Skip to main content

The Double (2013)

I can typically create a film summary in just a sentence. On other occasions, I come up against a movie like The Double that just tickles my brain with its many, many (obvious) sources of inspiration and it leaves me scrambling to wrap up the details into just one tasty morsel.

Double is best described as "compellingly weird". It has the visual quality of a music video or like something Spike Jonze directed in the early 90's (Being John Malkovich or Adaptation). Smoosh that together with the surrealist dystopian masterpiece,  Brazil. Sprinkle on top the nagging feeling that Alex Proyas could have made it in between The Crow and Dark City. Mix the whole thing up and it feels like the perfect marriage of Jim Jarmusch and Wes Anderson.  Whew.

The story is reminiscent of Metropolis, and carries with it a similar soul crushing feeling about industrialization and the mechanization of humanity. There is an excess of subtext around feeling like you don't exist. Double also has a bit of the emotional tone of Mary and Max; primarily sad, yet somehow up-lifting or hopeful or just not all together depressing. On top of all of this is the undeniable specter of 1984, shrouding the entire story in this uber-controlled nightmare.

If I didn't pause here to bring up the elephant in the room, I'd be a very, very poor movie blogger. Call me "ruined by Fight Club", but really? I can't watch a surrealist movie in which a shy man is suddenly befriended by a guy who is completely his opposite WITHOUT thinking they are actually THE SAME person. A thought that is challenged or complicated by the fact that the two men in question are played by the same actor. Twist this one any way you like, it is still the key to understanding this movie and will tell you how things are going to end.

Overall enjoyable and absolutely sure to make those who get squirmy during awkward moments extremely uncomfortable.

You can get the NPR take here, in case you trust those folks more than me. You don't, do you?...

And you can watch the trailer here:



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Witch (2015)

You know the drill - there's ALWAYS spoilers. Don't want the movie ruined for you, come back after you've seen it. Also - I'm still without an editor - typos and bad grammar await you! I keep hoping that the cultural obsession with zombies will end; literally every other damn movie that comes 'round seems to feature some sort of shambling, undead being bent on devouring the weak flesh of regular humans. Once upon a time, zombies have have been used as a metaphor for the blind consumerism created by our capitalist society, or the perceived depletion of resources by immigrants, or even the ravages of time and disease on our frail bodies. Now it seems that the deeper social commentary has been lost as audiences mindlessly consume "zombie fiction" in an attempt to keep up with trends. ( How very meta - a film buddy of mine commented on this assessment! ) All of this is just a sideways rant, leading up to my actual point: it seems that zombie may actually...
1 comment
Read more

"I live, I love, I slay & I am Content."

Let me tell you a little about myself; something real about the home I grew up in. There were lots of people around all the time. I was the only child. And, thankfully, I wasn't treated as such. Much like today, I was just the shortest member of the household. But what's that really mean? Above and beyond it means that I had many influences growing up. For this entry, my father's influence is the most important. My father loves arms and armor. He loves history and mythology and the art of warfare. And as any good father would, he shared these passions with me as a kid. I remember him making me wooden swords to play with. We played chess together. And I remember him reading me Greek myths and comic books before bed. He also shared his nerdy love of scifi, fantasy, and horror movies with me. For all of this, I am grateful. And I am now passionate about the same things. Spoiler alert: the following statement is not a dick joke. I have a love of swords. And barbarian...
3 comments
Read more

Mother!

Alright friends and readers–this one is probably doubly filled with typos and grammar errors because I wrote it while angry. Good luck and happy reading. There are unpopular opinions in every realm. As a film student, you can truly strike a nerve when you say things like, "I fucking hate the self-indulgence of independent films and the way people idolize them." Or, you know, "Low lighting and slow pacing does not a good movie make." Or whatever. You can of course, objectively, understand how this happens. When you are creating art–when you are outside the system  so to speak–you are free to explore things (subjects, techniques, etc.) that may need to be addressed and that freedom can become intoxicating and go to one's head. While it may seem only right  or only fair  to respect and accept each creative endeavor that every artist undertakes, it is unreasonable to believe that the world will remain forever patient with the self-obsession artists have. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more