The first time I saw "Two Lives of Flowers" was two years ago, and I didn't understand much at that time. But it kept fascinating me, and I couldn't help but watch it over and over again. And today I watched this movie three times in my spare time, and finally felt that it was time to write something about it.
In fact, even after watching it for the third time, I still can't say that I understand this movie. Or that this is simply an incomprehensible film, full of inexplicable mysticism. Just like I can't explain why there are two Veronica who are exactly the same in appearance and have the same heart, let alone why there is always a mysterious force that leads Veronica of France to follow the footsteps of Veronica of Poland, the movie The motives of people's behavior are often mysterious. And "Two Lives Flowers" doesn't have any plot, and after watching it, there will be a feeling that there is nothing to say. Therefore, trying to understand and explain the fragments of this film may not be the correct way to appreciate it, but to fully experience the emotional atmosphere created by the film and the visual style carefully set by the director as much as possible.
After watching it, it is easy to find that the entire film was shot under a yellow-green filter, which makes it visually more beautiful and soft, and Irina Jacobs in this tone is also particularly charming. It provides the audience with an effective entry into the emotional atmosphere of the film. This is also the most intuitive feeling that can be brought about by watching this movie, and it is enough to experience without understanding.
The film tells the story of two identical girls named Veronica. They were in different places, one in Poland and one in France. They also don't know each other, but from another perspective, their souls are acquainted, and they can vaguely perceive each other's existence.
The story of Polish Veronica is sad, romantic and beautiful. Her life is extremely fragile - suffering from heart disease, but physical defects can not stop her love for singing out loud, even if every singing is a serious damage to her heart. Her fragile life reveals a pure and beautiful meaning - every time she sings, it is a temptation on the edge of death. Congenital defects do nothing to stop her from pursuing the things she loves, and she is filled with unspeakable romance, like she can sing in the rain, kiss and make love with her boyfriend when the rain comes. And Poland Veronica is also aware of the existence of another self, just like when she was having sex with her boyfriend at home, she did not look at her boyfriend, but looked at the pictures of herself hanging on the wall . This behavior of Veronica is obviously not looking at herself, she is looking at another self in France. Their souls are acquaintances and their emotions are common. So when she is having sex, the great pleasure that arises can't help but project onto the other Veronica. The story of Polish Veronica is short, just like her short life, but it is the most romantic and beautiful.
Poland's Veronica once said to her father: "I don't think I'm alone anymore" and when she died, France's Veronica said to her father, "I've been feeling so lonely lately." This is an obvious echo , but also about the eternal problem that everyone faces - about loneliness. Although the two Veronicas are in different places, they are connected to each other's souls by a power that transcends everything. They place their mutual feelings on each other, so that both of them can escape from the troubles of loneliness. When Veronica of Poland died, Veronica of France fell into loneliness completely, and neither family nor love could get her out. In fact, she did not lack love and affection, what she lacked was herself. Here, the film connects two Veronica stories in a clever way. When the Polish Veronica fell and was pronounced dead, the camera also fell into darkness, and then appeared the French Veronica who was having sex with an old classmate for pleasure. In what should have been a very happy moment, Veronica of France fell into a deep sadness that she could not tell, and clearly explained the great significance of the two Veronicas to each other. And apart from Poland Veronica, there is no one else who can fill this lost soul and mingle with her soul. This is why modern people are lonely and why they cannot get rid of loneliness. The souls of modern people exist in isolation, and even their relatives and lovers around them cannot truly experience their souls. Just like Veronica of France, when she knows that the other self really exists, but deep down she feels that she is dead, she will break down and shed tears. The boyfriend beside her wanted to try to comfort her, but she couldn't understand her heart at all. French Veronica can only touch the lines of the vicissitudes of life tree, and the voice of Polish Veronica echoes in her mind, trying to perceive her existence again. But this kind of loneliness is destined to exist forever, and there is no way to escape. Inner loneliness cannot be understood and experienced, and at the same time it cannot be avoided. This is the reason why modern people will become more and more lonely.
"Two Flowers" uses a lot of details to express the inextricable connection between the two Veronicas: they both have an identical transparent ball, they both use rings to press their lower eyelashes, and they both have beautiful Their voices, their mothers left them early, they all have a loving father, and they all saw an old man who was stooping and walking with difficulty outside the window - mixed with the breath of death, they would even be in different places. where they saw the same strangers staring at them. They have innumerable similarities, but at the same time they are so different. Veronica of Poland would end her life prematurely to sing, while Veronica of France gave up her dream of singing to become a music teacher. Just like the beginning of the movie, two young Veronica, one looks at the bright starry sky, while the other is rooted in the ground to look at the green leaves. The film also hints at the existence of another Veronica through the reflection of the mirror: Veronica often stands by the mirror, and at this time another Veronica is reflected in the mirror. After the death of Veronica of Poland, Veronica of France also began to appear in the mind of Veronica of Poland, and her singing frequently appeared in her mind. All kinds of ingenious designs have deepened our recognition that the souls of these two Veronicas are acquaintances.
The puppeteer is also an important role, and it is he who mysteriously, intentionally or unintentionally, leads the French Veronica to discover the existence of the Polish Veronica in an unexplainable way. There is a very beautiful scene in the film - the puppeteer performs a puppet show for French Veronica and a group of children. This puppet show can be regarded as a projection of what happened to Veronica in Poland - facing death, but at the same time beautiful and brilliant. French Veronica's eyes gradually moved away from the puppet, and she looked at the puppeteer. The love ignited from this moment, but she also found that she could get as close to the other self as possible through the puppeteer. The most direct is when Veronica of France asked why the puppeteer prepared two identical puppets, the puppeteer replied that because the puppets are easy to break, one should be kept as a spare. He fiddled with the puppet in his hand, while the other lay quietly on the table—like a dead Polish Veronica. But the difference is that Polish Veronica is irreplaceable, and her departure is destined to bring eternal pain to French Veronica.
Perhaps no matter how it is expressed in words, it is better to actually see this movie, because it is a movie that needs to be experienced with the heart.
Irina Jacobs also played an irreplaceable role. She won the best actress in Cannes for this film, so I just posted a few screenshots of her movie at the end~
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