Kieslowski's Work in Poland
One of my favorite extras on the DVD is the half-hour French-made documentary "1966-1988: Kieślowski, Polish Filmmaker." This traces Kieślowski's work in Communist Poland. He went to Łódź Film School, which has produced three Academy Award recipients: Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda and Zbigniew Rybczyński. Kieślowski began as a documentary filmmaker, but later transitioned to dramas. In the 1970s, he made what became known as "films of moral concern." After the fall of Communism, he got involved in foreign co-productions.
The DVD set also contains four short Polish documentaries. One is a heartwarming piece by Kieślowski's favorite teacher about a group of workers struggling to become a passable amateur orchestra. The other three are grim documentaries by Kieślowski himself. One is about employees in a hellish tractor factory, another shows unhappy people waiting in Warsaw's biggest railway station and yet another follows doctors doing hectic, gruesome jobs at a large hospital. (It's chilling to contemplate that later when Kieślowski had heart bypass surgery in Warsaw, he never woke up from the anesthesia.)
A 64-Page Booklet Containing Four Essays
Packaged with the two-disc DVD set is an attractive booklet containing photos and articles. Film critic Jonathan Romney contributes an insightful analysis of The Double Life of Véronique, and philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek gives his interpretation of the film. Film historian Peter Cowie discusses Irène Jacob's performance in the movie, and there are selections excerpted from the 1993 book Kieślowski on Kieślowski.
DVD Details
Below I've listed all the details for the Criterion Collection DVD set containing The Double Life of Véronique.
Release Date: November 21, 2006
Number of Discs: 2
1.66:1 Aspect Ratio, Color
Feature Film Run Time: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
French and Polish Stereo
English Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Kieślowski Expert Annette Insdorf
U.S. Ending to The Double Life of Véronique
Polish Documentary: "The Musicians" (1958) (10 min.)
Kieślowski Documentary: "Factory" (1970) (18 min.)
Kieślowski Documentary: "Hospital" (1976) (21 min.)
Kieślowski Documentary: "Railway Station" (1980) (13 min.)
Making-Of Documentary: "Kieślowski—Dialogue" (52 min.)
Documentary: "1966-1988: Kieślowski, Polish Filmmaker" (31 min.)
Video Interview: Cinematographer Sławomir Idziak (24 min.)
Video Interview: Composer Zbigniew Preisner (21 min.)
Video Interview: Lead Actress Irène Jacob (17 min.)
64-Page Booklet Containing 4 Essays
Return to Beginning of Review
