THE STORY OF A CERTAIN ILLUSION. THEORIES OF KITSCH AND KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI'S 'DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE' (Historia pewnego zludzenia. Teorie kiczu i 'Podwójne zycie Weroniki' Krzysztofa Kieslowskiego)

In the first part of the article the authoress presents three theories of kitsch: Hermann Broch's, Abraham Moles' and Milan Kundera's. These form the theoretical basis for the analysis of Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Double Life of Veronique', which forms the body of the second part of the article. In the analysis the authoress focuses on exaltation, the primacy of the aesthetics, on the so called religion of beauty and aesthetical lie. In the conclusion she argues that the analysis of the film allowed her to identify terms that belong to the dictionary of kitsch of the highest order. At the same time she maintains that the kitsch one is dealing with is not dangerous, as we are able to easily identify and formulate an insightful critique of the phenomenon. This means that our awareness of kitsch is higher than it was in the first half of the 20th century. Nowadays kitsch is no longer lived through. Rather it is used in different styles and art forms that offer both cheap thrills or exalted aesthetic experience such as in the case of Kieslowski's film.