Discuss Veronikas dubultā dzīve
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Must not..... hate..... this.... film.....AUGH!
posted by rooprectSTAFFMOD on December 29, 2021 at 8:32 AM
Explanation of title. I watched this film for the 2nd time the other night and thought it was ok. Then I made the mistake of reading the boneheaded essay written for the Criterion booklet. Usually these essays are insightful and they give me new appreciation, but this one was just one of those fawning self-indulgent logomachies that say nothing about the material and instead prattle on about the author's personal rapture and attempt to compensate for his failed career as a poet. I'm paraphrasing one of the opening statements: "MY EBULLIENT RESPONSE IS BUT A MINUET DANCING AROUND THE MAJESTIC SPECTACLE OF THIS SYMPHONY!" Oh please, stick it back in your pants and tell me about the movie already.
So as you might guess, I'm suddenly leaning toward hating this film. After all, on 2nd watch it still didn't leap out at me, and it definitely didn't make me want to dance a minuet or even the Texas Twostep. But I'm a fan of Kieslowski's other work (Decalogue, Blue-White-Red) so I'm really trying to resist hatred, and believe it or not I think I can rinse that bozo's ridiculous essay out of my mind if someone can tell me in human terms what made you a fan of this movie.
Reply by catmydogs
on December 29, 2021 at 7:54 PM
I love Veronique. Dreamy atmosphere, dreamy actress, great cinematography.
The puppet show was cool. I like films with good puppetry. Lili with Leslie Caron was good. Alice by Jan svankmajer was like eerie madness. For surrealism and stop motion, you can’t top The Wolf House.
Reply by rooprect
on December 29, 2021 at 8:09 PM
Loved Svankmajer's puppetry! Faust was my fave. Funny I didn't really notice much of the puppetry in Veronique, I'll pay attention to that when I go for a 3rd watch (which I've decided to do).
Also agreed, Irene Jacob is perfect as Veronique. I read the role was originally going to be played by Andie Macdowell, but a last minute contract dispute killed that. Probably for the best. Irene was younger (24 vs. Andie being 30) which added a lot to her character's dreaminess especially when she's singing in the choir.