Technical details of this Kieslowski movie can be found at the IMDB website. Every frame is a picturesque feast to the eyes with an ethereal score composed by Preisner. This is one of those movies that stay in your mind long after that speechless awe you experience the first time you watch it. I watched it twice and each time I gain some refreshing perspective not only about the movie itself but also about life. What would you do if you are to have a second chance in your life?
How about a bit of that glorious opening sequence to get you in the mood?
I particularly love the green color filter used throughout the film. You can crack out many meanings associated with such a color choice, of which Kieslowski was the master. Check out his The Three Colors: Trilogy, also my favorite, and I'm thinking about writing about them sometimes in the future. At the mean time, I'm watching his Decalogue and it is a religious experience for me.
Well, enough rambling about Mr. K's other gems, now I can go on and on about how much I love Irene Jacob, ever since I first saw her in Red. The camera simply loves her and she did quite a good job portraying the Polish Weronika and the French Veronique, two similar yet profoundly different human experiences that one can live. Having heart problem, Weronika drops dead pursuing her dream while Veronique sacrifices her career to preserve her life. Weronika lives more fiercely while Veronique appears more reserved and contemplative. Having an allegedly better Veronique-self, the Weronika confirms to her father that she is not alone in this world. Mysteriously affected by Weronika's death, Veronique suddenly cries during her love-making as dirt is thrown upon Weronika's coffin.
When I was younger, I had this irrational fear upon knowing about the "antimatter." Supposedly, the antimatter is to nullify the existence of matter. To elaborate, if you happen to see yourself walking from the opposite direction toward you, it is certain that you are to vanish from the Earth. I smile uncomfortably as Weronika sees her Veronique self on the bus during the demonstration. Which one survives, we all know by now. The difference is that there is no complete disappearance, the better entity persists. The encounter can be seen below:
While Weronika collapses on stage and dies, Veronique quits her singing career to work as a modest music instructor and takes care of her health. In real life, you don't get to have a second chance to start all over again very often. You don't simply drop dead in order to live again, restarting a new self full of knowledge and appreciation of your life. All you get is this one chance, so the least you could do is to be conscious of your choice and take responsibility for all the decisions you make. If you could do so, you would feel a sense of powerful self-control that hopefully gives you enough strength to resurrect on your own if you happen to die in any aspect of your life. Talking about control, the movie proposes quite depressing and hopeless a viewpoint on the extent that one can control his life. The following scene proposes the most important philosophy behind every gorgeous frame of the movie:
That's right, y'all. There is no free will. You can do what you want, thinking you have the control over what you do and such but hell no, you are all but mindless marionettes controlled by invisible strings of an ever-powerful yet secretive puppeteer knowing all of your actions, thoughts, and consequences. Indeed, Weronika is orchestrated by the old conductor during her hauntingly fatal performance. Veronique runs around looking for her lover - the puppeteer/writer who plots her every single move. She never realizes how much she is being controlled till the moment her lover carves out her two wooden marionettes and tells her about the storyline of his book:
"...November 23, 1966 was the most important day of their lives. That day, at three in the morning, they were both born in two different cities, on two different continents. They both had dark hair and brownish-green eyes. When they were both two years old and already knew how to walk, one of them burned her hand on a stove. A few days later,the other one reached out to touch the stove but pulled away just in time. And yet, she could not have known that she was about to burn herself..."
I will leave Veronique's reaction upon such realization for you to find out. I've spoiled quite a good deal of the movie to you, my apology. Now what you have to do is to experience the magic for your self. Your watching or not has already been decided already. Whatever you do has already been planned out. However, you can still retrieve a meaning to your own existence and living in this world: just by knowing how uncontrolled you are have already given you so much power already. It doesn't mean that you will let things slide under the table and hide under your blanket withdrawing from everything; your action is also what the puppeteer wants. The consequence of your action, the outcome of whatever plan is in your hand despite the plan itself being established by the puppeteer. Give it a try, don't be afraid.
Even if you have to drop dead like Veronika, your responsible choice will give you strength and knowledge to resurrect. Don't you feel like you've become a better, stronger, and wiser person every time you recover from certain life's downfall? If you do, count me in.
There are certain aspects of the movie that reminds me of Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World. Take a look!
The next time you drop dead, remember, it's not the end. Just like this:
