Kamran Armin I see some positive reviews about this movie, which makes me wonder : "am i missing something"?

emilywes56 This movie is unexpectedly good. It reminded me of the movie Enemy, but I did not like Enemy, at all, because of its ending. This movie is completely different and for sure it is not a hollow movie. It is very deep, harsh and full of suspense in a meaningful way. I watched it only once but I am definitely going to watch it again. I am sure that I missed many things, and in addition I have not read the original book in which this movie is based on.The soundtrack of the movie is really unique and beautiful, the frames are all atmospheric and they give you the idea of a different world, somewhere between the past and the future. If we analyze the social environment of the movie we will conclude that this is definitely not an image of the present society. I totally believe that this movie has a deeper and more important meaning than what many viewers understood when they watched it. For example, the television advertisements that plays on television or the figure of the "Colonel" in this movie, are not very noticeable, yet, they play somehow a mayor role. This film surely describes the role of people in society and how they are treated as a working class, or how pressure makes them create a "double" to kind of save them from madness or from unhappiness..I highly recommend it and I hope that movies like this will continue to blossom. The intriguing story and its poetic complexion makes this movie an original. Also this movie is a great example for cinematic analysis.

nhilton-22207 The film The Double, based off of Dostoyevsky's famous novel, is a naturalist exploration of a depressed man named Simon's encounters with love, suicide, and his doppelganger James. This film is woven with experimental elements, unique stylistic choices, and wonderful and believable acting.The acting in this film is truly astounding, there are were I begin to believe Jesse Eisenberg is two different people on the screen. He wonderfully captures and develops ticks, quirks, and deeply genuine character design for both Simon and James. Even though the two characters look and dress the same, the confidence changes and difference in speech makes them feel like completely separate people. One can claim a lot of this realism may come from editing, which is also an impressive feat, but the natural delivery and banter between these two characters reveals true acting talent. Besides these two leading roles, the other actors delivered acceptably standard performances. They seemed to be supporting this acting feat of the main actor instead of finding their own voices and dimensions, which is fine in a piece with such a personal conflict. The acting was not the only impressive part of this film, the general design and experimental construction throughout was subtly very effective. The creators of this film built an entire world, a world that needed no further explanation than the information we received. The universe was based in an vague limbo, where items and locations were separate from eras we are familiar with and occupy a world and time period of their own. The general white noise and lo-fidelity audio production was quirky and worked with this universe as well, it is clear that these pops and hisses throughout the film could annoy or upset certain viewers but I thought it added a layer of uncertainty and alienation that benefited the film's aesthetic.Delving further into the film's aesthetic, there is a general mood to the film that is supported by characteristic cinematography and unique set design that makes this movie stand alone. All of the camera work in The Double is extremely purposeful and smooth, it follows the movement of the actors with mathematical framing and direction. Each shot has purpose meaning this film's direction goes out of its way to be interesting and deeper. In many shots the film emulates Kubrick or Wes Anderson with tight and straight framing where characters tend to be left or right justified. The camera is almost a character in itself in this film, working with Jesse Eisenberg's traits and go hand in hand with his detailed performances. All in all, this film is extremely compelling. It takes a well rounded and solid concept and adds a world of its own, with wonderful acting and a beautifully wild soundtrack. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes dark comedy and/or films involving analysis and deeper meaning.

lseitz-48310 Richard Ayoade's second feature length film, The Double, is a dark comedy based off the original story also titled The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The movie features Jesse Eisenberg as Simon James, an awkward and clumsy office worker in an ambiguous time period who goes throughout his life unnoticed until he meets his doppelganger, James Simon. James is a mirror image of Simon; he is confident and gets exactly what he wants. This film has a dark and uncomfortable feeling with a number of quirky moments sprinkled throughout.Richard Ayoade manages to create a film that is understandable on the surface, but is a complex web underneath when analyzed to a deeper extent. We can see from the moment James is introduced to the story that his goal is to become the better version of Simon, and eventually take complete control over his life. James and Simon get into a number of hilarious situations which is a light in the dark pit that this film feels like at times, though it doesn't take away from the serious themes that are discussed. The theme of loneliness is brought up a lot throughout the entire film, as Simon talks about the feeling of being alone and how that makes him feel connected to his love interest, Hannah, played by Mia Wasikowska. Hannah seems as though she is the only thing that is keeping Simon from going over the edge. Hannah is shown with a blue light on her most of the time which I interpreted as a symbol for some sort of angelic sadness, which I believe is also showing that Hannah is a symbol of peace, hope, and happiness, though they are both trapped in a spiraling sadness. Simon is shown with a green light, which I interpret as him showing his feelings of envy towards James, and how he is taking everything that he thinks he cares about. James is shown with a red light, which I associate with evil and demonic, which I think contrasts well with Hannah's character and her seemingly angelic qualities. James is taking over Simon's life as well, which could signify how the consumption of evil is obscuring Simon's life. James character is known for being a trickster, which I think is pulled off in such a specific way that you are put into Simon's shoes. When we are first introduced to James we are made out to believe that he is a cooler version of Simon, who will end up helping our protagonist achieve what he had been reaching for. We are then tricked by James as he becomes the antagonist in the story, also tricking Simon and beginning to steal every good aspect of his life. This deception however is what causes Simon to develop as a character. He is first portrayed as a meek and somewhat helpless person who had almost no hope of being released from his depressing cycle of a life, but is then forced to be brought into a different light as James interrupts this cycle. He has to learn how to stand his ground as he becomes more cunning in order to defeat his enemy, James. I feel as though Simon develops into the version of James that I was picturing in the beginning of the movie who is able to conquer any problem that comes in his way. The cinematography in this film, which is done by Erik Wilson, seems to be inspired by Wes Anderson, in the fact that there are a lot shots that are made to be straight on in order to make it seem as though it were more of a play than a movie. However, we can see that Richard Ayoade has added his own style which includes a lack of lights, except for one light that is used to illuminate the major character in the shot. As we can see throughout the entire film, there is no sunlight, and it seems as though that it is constantly night time, which is a deliberate choice by Ayoade to show the feeling of sadness, and then the minimal lighting to show an isolating feeling. He also uses this theme of darkness in his previous film Submarine. Another powerful element was the score, which was deliberately made to make you feel uncomfortable and as though it is getting into your head and sending shivers down your spine. It definitely complements the cinematography, with the powerful isolating and depressing feeling.Overall I think that the elements of this movie that were most effective for me was the cinematography and the acting. The cinematography was very powerful in adding to the feeling of Jesse Eisenberg's acting, making you feel as though you are trapped in his depressing and mundane world. I would definitely watch this movie over again, and I am sure that if I did, then I would pick up on another aspect of it that I didn't notice the first time.