On Tuesdays in March, we present double features about identical twins, highlighting unusual films where the lead actor plays two distinct yet complementary characters. These fascinating films induce a state of double vision, exploring the uncanny valley, while touching on themes of duality and merged (or split) identity. This free double feature pairs Krzysztof Kieślowski's poetic doppelganger drama The Double Life of Veronique (1991) with Brian De Palma's Hitchcockian thriller Sisters (1973).

The Double Life of Veronique @ 19:00

Irène Jacob plays Weronika, an aspiring young choir singer in Kraków and her doppelganger Veronique, a melancholy music teacher in Paris. Though they aren't related, Weronika and Veronique lead parallel lives, as if they are two halves of the same person. When their connection is suddenly disturbed, Veronique seeks solace in a relationship with a mysterious puppeteer. Krzysztof Kieślowski's enigmatic masterpiece is a work of delicate beauty and ineffable feeling. Less a story than a poem, The Double Life of Veronique explores themes of identity, grief and mortality through sensual images, narrative fragments and subtle moments of synchronicity. Jacob's vulnerable, expressive dual performance brings the film's fractured characters to soulful life. 

Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1991, France/Poland/Norway, 98 min. In French & Polish w/ English subtitles.

Sisters @ 21:30

Margot Kidder plays Dominique and Danielle, Siamese twins who were separated at birth. When Grace (Jennifer Salt), a muckraking journalist, witnesses a murder through Danielle's window, she teams up with a private detective (Charles During) to uncover a shocking conspiracy. Brian De Palma's wildly entertaining thriller is an unabashed tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Deploying split screens, voyeuristic camerawork and a truly spooky score by composer Bernard Herrmann (Psycho), Sisters is a playful, perversely funny exercise in suspense. Kidder, who would become famous as Lois Lane in Superman just five years later has great fun in her dual role as the tormented twins. Watch the trailer. 

Directed by Brian De Palma, 1973, USA, 92 min. In English & French w/ English subtitles. 

Bar opens @ 18:30.
Admission is free, but donations are welcome.