Film Title: The Double
Genre: Drama
Dir: Richard Ayoade
Year: 2014
It's a great time to be a film buff, and an even better time for those who love films with double roles. Earlier this year Denis Villeneuve made Enemy, a twisted take on the trope of a man discovering his duplicate. The film had spiders, bizarre imagery and a very dark tone. Villeneuve wasn't the only one to get there – Richard Ayoade, the comedian-actor-turned-filmmaker, made The Double at the same time.
Ayoade shot to fame with the superb Submarine few years ago – a dark comedy about a boy dealing with his parents' separation. The film had philosophical ramblings with a dash of social commentary. In The Double, he takes both these elements a few notches higher. This brilliant takedown of office space, the human condition, and the good vs evil trope renders existentialist angst elegantly. The Double is an adaptation of a namesake book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, embellished with his trademark dark humour. While Enemy had a serious narrative, The Double is hilariously black.
The film stars Jesse Eisenberg in his best role as Simon James, an office employee without ambition, intellect or charm. Simon James has a difficult childhood and struggles for respect from his boss or his crush (Mia Masikowska). Simon James' work space, suburban house and problems are relatable to. One day he sees someone jump off the balcony opposite to his, and much to his horror, a duplicate of his walks into office the next day. The difference, however, is that the duplicate is a confident, suave, charming ladies man who is also the apple of the boss' eye. His name turns out to be James Simon, and his personality is a mirror of Simon James.
Once the duplicate is introduced, Ayoade messes with the viewers' expectations in a big way. We're never sure whether the doppelganger actually exists or is a figment of the protagonist's imagination. The Double makes you flip between believing one and the other, and often even when the shot contains only Simon James, the frames blur to show two of them. It's maddening and great fun to say the least. But the film isn't just about cheap thrills. In the second half, The Double actually goes pretty dark, and the finale will have you questioning the choice between being a nobody and being morally good, or being successful and having a few loose morals. The film does indeed make one particular choice, but still leaves it to the viewer to decide if that particular choice meant a happy ending or a devastating one.
Erik Wilson's cinematography is stunning here. There are a ton of blue-green hues to surround the black ones – the imagery really does take you inside the mind of Simon, and you tend to pause the film many times just to admire the scene. Even simple shots have complicated framing to render just that extra layer of whether what is happening is real or not. Both Enemy and The Double premiered at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year. Safe to say, film buffs will be arguing over which is the better film over the years to come. One thing they'll agree on, however, is that The Double is superior on a filmmaking level because of its wonderful humour.
Mihir Fadnavis is a film critic and certified movie geek who has consumed more movies than meals
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