ABSTRACT
A prism is a piece of translucent material that alters the angle of light. It transforms the tone, the texture, and the substance of color. We are surrounded by such prisms. There is an arresting moment in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s film, “The Double Life of Veronique,” in which the main character, played by the fine actress Irene Jacob, is riding a train to visit an ailing aunt. She looks out the window, at the world rushing by, through a small round prism that she holds delicately in the fingers of her right hand. As she gazes through the prism, light concentrates, colors intensify, and shapes distend or extend. Moreover, it is not only for her that the prism transforms the curve and light of the world. The viewer’s world is also changed. The viewer is no longer a spectator but becomes a participant in the woman’s seeing. Kieslowski captures in her gesture, and in the viewer’s response, the possibility of leading a different life because the world would be seen differently.
