The Double

Film (2013)

With Jesse Eisenberg (Simon/James), Mia Wasikowska(Hannah), Wallace Shawn (Mr. Papadopoulos)

A timid man, Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) works anonymously and unappreciated as a bookkeeper at a bizarrely baroque company while longing for the companionship of his fellow worker, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska). Insufferably insecure, he can barely stand the sight of his own shadow and is either ignored or mistreated by his supervisors and employers. Along comes his exact lookalike, James Simon (Jesse Eisenberg), who is the exact opposite in character – bold, self-assured, demonstrative, likeable. He outshines Simon at work and challenges him for Hannah’s affections.

This film, reminiscent in many ways of Terry Gilliam’s dystopian Brazil (1985) and any number of Wes Anderson ventures, exhibits strong elements of Kafka as well. While showing these strong cinematic and literary influences on its sleeve, it comes across inventively and imaginatively nonetheless.

Every scene has an innovative visual composition and the score, though jarring and unsettling, is stimulating. The interpretation of the bizarrely atavistic world is ingeniously creepy – copiers are bizarrely baroque pieces of equipment, suggesting something of the contemporary world and something of the medieval one – a perfect combination for this reinterpretation of a Dostoevskian psychological underworld.

Eisenberg, as the oppositional pair Simon and James, is just stupendous. With a flick of the eyebrow and a tilt of the head, he gives each of these twins a completely different but completely compelling character. It is quite a feat, and a vivid testament to this young actor’s range.

Mia Wasikowska, a great young actress who got to show her stuff in Jane Eyre (2011) and has been underused recently in Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), gets to use her subtle charms in this role. She has, like Eisenberg, the capacity to make dramatic statements of character with the slightest gestures; she does that here to great effect.

Wallace Shawn gets to do his blustery thing as the histrionically oblique boss of this mutant, paleolithic corporation that serves as the home base for this odd set of goings on.

The tone, overall, is dark, as well it should be, true to its Dostoevskian provenance. But with its stylistic twists – seemingly inspired by Gilliam, Anderson and Kafka – that darkness gains an irony that produces humor. It brings out, astutely, that gallows wit that rides under the surface of Dostoevsky’s works, often obscure but an important driving force within them. For this film to bring out so artfully that Kafkaesque irony from Dostoevsky is not only a great contribution to filmmaking but to Dostoevsky interpretation.

Though dark and disturbing, this beautifully executed film deserves close attention.

– BADMan