Following my new dive into Cronenberg’s films, I watched Dead Ringers, a title I have no idea what is supposed to mean, and after watching it still have no idea. But it doesn’t matter, for this was quite a good one, not the best, but very good, and it felt quite different from Cronenberg’s other films. I’m done now with watching Cronenberg films for a while, but I will surely come back for more.
While I complained about the acting in Scanners, that complain is overcompensated for here, and then some. Jeremy Irons does a fantastic job, and it is a pretty unusual role for him here. He plays both of two twins who work together as gynaecologists. At first, it seemed fake, both seemed like the same person. But as the film progressed, it dawned upon me that this was Cronenberg’s intention. As the plot develops, the two brothers grow more and more from each other, but in the beginning they are almost like one person. And as the film goes on, you start to see the difference between the two. It’s quite an astounding job by Irons, just in the poses and expressions he manages to completely separate the two characters, to the point where you don’t notice the fact that they are played by the same man, quite immaculate. It’s a hard film to pigeonhole, but I would say it is a disturbing dark comedy. Some scenes are very funny, particularly the opening scene. But it’s also very tragic. The two brothers, who most people can’t tell the difference, like to share the same women. When one of them falls in love with a particular woman, they start to drift apart, and having been so close for so many years, neither of them manages to handle this. It fascinating to see the development of the two characters, which in personality are quite different, but they seem to require being on the same wavelength mentally, and when one starts falling into depression, the other can’t handle it.
The film is chilling, and is shot unlike any other Cronenberg film I’ve ever seen. Particularly one scene in an operating theatre where the one brother brings along some disturbing instruments, but I don’t want to say anymore. Regardless, the film feels much more distanced than most Cronenberg films, perhaps not more than Naked Lunch, but still. The music though, I would say is just okay. The opening theme is quite good, but at times it feels somewhat overblown, and I wish Cronenberg would have let more room for silence, which I feel would have accompanied the directing very well. The ending sequence though is very good, some of the best cinema I’ve seen. Overall though, the film does suffer a bit from pacing, a couple of scenes here and there that could have been cut, it takes a while before you manage to see some of the better parts of the film. It starts really well, but then somewhere through the middle dabs off a bit, and gets really good at the end. It feels unsatisfying, and makes the really good stuff feel less impressive. Still, in many ways Jeremy Irons carries the film through its weaker parts.
Again, I want to commend Jeremy Irons for his impressive acting job, at times it truly seems like there are two separate actors. The film is very good, but as said, lacks in some departments. It is still one of the most interesting Cronenberg films I’ve seen, and is really a unique film with a style you don’t see too often. Well recommended, but might be disturbing at times.
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