The Double Life of Véronique (La Double Vie de Véronique)

Krzysztof Kieślowski made the poetic 1991 drama The Double Life of Véronique (La double vie de Véronique), spoken in French and Polish. It explores identity, love and intuition through two young women who have never met but share a mysterious emotional bond. Kieślowski's first film made partly outside his native country, it won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes in 1991, and Irène Jacob took Best Actress. It was chosen as Poland's Oscar entry but not accepted as a nominee.

The film falls into two parts. The first third or so follows Weronika, a young choir soprano in Poland. After her sudden death on stage, the story moves to France and to Véronique, a music teacher who closely resembles her. Irène Jacob plays both. Véronique is overtaken by an unexplained sense of loss and gives up singing, then follows the trail of Alexandre (Philippe Volter), a puppeteer and children's author who sends her mysterious packages.

Kieślowski wrote the screenplay with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, and the music is by Zbigniew Preisner, who had worked with him on Dekalog. Canal+ and Norsk Film are credited, and the film runs about 98 minutes.