Playing Doubles

I have always been fascinated by the concept of the double, also known as the doppelganger in both film and literature. There is something about the device, that is often used in gothic tales, that makes for a wonderfully suspenseful thriller. Perhaps it is my early fascination with the works of Edgar Allen Poe that have influenced my interest in the subject matter, or perhaps it is the fact that I have been told by others that I have multiple doppelgangers, in any case, a film that uses this classic idea is the 2013 motion picture Enemy.

Considered to be one of the best Canadian films of 2014, director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Sicario) utilizes Javier Gullón’s adaptation of José Saramago’s novel ‘The Double’ to concoct a complex Kafkaesque tale. For those of you who have not come across this word, it is defined as “characteristic or reminiscent of the oppressive or nightmarish qualities of Franz Kafka’s fictional work”. As for those who have read some of his literature, you will likely see some links to arguably his most famed piece ‘The Metamorphosis’.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Adam Bell, a history professor at a university in Toronto who has a repetitious, lonesome and mostly isolated life. He seems disconnected from those around him, including his girlfriend Mary (Mélanie Laurent – Inglourious Basterds), who comes and goes without ever truly making a bond with the man – their meetings usually consist of angry and frustrated sex followed by a quick departure by the lady. After a flippant conversation with a colleague, Bell rents a movie called Where There’s a Will There’s a Way, despite the fact that he isn’t really a film guy. Yet it is in this flick that he spots a bit player who looks exactly like him.

He becomes obsessed with the little known actor, renting his two other screen credits and then researching him on the Internet. He soon discovers that his moniker is Daniel St. Claire, with his real name being Anthony Claire (also played by Gyllenhaal). The professor uses wily methods to track down his address and phone number. When he tries calling him, he accidentally gets Anthony’s pregnant wife Helen (Sarah Gadon – The Girl King, A Dangerous Method), who assumes that it is her husband on the line until the conversation progressively gets more silent and awkward.

The doppelganger is seemingly the antithesis of Bell; a cocky, brash actor who is quite daring and sleazy. And it is actually Claire that we see before Bell at the very beginning of the film at some sort of edgy underground strip club. Yet, there are many similarities as well. Obviously their appearance and voices are the same, but they are also both dissatisfied individuals who are clearly unfulfilled in their relationships with their respective blonde significant others (clearly indicating intimacy issues).

Eventually, the two mirror images meet in a hotel room outside of Toronto, which blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. Soon Claire is threatening Bell – forcing the man to cower while the actor tells him that he is going to take his girlfriend away for the weekend. Bell then decides to immerse himself in Helen’s life for the few days, taking over the role of his acting doppelganger.

Denis Villeneuve paints a pallette of stone grey, yellows and blues; a nightmarish world that oozes eerie dismay. Mixing wonderful direction with Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans’s atmospheric music, we are not exactly sure of what we are watching, as it is really left up to the audience to decide – clearly the mystery that Villeneuve wants. It very well could be that you should strike my entire synopsis from your mind, as it is likely that it is simply the superficial facade to a many layered and complicated tale.

There are several options to choose from, from the more literal to the more figurative, in which Bell and Claire may be one and the same. In this case, we would have to interpret that Claire is married to Helen and that his double life (that of Bell) is having an affair in the lowly apartment with Mary. There is truly no concrete answer, which is likely the way it is meant to be. It may depend on whether you see the film as happening in chronological order, or if some of the scenes could be flashbacks or flash forwards – which may then imply that Anthony is the sole individual, but is dealing with a spilt personality.

There is also a major motif running through the film – that of the spider. Another mystery of sorts, it is left to us to decide what it means. Is it symbolic for the web of lies that are being spun by Claire? Is it code for the influence the women have in the lives of these one (or two) men? Does it simply signify that the men feel trapped in their routine/day to day lives? Could it be the overarching darkness that the duo are drawn to? Does each spider signify a woman in his life? It is rather telling that Bell is a professor of history, spouting his thoughts on control, dictatorships, and history repeating itself (first as tragedy, secondly as farce), as this can be seen in Enemy. Though the two leads likely do not want to repeat the same mistakes over and over, we watch as they fall into the same bad routines time and time again, symbolic of the key at the end of the film which spurs the man’s desire to return to the weird sex club.

Another interesting feature is the cameo from Isabella Rossellini, who plays Anthony’s domineering, controlling mother. The performance adds both light and shade onto the complex mystery that is Enemy.

Jake Gyllenhaal must also be applauded. He does a wonderful job of playing both characters, adding minute details to each, making sure they have different emotional and physical ticks. Both Laurent and Gadon deserve credit as well, as the women of Enemy are the driving force of the film – spawning all that we see (which means that we must also recall Rossellini’s minor role as an important clue as to why Anthony Claire is the way he is).

When you add everything together, you have an intricately plotted, complex story that could easily fill a three hour lecture in a film studies class at the post secondary level – which also signals that this film may not be for those who do not like complicated stories that need to be deciphered. It is a labyrinthine, intriguing puzzle that will likely not be put together upon a single viewing. It is smartly constructed, features nuanced performances, and has a spectacularly spooky aura. So, check out this tale of doubles, doppelgangers, spiders and sexual dysfunction, for it will leave you ensnared in its web as you relive what you’ve already seen until you’ve (almost) solved its reclusive mystery.