“I’m permanently outside myself."

Richard Ayoade's singular Submarine was such an acclaimed film, if only for its totally off the wall approach to the process of losing virginity. The prospect of his follow up has been highly anticipated to say the least. That it stars hot property like Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) and Mia Wasikowska (Tracks) is a major contributor, but it's Ayoade's own contribution that is most appealing. Resting in the confluence of Wes Anderson's visual precision, David Lynch's paranoia and Terry Gilliam's idiosyncratic lunacy, The Double arrives like a distant cousin of Eraserhead by way of Brazil.

Loosely based on a novel by Russian philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Double tells the tale of mild-mannered Simon (Eisenberg), a near invisible worker who struggles for anyone to remember him, much less his achievements, despite having worked for the company for nearly a decade. Despised by his mother, Simon's personal misery is further exacerbated by the winsome Hannah (Wasikowska) whom he adores but is unable to impress. His tenuous grasp on the world begins to unravel with the arrival of his virtual twin James (Eisenberg), a confident, talkative and charming man who looks exactly like Simon and whom everyone loves. Even Simon, at first.

Referencing the 1980's by way of the 1940's, Ayoade's compelling design of a dystopian workers' hell is one of his film's high notes. There's more than a hint of David Lynch in his decision to shoot in a creepy monochrome 4:3 ratio, similarly with the unexplained Gilliam-esque curiosities that fill the physical space. Why is the door frame – no door – to Simon's work space deliberately, awkwardly low? The combination is chillingly and amusingly unsettling. Factor in a self-conscious doubling of props and themes (Hannah works a copy machine), and The Double becomes deliciously cheeky and intriguingly delicious. Take the mindless, bureaucratic paradox of Simon being told he doesn't exist.

Central to that success is Eisenberg's control over both Simon and James. Often an irritant on screen (To Rome With Love), his garrulous nature is kept in check, enabling the actor more empathy and better positioning opposite the serene, scene-stealing Wasikowska who turns in yet another beautiful performance. In blink-and-you'll-miss-them support are Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Noah Taylor (The Proposition), Chris O'Dowd (The Sapphires), Paddy Considine (The World's End) and veteran James Fox (Sherlock Holmes). Their inclusion is would be distracting if not for the chaos swirling around them: identity theft, romance, heart break, suicide. It barely matters.

As James' determination to double-cross Simon, or perhaps himself, builds to a heady conclusion, Simon's realisation that he's but a pawn, a puppet who 'doesn't want to be held up by string', whirls to an awkward conclusion. Ayoade's ability to navigate around his story's abundant jokes, references, self-references and homage, then tease out one man's inner turmoil and blistering paranoia, is a singular achievement. That he looses his audience, or perhaps himself, along the way is disappointing: amid the narrative pyrotechnics no clear certainty emerges about what this fight is all about. What, exactly, is the point? Still, if you're more interested in journey than destination, The Double delivers twice over with a story as provocative as it is completely nuts.

// COLIN FRASER

Previewed at Reel Room, Sydney, on 28 April 2014



Even the press material supplied with Richard Ayoade’s (Submarine) second feature The Double describes it as “a film that resists obvious commercialism, and genre categorisation.” You gotta hand it to the producers for honesty, that’s like admitting that it’s a hard sell and they’re right, which is not to say it’s not without its rewards. For starters, it’s a striking looking film, set in some kinda futuristic yet kinda retro, Kafkaesque nether world. The palette of colours chosen by the design team could best be described as ‘institutional,’ and the lighting and cinematography as ‘dank,’ but this all serves the story well. And what an odd little story it is.

Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network / To Rome With Love) lives alone in a run-down bedsit in an anonymous city. He’s so timid and repressed that he’s virtually invisible to the people around him; even his mother has trouble remembering him! He’s in love with a co-worker, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska – (Tracks / Only Lovers Left Alive), who lives across the way from him but who also barely acknowledges that he exists. Acutely aware of his problem, Simon observes, “I’m permanently outside myself. You could put your hand straight through me.” Things look up for him though, when a new colleague James Simon (also played by Eisenberg) comes to work at the same drab company that employs Simon. James is everything that Simon is not, popular, amusing, attractive to women and a bon vivant, and he offers to help the hapless Simon overcome his identity problem in exchange for Simon’s assistance at work. There’s only one small hitch - James is Simon’s doppelgänger. Initially, their arrangement seems to be working well until, little by little, James begins to take over Simon’s life.

As is to be expected from a cast of this calibre, the performances on display are uniformly excellent: Eisenberg copes with the difficult task of playing dual roles exceptionally well; Mia Wasikowska is as nuanced as ever; the supporting cast of Ayoade favourites Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine and Chris O’Dowd all terrific in relatively minor parts; and veteran actors Wallace Shawn and James Fox effortlessly bring their amusing characters to life.

Writer/ director Ayoade is probably best known as Maurice Moss, the awkward computer nerd in TV’s The IT Crowd and this script could have been written by that character. If Maurice was the poster boy for people who feel uncomfortable in their own skin, then Simon James is his alter ego. As it is, though, Ayoade collaborated on the story with Harmony Korine’s (Spring Breakers) brother, Avi, who appears to be as talented as Harmony. The originator of the plot, however, is Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky who first penned his little novella in 1846, then revised it 20 years later. Back then the question to be asked was, Is the protagonist suffering from schizophrenia or is he being driven mad by the mindless bureaucracy of 19th century Russian social mores? Today, it might be more relevant to ask whether The Double is all about the search for identity in a social media-driven world, one in which humans live their lives in public and yet, paradoxically, lose their identities in the resulting clamour.

// IAN TAYLOR

Previewed at Reel Room, Sydney, on 28 April 2014