Review of The Double Life of Véronique

The story of two identical women, born on opposite ends of Europe and connected only by a tenuous spiritual link neither one is fully aware of, asks the question: are we really alone in the world? Bur director Krzysztof Kieslowski doesn't provide much else besides an affirmative answer, and the concept itself is limited because the two Veroniques are never allowed to meet (if they did the whole thing would be just another Twilight Zone episode, with subtitles). It's certainly a beautiful movie, with quite a few magical moments balanced against an unforgivably vague narrative concerned mostly with the French Veronique's pursuit of an enigmatic puppeteer. Along the way are some intriguing, teasing suggestions of several more-then-coincidental similarities between the two women, but the effect is not unlike watching a film where every third scene is missing, and because the burden of meaning is placed entirely on the viewer it will likely infuriate anyone expecting a more coherent story.