359 The Double Life of Véronique

[Satyajit's Son]

The Double Life of Véronique



Krzysztof Kieślowski’s international breakthrough remains one of his most beloved films, a ravishing, mysterious rumination on identity, love, and human intuition. Irène Jacob is incandescent as both Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a French music teacher. Though unknown to each other, the two women share an enigmatic, emotional bond, which Kieślowski details in gorgeous reflections, colors, and movements. Aided by Slawomir Idziak’s shimmering cinematography and Zbigniew Preisner’s haunting, operatic score, Kieślowski creates one of cinema’s most purely metaphysical works. The Double Life of Véronique is an unforgettable symphony of feeling.

Disc Features
- Restored high-definition digital transfer (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary by Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Three short documentary films by Kieślowski: Factory (1970), Hospital (1976), and Railway Station (1980)
-The Musicians (1958), a short film by Kieślowski’s teacher Kazimierz Karabasz
- Kieślowski’s Dialogue (1991), a documentary featuring a candid interview with Kieślowski and rare behind-the-scenes footage from the set of The Double Life of Véronique
- 1966-1988: Kieślowski, Polish Filmmaker, a 2005 documentary tracing the filmmaker’s work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Véronique
- A 2005 interview with actress Irène Jacob
- New video interviews with cinematographer Slawomir Idziak and composer Zbigniew Preisner
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie, and a selection from Kieślowski on Kieślowski (Note: Blu-ray booklet includes only Romney essay and Kieślowski on Kieślowski reprint)

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[denti alligator]

Not sure if this belongs here or if this is news (I haven't seen any mention of this somewhere else). This is the reply I got yesterday in response to my question on whether the CC are planning on releasing Kieslowski's Dekalog:

We are actually currently working on a Double Life of Veronique release. As a lot of work still needs to be done, we do not currently have and estimated release date. If you check the "Coming Soon" page on our website you can see planned future release dates once they have been determined.

I hope this helps, and please feel free to contact us with any future questions or concerns.

Shocked, not just that CC is releasing this (who saw that coming!) but, even more, that someone at Criterion actually provided this information instead of the usual response.

I certainly like this Matt Lipson guy better than Mulvaney. I guess I shouldn't have splurged on the green-tinted mk2 release.

[Cinesimilitude]

I too am shocked. and excited. I might actually start asking more questions.

[arsonfilms]

I just... I'm just so happy...

[denti alligator]

I actually think this must be a hoax. I mean the guy's name is an anagram for "Not Palmist," which means he can't tell the future, let alone what Criterion may be working on.

[FilmFanSea]

Astounding news. This finally appears to answer the question of who controls the rights to The Double Life of Véronique in Region 1, Paramount or Buena Vista. Although Paramount released it on VHS, they have no licensing arrangement with Criterion, so the licensor must be Buena Vista.

OK, Buena Vista, I'll let this one slide by. But the next Criterion license needs to be Buñuel's Belle de jour. Understood?

[justeleblanc]

Not sure if this belongs here or if this is news (I haven't seen any mention of this somewhere else). This is the reply I got yesterday in response to my question on whether the CC are planning on releasing Kieslowski's Dekalog:

We are actually currently working on a Double Life of Veronique release. As a lot of work still needs to be done, we do not currently have and estimated release date. If you check the "Coming Soon" page on our website you can see planned future release dates once they have been determined.

I hope this helps, and please feel free to contact us with any future questions or concerns.

No way did Matt Lipson say that.

[Jeff]

No way did Matt Lipson say that.

It sounds unlikely to me too, but I'm willing to give Satyajit's Son the benefit of the doubt for the time being. I'm skeptical because Criterion has never been that forthcoming, and haven't answered anything that I've asked in months. Of course, I've only asked about one or two titles, and maybe they just don't like me. Before I suggest Satyajit's Son's pants are on fire, I will email Criterion myself to ask if DLV is coming. Maybe some others should do the same since they dont respond to me.

If it is, in fact, coming, I would suggest that it has most likely not been licensed from Buena Vista. Miramax was the U.S. distributor, but that may have been a limited distribution agreement (which most of their deals were at that time). If so, the rights now belong to Studio Canal (whom Criterion does regularly license from).

[Cinesimilitude]

OK, Buena Vista, I'll let this one slide by. But the next Criterion license needs to be Buñuel's Belle de jour. Understood?

My sentiment's exactly. and a Kieslowski boxset of the Three Colors would be a nice counterpart to the Veronique release, while there at it.

Before I suggest Satyajit's Son's pants are on fire, I will email Criterion myself to ask if DLV is coming.

I thought about asking him to forward the email to me, but a good spoofer could fake that as well.

we'll see. If it's a 2006 release, this could be legit news, It's not like they gave us anything in the recent newsletter.

[stroszeck]

PHUCK YEAH!

[Ashirg]

Found a reference to Matt Lipson in here and here

[jorencain]

Found a reference to Matt Lipson in here and here

Why doesn't Criterion have a "Ask Matt Lipson" link on their page?!?! Enough of this Mulvaney schitt.

[Cinephrenic]

Did Mulvaney die? Was he kidnapped by Iraqi militants? I haven't found any footage on the net. Just wondering...because I'm still waiting for replies if Pickpocket will be released by Criterion. #-o

[pianocrash]

Matt Lipson himself told me that criterion would never, in a jillion years, release pickpocket, and that, in fact, all the copies which bear the criterion logo are bootlegs, and that CC is in on the deal themselves (a buena vista distribution coup, or so he says).

[Gordon]

I went for broke:

"How much information can you give me regarding Criterion's releases from October onwards?

Any info would be much appreciated."

If you don't ask, you don't get, as a colleague of mine used to say. Let's hope that we get something.

[sevenarts]

sounds suspicious, but damn, i just got the AE too. i'm pretty happy with that dvd in any case, so no big deal. kieslowski is finally being represented, through AE/MK2, pretty decently on dvd, so i'm in no urgent demand for Criterions of these films.

[Satyajit's Son]

No way did Matt Lipson say that.

It sounds unlikely to me too, but I'm willing to give Satyajit's Son the benefit of the doubt...

I appreciate the vote of confidence. I did not make this up. Honestly, I was just as surprised as all of you are when I read that email. I guess we'll just have to wait and see for ourselves.

[justeleblanc]

Fair enough. Matt Lipson has gotten back to me before, but not about upcoming titles. He is pretty chatty.

[pro-bassoonist]

...so i'm in no urgent demand for Criterions of these films.

I much rather have La Notte at this point than Veronique. The MK2 set is perfect!

Pro-B

[Dr. Mabuse]

re MK2: Well, for one thing it's missing an Annette Insdorf commentary. And the jury is still out on the transfer.

[nick]

This is very interesting news. I own the AE disc and while the image and the extras are excellent (I believe a full port of the MK2) I am disappointed with the subtitles. I'm not complaining about the translation itself, but the fact that a few of the lines go by too fast to even read the first word. Perhaps I'm the only one sensitive to this. Hopefully this rumor comes true as I would welcome a criterion release

[thethirdman]

I wonder if Peter Cowie will try to find his way onto this release.
I cannot stand the menus on M2K releases so I would prefer a Criterion release.

[King of Kong]

It'd be great if Criterion would release the Dekalog - perhaps they can get the rights to the seemingly voluminous extra footage on the Polish boxset and fit them with English subs. My Facets Dekalog has served me well over the past while, but it's time for a change...

[dadaistnun]

Criterion would have a hard time trumping the MK2 disc in the extras department; maybe more short films and, as someone else said, a commentary by Insdorf. They could also include the U.S./Miramax ending.

I would be curious, however, to see how the colors would compare between MK2 and a similarly high-quality release. As incredible as the MK2 transfer is, there is an interesting discrepancy between its look at times and that of the old full-frame laserdisc as well as corresponding clips in the making-of documentary.

From the film



From the making-of doc



I've never seen DLOV in the theater, so I can't say what the prints looked like, but the second shot here more accurately represents my memories of the laserdisc. That having been said, my experience watching the MK2 dvd was incredibly hypnotic. Even on my regular old tube tv, the image quality just blew me away.

[sevenarts]

I much rather have La Notte at this point than Veronique. The MK2 set is perfect!

Ditto. Especially since I'm waiting on L'eclisse so I can watch the trilogy in order.