As everyone knows, Richard Ayoade's second feature is based on Dostoyevsky's early novella The Double. I enjoyed his first film Submarine, despite there being too much music a la Wes Anderson.
Unfortunately (for me) the influences on this film are so blatant it was difficult to get involved with the story. The atmosphere is, inevitably, Kafkaesque (sorry) although it's quite well done. Gilliam's Brazil is an obvious reference point (mercifully Ayoade isn't as self-indulgent or so keen to show us just how incredibly "imaginative" he is) - others are, I think, Hitchcock's Rear Window, Orson Welles's The Trial, Fight Club, Eraserhead, and Kieslowski's superb A Short Film About Love. I think a director's (or any artist's) influences shouldn't really be so obvious. The film becomes a mash-up of other films which (you could argue) is terribly postmodern (i.e. lazy derivative dross) or the director is still finding his feet (if that doesn't sound too patronising.)
There is an emotional (in the best sense of the word) core in Ayoade's films in that, unlike e.g. Gilliam, he cares about his characters. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent in the dual role and Mia Wasikowska is also very good as the (let's be honest) love interest. A cameo by Chris Morris was unnecessary and sundry chums from Submarine and The IT Crowd also show up - okay, he's the director, he can cast who he likes.
A lot of effort went into the sound design which was generally good and not too intrusive. We all know how much attention David Lynch pays to this in his films (Eraserhead and The Elephant man being the obvious examples.) There are also some touches of humour (e.g. the restaurant scene when James tries to stop Hannah leaving and Simon can't hear what they're saying) which are quite funny although when I saw it it seemed I was the only one who laughed (before you say anything I was in a cinema and not at home watching it alone.)
The ending was a bit disappointing and it felt underwritten (not unlike the curiously related film Berberian Sound Studio.) In the Dostoyevsky story Golyadkin (Simon/James) goes insane at the end and sees multiple versions of himself - I can see why this wasn't done in the film as it would seem like a bit of a cop out (to be fair, Dostoyevsky thought his novella was a failure - it's supposed to be a response to Gogol's The Overcoat - now that story really is brilliant.)
In short, it's a bit too tricksy and derivative for me. The director should be more brutal, kick out the influences that are too obvious and not try to please too many people. I think Ayoade is capable of making a really great film one day but neither Submarine or The Double is it. (Also I think there's too much music. It really isn't necessary and if I want to watch pop videos I'll tune into MTV.)
Maybe I'm being a little harsh but some of the acting seemed like girning. This is probably because I've been watching Robert Bresson's films recently in which a slightly raised eyebrow constitutes outrageous overacting, so at the risk of sounding like Simon, I'm sorry.
Unfortunately (for me) the influences on this film are so blatant it was difficult to get involved with the story. The atmosphere is, inevitably, Kafkaesque (sorry) although it's quite well done. Gilliam's Brazil is an obvious reference point (mercifully Ayoade isn't as self-indulgent or so keen to show us just how incredibly "imaginative" he is) - others are, I think, Hitchcock's Rear Window, Orson Welles's The Trial, Fight Club, Eraserhead, and Kieslowski's superb A Short Film About Love. I think a director's (or any artist's) influences shouldn't really be so obvious. The film becomes a mash-up of other films which (you could argue) is terribly postmodern (i.e. lazy derivative dross) or the director is still finding his feet (if that doesn't sound too patronising.)
There is an emotional (in the best sense of the word) core in Ayoade's films in that, unlike e.g. Gilliam, he cares about his characters. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent in the dual role and Mia Wasikowska is also very good as the (let's be honest) love interest. A cameo by Chris Morris was unnecessary and sundry chums from Submarine and The IT Crowd also show up - okay, he's the director, he can cast who he likes.
A lot of effort went into the sound design which was generally good and not too intrusive. We all know how much attention David Lynch pays to this in his films (Eraserhead and The Elephant man being the obvious examples.) There are also some touches of humour (e.g. the restaurant scene when James tries to stop Hannah leaving and Simon can't hear what they're saying) which are quite funny although when I saw it it seemed I was the only one who laughed (before you say anything I was in a cinema and not at home watching it alone.)
The ending was a bit disappointing and it felt underwritten (not unlike the curiously related film Berberian Sound Studio.) In the Dostoyevsky story Golyadkin (Simon/James) goes insane at the end and sees multiple versions of himself - I can see why this wasn't done in the film as it would seem like a bit of a cop out (to be fair, Dostoyevsky thought his novella was a failure - it's supposed to be a response to Gogol's The Overcoat - now that story really is brilliant.)
In short, it's a bit too tricksy and derivative for me. The director should be more brutal, kick out the influences that are too obvious and not try to please too many people. I think Ayoade is capable of making a really great film one day but neither Submarine or The Double is it. (Also I think there's too much music. It really isn't necessary and if I want to watch pop videos I'll tune into MTV.)
Maybe I'm being a little harsh but some of the acting seemed like girning. This is probably because I've been watching Robert Bresson's films recently in which a slightly raised eyebrow constitutes outrageous overacting, so at the risk of sounding like Simon, I'm sorry.