featuring a candid interview with Kieslowski and rare behind-the-scenes footage from the set of this film, 1966-1988: Kieslowski, Polish Filmmaker, a 2005 documentary tracing the director's work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Veronique, video interviews with actress Irene Jacob, cinematographer Slawomir Idziak, and composer Zbigniew Preisner, and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Romney and selections from Kieslowski on Kieslowsk.