The Double

[MacGuffin]

Release date: 2013

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor

Directed by: Richard Ayoade

Premise: A comedy centered on a man who is driven insane by the appearance of his doppleganger.

[modage]

This may have been my favorite movie I saw at TIFF this year.

I was a big fan of "Submarine" though this is really different tonally (if "Submarine" was Ayoade's "Rushmore," this is his "Brazil"), it still feels like his voice. It's perpetually in danger of spinning off at any moment into "too fucking weird" but beautiful and dark and really funny which is the thing I think that keeps it from going off the rails. Without Ayoade's comedic sensibility the film might be too claustrophobic/suffocating (It's almost all interiors, it's always nighttime). Eisenberg is great in both parts (playing both sides of the sort of role he's been asked to play: nebbish and dick) and it's impossible not to crush on Wasikowska in this. Also loved that all 5 major actors from "Submarine" reappear in this and it seems like Ayoade is building a little ensemble of players. I tweeted after the screening that I suspect this could have a big cult life to come.

[jerome]

Glad to hear that. I really liked Submarine as well and I especially dig Ayoade's directing style, with lots of nods to some of my favorites (Melville in particular). This is a cool teaser and i'm really looking forward to this!

Edit: just thought I'd share my favorite scene to illustrate my comment. This one is actually quite Scorsese-esque as well.

[Axolotl]

Nice to see they're fully committing to the weirdness. Does it take place on a planet where it's always night or is the daytime lit night-like? Either way, excited.

[wilder]

Richard Ayoade Shares The 5 Films That Influenced 'The Double'

[polkablues]

Richard Ayoade Shares The 5 Films That Influenced 'The Double'

That was really interesting, and it led me to this likewise interesting video about the process of making the film.

I could listen to Richard Ayoade talk for hours.

[jenkins]

i didn't at all regret seeing this movie. jealous of this movie

[pete]

really really liked this movie. it does the thing that you thought Gondry was going to ace when he first step onto the scene - which is to create a film that is so obviously and joyfully set in a non-reality, all the while keeping the emotions honest, no matter how absurd the situations get or how insipid the characters are. I loved Submarine and was just blown away at Ayoade's confidence and talent to deliver something like this.

[pete]

we all know what's going to happen next right? Someone is going to try to get Ayoade to direct a superhero movie.

[Ravi]

Maybe Ayoade will direct Godzilla 2 (a.k.a, GodziIIa), causing Pete to be committed to an insane asylum.

[jenkins]

a film that is so obviously and joyfully set in a non-reality, all the while keeping the emotions honest, no matter how absurd the situations get or how insipid the characters are

agreed. i think a great example is when his double shows up: how different their reactions are and how appropriate for the moment. keeps going that way imo. i like it because it's a tricky thing to do, but he doesn't at all make it feel tricky for the audience

ben wheatley's sightseers does this too. it's believable imagination and i'm into it

[jenkins]

last saw this movie in may. i've watched so many movies since may. it's hard out there in this world, for early-year movies to be called favorite movies by december. that'sa fact

tonight i watched this movie and right now i want to call it my favorite thing ever. i just think it's so fucking good. i think there's skill and talent and creativity here, and i can feel the movie's pulse. tonight i thought of it as like eraserhead and brazil. i read on the internet that i should rewatch kieslowski's the decalogue 6. there's an excuse to rewatch an episode of the decalogue, so i'm in. plus there was that nifty list ayoade made and was linked to here. hell yeah