I recently watched The Double,
which is a movie about a Russian spy, code named Cassius, killing American
citizens and the two agents that are given the task to catch him. This movie
uses a lot of quick camera movements to help the viewer feel the combat scenes
that occur. These shots are often at a flat angle and somewhat long shots. This
helps show the fight and any potential environmental factors that might
influence the battle. The director also uses a lot of mis en scene to help
foreshadow who the killer is. The
director also uses some chiaroscuro to help make Cassius, the killer, more mysterious. An example of this is when Cassius kills one
of his trainees in a hospital parking garage. The lighting in the parking
garage is dim and the camera is pointed down so that you only see the killer’s
body and not the head. It’s only when the camera zooms out that the viewer
finds out that the CIA agent is Cassius. This movie is one of the better spy
movies out there and it has quite the twist near the end.
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The Double is a spy story that keeps the audience intrigued not only through its use of dramatic irony coupled with a plot twist, but with its various uses of the denotation of the title word "double." Normally when one thinks of "double," something that has increase twofold in size or amount comes to mind. However in this movie, that definition is not what the title is referring to. Instead the roles of Paul Shepherdson and Ben Geary are viewed through a secondary definition lens.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, double could refer to the fact that both men are leading double lives. One is an assassin/CIA agent and the other is a Russian spy/FBI agent. This is seemingly what the movie highlights with its title, but at a closer glance there is really more to the title.
The title could also refer to the fact that Paul and Ben are doubles of each other. They are both Russians working undercover in federal agency. Both became noticed in that field due to their study of the Cassius Seven. Both dress alike in dark suits with light collared shirt. Both have families that causes then to live outside designated Russian work parameters. Even the lighting makes them mirror images of each other when they go to question Brutus in jail.
Yet Paul and Ben do more than mirror each other. They seem to be playing a game of doubles, or two actually. The first is a game of dual components of one person against the dual components of another. The second game is one where their aliases and regular lives are battling themselves.
Moreover, double may refer to the ambiguity present throughout the entire film. Whatever lens the film is viewed through, one thing is certain, what exactly is a double is up to interpretation.