My Writings

Jacob (previously in Au Revoir Les Enfants, but little known outside France at the time) plays Veronika an independent free spirited girl from Krakow with a burgeoning talent - her operatic voice, who wins an audition and is about to launch a career as a soloist, but the strain of hitting the top notes causes her death on stage due to a heart defect. She also plays Veronique, a French girl who cuts short her own musical career because she is diagnosed with the same condition. The two never meet except for a glimpse from a bus when Veronique visits Poland. Kieslowski wisely avoids the cliche of cutting between the two lives, preferring to concentrate on Veronika, and then Veronique. There is a spiritual connection between the two, and also a human connection, as Veronika's boyfriend, a puppeteer named Alexandre (Philippe Volter) visits Paris for a show. Veronique is drawn to the puppeteer until she finally understands why she has always had the feeling of being in two places at once.

At times we feel that there is a missing ingredient as the film plays out, until we are periodically reminded what this iis. Once more we hear Preisner's haunting composition Concerto en Mi Mineur, using Dante's poem To The Sky as lyricsVan den Budenmayer Concerto en Mi Mineur and associated with fictitious Dutch composer Van den Budenmayer. It produces a hypnotic affect. Kieslowski has really gathered his A team for this movie, including his long time collaborator, co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz. The outcome is a new benchmark for art house movies.