Dead Ringers (1988)

David Cronenberg has never made a bad movie, and I don't think he ever will, but Dead Ringers, despite some great ideas, did not impress me. Dead Ringers is convoluted and seemingly pointless. The premise starts off simple, but the screenplay makes it more complex than necessary.

Dead Ringers focuses on twin brothers Bev and Elliot who are rich and renowned gynaecologists. Their success and popularity comes from working closely together, but things go south when they meet the young actress Claire Niveau which whom they each have an affair. The emotional aftermath, messes up not only their work, but their mindset and mental stability.

The movie starts off quite well actually, It's interesting to see Jeremy Irons play two different characters in the same scenes. Good acting and pacing keeps Dead Ringers stable for the first hour but around the half way point, it starts to deteriorate, eventually collapsing under the weight of its complexity. The dialog gets weak, character development becomes unclear, And the ending is abrupt and silly.

I suppose the fact that the movie is adapted from a novel explains some of the complexity. As I've noticed, good filmmakers usually try to be loyal to the novels or literary works they adapt from, when they do so. Adapted or not, I think Dead Ringers is occasionally thought provoking and clever but not an especially competent film.

Fmovies: After a very successful career exploring the physical horrors in a series of excellent films (that culminates in the awesome remake of "The Fly"), Canadian director David Cronenberg made another step up in the development of his personal style of film-making, by moving to the field of psychology with a suspense/thriller that while less visceral and graphic than his previous films, it's no less horrific and captivating: "Dead Ringers". While at first sight this film seems like a departure, it's simply the logic evolution of a style that reaches maturity without forgetting its origins. Just as "The Fly" can be seen as the grandiose closure of an era, "Dead Ringers" is the glorious beginning of a new stage.

Beverly and Elliot Mantle (both played by Jeremy Irons) are identical twins that from birth have been so close. So close that they have studied the same profession, work together as gynecologists and literally share everything (including lovers) between them. This symbiotic relationship begins to shatter when a new patient, actress Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold), enters in their life. The problem? Beverly, who has always been the shy, introverted one of the two, has fallen in love with her, and doesn't see to be too happy with the idea of sharing with his brother anymore. As the tag-line reads, "Separation Can Be A Terrifying Thing".

Loosely based on Bari Wood and Jack Geasland's book "Twins" (which was also loosely based on a strange, real-life case), the plot at first sounds like something out of a typical made for TV drama; however, "Dead Ringers" is still a Cronenberg film and so it is still full of the themes that the famed director loves. Taking the themes of identity and the duality of identity as a start point, Cronenberg tells the story of a perfect organism made out of two persons. The Mantle brothers are physically two men, but psychologically they work as one, and the "invasion" that Claire means in their life is like a viral infection that begins to corrode the brothers from the inside.

With a perfectly developed script, Cronenberg details the effects of this "infection" with surgical precision, and while the film is not as violently graphic as his previous efforts, it is by no means less disturbing. This progression to a more psychological exploration of horror (see first in "Videodrome" and "The Dead Zone") is marked by a subtler cinematography, that with a cold, sterile setting gives life to the horrors unleashed by the breakdown of the brothers. In simple words, "Dead Ringers" is a movie that mixes perfectly horror, drama and romance in ways that few films dare to attempt. This is the masterpiece that would lead the way to Cronenberg's more psychological projects like "M. Butterlfy", "Crash" or "Spider".

While Cronenberg's direction is outstanding, the film wouldn't be the same without the talent of Jeremy Irons as the two main characters. In the difficult role of giving life to two different yet similar men, Irons succeeds with amazing results delivering what probably is his best performance in his career. As Beverly he is shy, introverted and almost charming; while as Elliot he becomes this manipulative smooth-talker who feels his balance threatened by the inclusion of Claire in their lives. While certainly is Irons who receives most of the praise, the films is also benefited by Geneviève Bujold's

A very fine film that challenges and rewards just about equally and somehow has a downbeat ending that manages to be uplifting. I suppose we have been through a lot by the end and although there is an horrific sadness there is an awful inevitability and we like the twin brothers can finally see no other way out. Bujold plays a starlet who comes between two identical twins (Irons in his two best screen performances!) and whilst the tale begins playfully enough we are given enough signals to suggest all will not be well, although we like all three leads do hope so. We see ourselves in the three and if at first we are confounded to discover we are confused by who is who, just when we have got the two under some control, like Bujold indeed, it all goes wrong and the brothers switch personalities before our very eyes. This is all disturbing enough without the gynaecological instruments of torture and the playing with pain and pleasure leading us to some darkened room.

Dead Ringers fmovies. Cronenberg consistently makes technically well crafted films. His subject matter however and the way he displays his subject matter (ie – his love of gore and perverse creations), often divides opinion of his works.

I think what makes DR a remarkably strong film is that Cronenberg tones down his use of trademark gore. There is a little, but it's used sparingly and non-gratuitously. This shows that Cronenberg can exercise self-control when he wants to.

The overall look of the film is beautiful: Ultra modern and austere. The twins apartment looks like the perfect abode for socially detached souls.

But the most extraordinary aspect of DR is Jeremy Iron's performance as both Mantle Twins. He shades each of the twin brothers amazingly and makes them both terrifying and sympathetic characters. Geneviève Bujold also delivers a faultless performance, looks fantastic as a more mature woman and proves the fact that women over 40 can be very sexy; a fact which Hollywood (very insultingly) continues to ignore.

The film's subject matter is very unsettling and controversial. As a man, I found a lot of scenes difficult to watch. But to be fair, Cronenberg never pushes the film into the cheap and tasteless territories of gratuitousness and exploitation.

Overall, DR is a very heavy experience. As one reviewer noted: ‘Do not watch if you are feeling depressed.' I agree totally with this point. But it is a film which is guaranteed to remain in the mind a long, long time afterwards. Ultimately, I like films which I can remember in detail years after I've seen them.

7/10

Elliot and Beverly Mantle (Jeremy Irons) are identical twins that are top-of-the-class and incredibly well known gynaecologists. They also treat themselves by swapping their identities around, so they can share each other's work commitments and pleasures, like woman. But all of this comes back to destroy them emotionally and physically.

An intriguing and rather inventive premise director / co-writer David Cronenberg has come up with here. The worlds Cronenberg creates in his film's are rather fascinating in looking at the human body and technology. This film is no exception. So you can't really call this mainstream, as it's not for everyone's tastes. That's why his films seem to have great impact in the realistic visuals and material context. It's flowing with originality, good psychological elements, erotica and it holds such an artistic feel with its stunning visuals and elegance to show.

This thought-provoking drama is rather stimulating and quite downbeat. Though, it's mostly a talkative film; the dialogue is dense on many levels that it's truly captivating. It's more the material context that tries to shock and explore in a subtle way rather than the horrific visuals and shocks that we come to expect from most of Cronenberg's films. It doesn't contain much graphic moments, only about one or two. The sub-plots are drawn up quite well with dabbling in sexual desires and pleasure, technology (instruments and tools of the trade), the twins physical bond, addiction and a rather modernistic world. It's filled with sharp and intense sequences that are entrenched with an effective music score, as it overwhelmingly draws you in. This unsettling aurora builds into paranoia in the last half of the film and it ends rather disturbingly. The stylish production valves are incredibly glossy and professional. With beautifully crafted and slick cinematography. The gloomy colours that fill the screen hold great contrast in the moody and detail backdrop. From their fashionable home to their cold work office.

Jeremy Iron gives a tremendously charismatic performance playing both Elliot and Beverly Mantle. Elliot is Beverly's backbone as he's confident and arrogant. Beverly is the opposite as he's more innocent and rather sweet. Beverly wants to break the bond that they share, but Elliot can't let that happen. At first they weren't that likable, but the further the film goes along we see their downfall and there spiral into madness. That's when you start to feel for them and it gets rather emotionally charged. They also live and depend on each other, feeling what the other one feels and that's mostly pain and gloom here. This happens when they start to depend on painkillers and Beverly believing his girlfriend is cheating on him. This portrait shows how fragile they really are and how we really depend and feel when love ones are in pain and sorrow. As we are effected in the same way too. Genevieve Bujold is splendid as Claire Niveau the movie star and Beverly's love interest.

Maybe the film was a bit overlong, but this is a shockingly grim and efficient film that plays on many levels of the mind.

Known as a director of "weird" films (unfortunadely unusual means bad for many), Cronenberg is actually a serious studious of the human mind, not unlike Ingmar Bergman, and here he does it better than in any other of his films i have seen (Spider, The Fly and Videodrome- the last one about the influence of TV in society and the least introspective of them). Like in the pictures mentioned above, the very strange premise is a excuse to a deep analysis of the human psychology: what is identity? where is the line between love and obsession? how dependent of another person someone can be? where does one ends and the other begins? It can be seen the influence of Bergman, most notably Persona and The Hour of the Wolf, and arguably Hitchcock's Vertigo, and, as the masters, Cronenberg does not provide easy answers, or any answer at all. But no matter how great the director is, the film would not be successful without the talent of Jeremy Irons. An actor capable of very good performances even in bad films, like The Man in the Iron Mask, he delivers here one of the greatest performances of all time, playing two extremely complex characters without being over-the-top or inexpressive in any moment, confusing us of which is Bev and which is Elly when he is supposed to, and making clear who is he playing in the right moment. Dead Ringers is not an ordinary film, so is not for ordinary moviegoers: it is very complex, not commercial at all, can be very hard to look at it in some moments, and don't expect to feel good after watching it. But if that does not drives you away, i strongly recommend.