Analysing The Double Life of Veronique (1991) the French-Polish-Norwegian drama film directed by Kryzysztof Kieslowski in relation to the seventh chapter of Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses by Thomas Elsaesser and Malte Hagener.
According to Thomas Elsaesser and Malte Hagener in their book, Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses, experiencing film does not only involve one or two but all five senses in the human body. While all work together to create the full experience, each has their own set of unique effects and consequences. Using the seventh chapter of this text, Chapter 7: Cinema as Brain- Mind and Body, The Double Life of Veronique (1991) the French-Polish-Norwegian drama film directed by Kryzysztof Kieslowski will be discussed in relation to the main ideas explored in this chapter.
While some may claim that a movie is only a movie, the way in which they can influence and alter the world views and feelings of the spectators is proof of its power well beyond the frame. According to Elsaesser and Hagener, “Underlying this view of cinema is the idea that films are not simply exterior objects whose reception covers a limited time span and which ‘disappear,’ so to speak, after that, but rather that films, once seen, continue to live in us and can haunt and influence us in much the same manner as past memories or actual experiences.” (T, Elsaesser & M, Hagener (2015), p. 171) They describe film and a person’s experience of it as not limited to its running time or the time we commit to viewing the content. Rather, the messages communicated stay with us, and have the capability of influencing our future decisions and life choices in a quasi- religious way. The Double Life of Veronique certainly has this effect.
The idea in the tale of the two identical women living different but in many ways similar lives, in separate geographical locations is itself rather haunting. Halloway states that “Doppelgänger is a German word many “double goer” and refers to a wraith or apparition that cast no shadows and is a replica or double of a living person. They were generally considered as omens of bad luck or even signs of impending death – a doppelgänger seen by a person's relative or friend was said to signify that illness or danger would befall that person, while seeing one's own doppelgänger was said to be an omen of death.” When considering the film’s narrative in regards to the fate of each woman, it matches up entirely with this legend. Weronika is the one who sees her double, Veronique amongst tourists on her way home to practice her sheet music. While she smiles and is undisturbed by her encounter, shortly following this moment, Weronika dies rather randomly in front of a crowd of people. In contrast, it is not Veronique but someone else who first sees an image of Weronika, from her visit to Krakow.
While Veronique does not literally pass away within the running time of the film, it is at the moment when Alexandre Fabbri kills her in terms of her freedom and self determination as an individual. He has just bedded Veronique before he sees the picture, highlighting his sexual and bodily dominance over her. Seeing the photo however is what inspires him to take ownership of her life as this is what inspires his new puppet show story, the story of two identical women living in different places. Near the end of the film, Veronique discovers not one but two puppet dolls made in her image. While it is obviously about two women that look the same, when she asks Alexandre the reason behind needing a second, he says how they often break because he handles them a lot during performances. He claims the second one is to be a back up. The idea of the doll, a non-living and in that way, an almost immortal object having an expiration date or death is interesting and becomes a memento mori for all things and for Veronique. While she seems to be the surviving girl from the original pair, she too will die and if taken literally, at the hands of Alexandre Fabbri himself.
The fact that the ‘deaths’ of the two main characters align so closely with such an old and infamous myth, gives it the same effect as a film ‘based on a true story’. When parts of the film match up with our prior knowledge of the world, it becomes all the more real and vivid to experience. When read in this way, the seemingly romantic mystery goes sour. Love and destiny turns to possession and inevitable death. This is even stronger because the audience literally feels this physically and psychologically. During the dream like shots in the film, such as in the love scene between Veronique and Alexandre, we feel what she feels because of what we see. When you are in love and with that special person, it can feel as if the rest of the world melts away. The film does this literally with the close up shots of touch and reaction. Everything else in the background becomes somewhat irrelevant, as it is all about the couple at this moment. This matches up with the idea expressed in Elsaesser and Hagener’s chapter that film in many ways can replicate mental processes. In this example, the scene looks how we are feeling or are made to feel. To a more extreme extent, films with such sensual and subjective cinematography, where the audience feels and thinks along with with the main character, can be stored in their brains almost as lived experiences. They become memories of things we did but never did, just as a person can feel exhilarated while watching a fast pace action movie without leaving their seat.
Therefore, The Double Life of Veronique is an effective example of how filmic experiences deeply involve the brain of the audience member and how our minds and bodies are appealed to and manipulated throughout the running time and beyond. According to Thomas Elsaesser and Malte Hagener in their book, Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses, experiencing film does not only involve one or two but all five senses in the human body. This is especially evident in the case of Chapter 7: Cinema as Brain- Mind and Body, where an undeniable collection of factors and effects are broken down and discussed.
References
The Double Life of Veronique. Dir. Kryzysztof Kieslowski. Sidéral Films (France) Miramax (United States), 1991. Film
Elsaesser, T. & Hagener, M. (2015), ‘Chapter 7: Cinema as Brain- Mind and Body’, Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses, Routledge, New York
Flaxman, G. (2000), The Brain is the Screen: Deleuze and the Philosophy of Cinema, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, London
Holloway, A. (2014), Doppelgangers and the Mythology of Spirit Doubles, http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/doppelgangers-and-mythology-spirit-doubles-001825, accessed on 9/10/17
Pizzato, M. (2006), Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY
Young, Skip Dine. (2012), Psychology at the Movies, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK
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