Enemy (2013)
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Duration: 90 minuten
Country:
Canada / Spain
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent and Sarah Gadon
IMDb score:
6,9 (237.201)
Releasedate: 14 March 2014
Enemy plot
"You can't escape Yourself!"
Adam Bell is a teacher who lives a quiet life with his girlfriend Mary. He accidentally discovers a physically identical man, an actor named Anthony, who lives with his pregnant wife Helen. Adam tracks down his doppelganger with the aim of observing him from a distance. In the end, a confrontation turns out to be inevitable.
Actors and actresses
Adam / Anthony
Mary
Helen
Mother
Teacher at School
Anthony's Concierge
Security Guard
Video Store Clerk
Lady in the Dark Room
Lady in the Dark Room
Reviews & comments
Woland
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- 4809 messages
- 3825 votes
I have not yet seen the already mentioned Youtube video, and have only just realized that this is a Saramago film. Which I will definitely read again, because I am curious. My first association with this movie was Kafka, and Lynch isn't far away either. And yet, although I certainly thought it was an intriguing film, it currently remains at a modest score by Villeneuve standards. Which may go up with the inevitable re-watch, but after the first viewing I still had a few too many moments that either got a bit boring, or that tasted of sought-after complexity.
It's a film about two look-alikes who, as soon as they find out about each other's existence, start interfering in each other's lives, especially with each other's partners. That story on the surface is fine in itself to follow, although of course you have to pay attention every now and then to keep the two Gyllenhaals apart. And I can agree with the fact that the film is a kind of parable about commitment and fear of commitment in a relationship. But I still wonder about many things what exactly the point is; is the spider metaphor simply about how Adam views his girlfriend as someone who, after completing his job as a impregnator, simply (metaphorically) eats him? And is Adam really the original, or is Anthony, or are they both different sides of the same coin? On the one hand I like movies that don't tell you everything, but Enemy makes the mystery too not always interesting. I'm keeping it modest at the moment: 3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Lavrot
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- 941 messages
- 0 votes
My thoughts on "web" and "spider" tend to go to Deleuze with his Rhizome theory. In addition to the mosaic film, a new genre seems to be gradually emerging within the film world, of which Enemy, alongside Inland Empire - "This is not my house", are powerful exponents. Events lie like nodes in a web, where the past, present and future seem to form an inextricable tangle. Not only is time scattered in a chaotic web, but also and especially delusions and distorted memories offer little grip to map out a path from A to B. Fortunately, the viewer also has an internal compass, in which intuition and emotion serve as the North Pole.
It's very "significant" that Enemy ends with "After the lights go out" by The Walker Brothers.
In brief; I think Enemy is a brilliant and extremely daring film, with fantastically understated acting by Jake Gyllenhaal and, although not too big a role, by Sarah Gadon.
Translated from Dutch · View original
N00dles
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- 633 messages
- 2308 votes
Yes, separately. It feels Lynchian, with a mysterious doppelganger story and ditto symbolism, but in the style of Villeneuve. Might not be completely understandable for a first viewing (I'm not going to claim that I understand everything), although it is less complex in terms of plot than an average Lynch film.
What does work in any case is the fragmentary narrative style in combination with the stylish yellow lighting. Although it takes place in this world, it feels like an alternate reality, dystopian and alienating. The ominous music quickly makes you suspect that something is about to happen, which keeps you captivated.
As usual, Jake Gyllenhaal is doing well and manages to convincingly put down the double role.
I didn't like the ending with the big spider; he appeared in the film before, but he reacted as if he had been caught, which mostly came across as a lame joke, as if the film suddenly stopped taking itself seriously.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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